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Arnold Perlmutter (, 1859–1953) was a composer for
Arnold Perlmutter (, 1859–1953) was a composer for Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...
, born in Zolochiv, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
. He moved to Lemberg
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
where he received both a religious and a secular education in Polish, Ukrainian, and German. He sang with then-famous hazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...
Borekh Shor's chorus until his voice changed, then became a klezmer, playing bass and then violin and directing and composing for the ''Harmonia'' orchestra, which in 1889 was taken into I. B. Gimpel's Yiddish theater in Lemberg; he wrote the music for the operetta ''Rabbi Akiva and his students.'' and ''Der Spanisher Tsigayner (The Spanish Gypsy)''.Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater, Volume 3, column 1838
In 1891 Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden (; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in Yiddish and Hebrew languages and author of some 40 plays. Goldfad ...
came to Lemberg to stage his ''Meshiakh tsaytn (Messiah times)'' and ''Dos tsente gebot (The Tenth Commandment)''; Perlmutter orchestrated and reworked Goldfaden's collected musical numbers and composed new ones for his productions. He then toured with the Treytler and Yuvelir troupes throughout Galitsia, Romania (1893-1895) and Russia (1899). From Chernovitz, Bukovina, in 1900 Professor Moyshe Horvitz (Hurwitz) took the whole troupe to America.
Perlmutter met his longtime collaborator Herman Wohl in New York's Windsor Theater and they wrote for dozens of Hurwitz's operettas as well as ''Di almoneh (The widow)'' and ''A mentsh zol men zayn (One should be a righteous person)'' by Anshel Schorr
Anshel Schorr (; October 25, 1871 – May 31, 1942), also known by the anglicized name Albert Schorr, was an Austrian-born American playwright, lyricist, theater manager and composer active in the Yiddish Theatre of the early twentieth century. ...
. In 1906 Perlmutter and Wohl composed the music for a romantic drama in English, ''The Shepherd King''; in 1909, Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky (, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc.; ) (1868–July 9, 1939), born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian-born (later American) Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish th ...
's ''Dos Pintele Yid'' and ''Di sheyne Amerikanerin;'' and for scores of other historical operettas of the Second Avenue Yiddish Theater District
The Yiddish Theatre District, also called the Jewish Rialto and the Yiddish Realto, was the center of New York City's Yiddish theatre scene in the early 20th century. It was located primarily on Second Avenue, though it extended to Avenue B, ...
theaters through the early years of the twentieth century.
After the partnership dissolved Perlmutter worked alone, composing for Maurice Schwartz
Maurice Schwartz, born Avram Moishe Schwartz (June 18, 1890 – May 10, 1960),I. L. Peretz's ''Di goldene keyt (The golden chain)''. In 1922 he contracted with the Lennox Theater in the Bronx (directors Nathan Goldberg and Jacob Jacobs). He wrote the music for dozens of productions until he retired from theater in 1930.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perlmutter, Arnold 1859 births 1953 deaths Jewish composers Musicians from Lviv