Yidishe Lider

Yidishe Lider is the fruit of an extraordinary project to honour the life and work of Arkady Gendler, who was born in Soroke, Bessarabia in 1921. Gendler grew up in a family of ten children who sang in Yiddish and belonged to a Yiddish theatre club. The songs on this CD combine material that Gendler remembers from his early years (without knowing their source), as well as songs which he later composed; all are recorded here for the first time. The power of Arkady Gendler’s voice is remarkable given that the recording was made shortly before his 90th birthday.

The album was the initiative of Christian Dawid, a clarinettist, composer and arranger of Yiddish and classical music, who performs on the recording and wrote the arrangements. Gendler’s distinctive voice is backed by a sizeable, excellent group of musicians on material ranging from folk to art song, with numbers incorporating tango and waltz rhythms alongside a more classical style. These reflective songs are filled with sadness, love and hope. They are the utterance of an old man who has survived personal loss and political upheaval. He honours people and places he has loved and also relishes the freedom that singing and composing in Yiddish in a post-Soviet world has allowed. ‘Shik Mir A Shtral’ (Send Me a Ray of Light) is a pre-war song by an unknown composer. It tells of a woman still thinking of her beloved who left for war many years earlier. Tango rhythms prevail, with some lovely passages for piano, clarinet and saxophone within the larger musical ensemble. This recording beautifully preserves new compositions and cultural treasures from a lost world with great integrity and musicianship.