Herman Wohl (; 1877–1936) was a Jewish–American composer closely associated with the American

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 ...

Galicia

Wohl was born in Otyniia near Stanislavov (now called

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

) in eastern Galicia, now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He was raised in a Chasidic home and studied with cantors from the age of 9. He soon began composing, directing choirs, and singing as a

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 ...

himself. At the age of 16 he joined Kalman Juvelier's troupe in Galicia, acting, singing in the chorus, and writing songs for their repertoire.

America

In 1896 he was brought to America to teach; he soon began writing for several theater troupes. He partnered with Aaron (Arnold) Perlmutter and over the course of 16 years they wrote music for many operettas including , and dozens of others by Moshe Hurwitz (Horowitz), Anshel Shor's ''(The Widow)'' and ''(One should be a decent person)'' also Motashevski's , and Working with Edelstein in the People's Theater, he composed music to * Mikhl Goldberg's musical comedy ''(Lived and laughed)'' * Adam Mesko's operetta ''(The night of love)'' *

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 ''(The holy song)'' * Itskhok Lesh's , 1921 * Israel Rozenberg's * Tomashevski's ''Lebedik un freylekh'' and ''Thousand and One Nights'' * William Siegel's and ''(The Galitsian wedding)'' * Israel Rozenberg's Some of his hundreds of songs, most composed with Arnold Perlmutter, are listed at Florida Atlantic University's website: * ''(A little bit of ground)'' 1911 * ''(A Child Is The World's Happiness)'' 1917 * (often translated as ''Quintessential Jew'', regarded as one of the most classic bar-mitzvah songs) 1909 * ''(If you can't do it and don't know, don't undertake it)'' 1911 * ''(You're my little gift)'' 1907 * ''(Village Maiden)'' 1911 * ''(This is the love of Jacob and Rachel)'' from ''Galitsianer khasene'' * ''(A True Jewish Heart)'' 1906 * ''(Song Of The Diaspora)'' 1921 * ''(The Husband Is The Ruler)'' 1910 * ''(Long Live Columbus)'' 1915 * ''(My Most Loving Friend Is My Mother)'' 1921 * ''(They're Dancing in America)'' 1908 * ''(Maiden, You'll Yet Be happy)'' (with Jennie Goldstein) * ''(Second Wife)'' 1910 * ''(Women, Make Me President)'' 1910 * ''(Everybody is Striking Now)'' 1919 Besides being a Second Avenue songwriter and composer in the

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, ...

, Wohl continued to work as a synagogue choirmaster and liturgical composer. For many years he conducted the choir for the most widely acclaimed and revered cantor of the time—and probably of all time—

Yossele Rosenblatt Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (; May 9, 1882 – June 19, 1933) was an Ashkenazi chazzan and composer. Biography Rosenblatt was born on May 9, 1882, in Bila Tserkva, Russian Empire. The scion of a long line of cantors, Rosenblatt's devoutly relig ...

. His many cantorial-choral compositions for Sabbath, High Holy Days, and Festivals remain in manuscript, and the whereabouts of many of these are not even known. He died in 1936. Herman Wohl portrait from Klangen fun mayn lebn

Herman Wohl portrait from Klangen fun mayn lebn

References

External links

Viktor recordings of Wohl compositions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wohl, Herman 1877 births 1936 deaths American opera composers American male opera composers American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish American classical composers Jewish songwriters Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Jewish Ukrainian musicians Yiddish theatre Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States