Yehiel Goyzman, also known as Alter Chudnover

Alter Chudnover (Yiddish: אלטער טשודנאָװער, c. 1846–1913), whose real name was Yehiel Goyzman or Hausman (יהיאל גױזמאַן or הױזמאַן), was a nineteenth century Klezmer violinist from the Russian Empire.[1][2][3] He was one of a number of virtuosic klezmers of the nineteenth century, alongside Yosef Drucker "Stempenyu", A. M. Kholodenko "Pedotser" and Josef Gusikov.[4][5][6] He was also an early teacher to the violinist Mischa Elman.[6][7]

Biography

Yehiel Goyzman was born in Chudniv, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Zhitomir Oblast, Ukraine) in the 1840s; some sources give the year as 1846,[2] and others as 1849.[1] He was born into a Klezmer family; his father Leyb Goyzman was also a violinist.[1][6] Yehiel showed musical talent at an early age and was apparently sent to Warsaw to study violin; when he returned to Chudniv he joined his father's orchestra.[1]

Yehiel soon became famous as a lead violinist and teacher, and gained a reputation as a very modern instructor who required his students to be able to read sheet music and to learn modern musical technique.[1][3][7] He also became popular among Russian aristocrats, as was his contemporary Pedotser; and would travel to distant parts of the Russian Empire, Romania and Austria-Hungary to perform at weddings or other events.[2][6] There was also a competing klezmer ensemble in Chudniv led by Baruch Beckerman, father of the American klezmer Shloimke Beckerman.[8]

He tried emigrating to the United States in around 1902, accepting the invitation of his brother who had been there since 1888.[1] But he soon returned to Europe when he found his status was much lower in America.[9]

Although some sources say he died in 1912, it seems he actually died on 27 March, 1913.[2][6]

Legacy

Some of Alter Chudnover's sons, who were also professional musicians, met with Soviet ethnomusicologist Moisei Beregovsky in Kyiv in 1934.[1] They donated some manuscripts of his compositions to Beregovsky, which ended up in the collection of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine.[1] Other manuscripts apparently survived in Chudniv in Goyzman's former house until they were destroyed during World War II.[6] Beregovski included one extended composition by Alter Chudnover in his Jewish Instrumental Folk Music volume.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sholokhova, Lyudmila (2013). "Yehiel Goyzman (Alter Chudnover, 1849-1913): A Klezmer Violinist in Transition From Folk Music To Classical Style Performance.". In Nemtsov, Jascha (ed.). Jüdische Musik als Dialog der Kulturen (Jüdische Musik Band 12) (PDF). Weisbaden: Harraswitz Verlag. pp. 43–58.
  2. ^ a b c d Stutchewsky, Joachim (1959). הכליזמרים : תולדותיהם, אורח-חיים ויצירותיהם (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Bialik Institute. pp. 112–3.
  3. ^ a b Sapoznik, Henry (1999). Klezmer! : Jewish music from Old World to our world. New York: Schirmer Books. p. 10. ISBN 9780028645742.
  4. ^ Feldman, Walter Zev. "Music: Traditional and Instrumental Music". YIVO Encyclopedia. YIVO. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  5. ^ Beregovski, Moshe; Slobin, Mark (1982). Old Jewish folk music : the collections and writings of Moshe Beregovski. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 536. ISBN 081227833X.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Гойзман, Шимон (2018). "2". Воспоминания незнаменитого. Живу, как хочется (in Russian). ЛитРес. ISBN 9785041227975.
  7. ^ a b Elman, Saul (1933). Memoirs of Mischa Elman's father. New York: S. Elman. pp. 39–41.
  8. ^ Rubin, Joel; Wollock, Jeffrey (2020). "Wandering Stars". Pakn Treger: Magazine of the Yiddish Book Center. Summer (81): 28–37.
  9. ^ Rubin, Joel (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781580465984.
  10. ^ Braun, Joachim (2006). On Jewish music : past and present. Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang. p. 165. ISBN 9783631539057.
  11. ^ Feldman, Zev (2016). Klezmer : music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780190244514.

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