Joseph Feldman portrait from Shichelach score

Joseph Feldman (, 1886–1967), also known as Joe Feldman, was a

Yiddish language Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

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 ...

actor, and composer who recorded numerous theatre and comedy songs between 1916 and 1927.

Biography

Early life

Feldman was born in

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on September 15, 1886. His parents were Louis and Sarah Feldman; his father was a

Glazier A glazier is a tradesperson responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infoba ...

. At age 8 he started training with

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

s and became a choir soloist, but was already becoming more interested in acting. He emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with his family in June 1900.

Music and acting career

In New York, Feldman soon involved himself in the Yiddish Theatre world, getting his start in a music hall on

Eldridge Street Eldridge Street is a street in the Lower East Side and Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It runs from Houston Street in the north to East Broadway (Manhattan), East Broadway in the south ...

which was frequented by many Yiddish actors. By 1905 he already listed his occupation in the census as an actor. He soon made a name for himself and before and during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

toured with various productions to other cities including

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. It was by the end of 1913 that he returned to New York and started his first test recording with a phonograph company, with one of his famous pieces ''Shichelach''. It in 1916 that he started recording many more tracks, first for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, but soon also at

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

Emerson Records Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor Emerson in 1915. Victor Hugo Emerson was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then ...

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

Pathé Records Pathé Records was an international record company and label and producer of phonographs, based in France, and active from the 1890s through the 1930s. Early years The Pathé record business was founded by brothers Charles and Émile Pathé, ...

, and even for lesser known companies like the Cardinal Phonograph Company. He also apparently composed the music for many of his songs; according to copyright records, he composed roughly 30 pieces, occasionally with the lyrics written by others. Feldman apparently worked as a phonograph salesman during this period as well, spending a period in 1919 and 1920 in Montreal on behalf of the

Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managem ...

along with his wife and son. With the passing of the

Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from every count ...

which greatly restricted Jewish immigration from Europe, and then the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

by 1930, the market for Yiddish and klezmer recordings in the United States saw a steep decline, which essentially ended the recording career of many of the popular Yiddish artists of the 1910s and 1920s. Joseph's recording career seems to have ended around then, with a last round of recordings made for

in 1927. At some point Feldman relocated to

. For a time around 1932 he took over management of the

Earle Theatre The Earle Theatre was a 2768-seat theatre in Philadelphia, United States at 1046 Market Street (Philadelphia), Market Street, on the southeast corner of South 11th Street. It is associated with being a thriving venue for big band jazz music in th ...

. His World War Two draft card lists him as living there, still working as an actor. During his career Feldman was a supporter of

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. One of his original compositions copyrighted in the early 1920s was titled "''Palistine lidall'' / Palistine song", and at around the same time his likeness was used to sell scores for another by

David Meyerowitz David Meyerowitz (Yiddish דוד מאיראװיץ, April 2, 1867 – 1943) was a Latvian-born composer active in the early Yiddish theater. His music was oriented mainly to vaudeville and revue formats. Early life Meyerowitz was born Daugavpils, ...

, ''Zion's Liedele''. After the Second World War he also released a song celebrating the creation of the State of Israel called ''Mazel tov Yisroel''. Feldman died on May 18, 1967, in

Monterey Park, California Monterey Park is a city in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately east of the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It is bordered by Alhambra, California, Alhambra, East Los Angeles, ...

Family

Joseph's wife was named Lena or Lina (née Carmen). They were married in January 1916. Their first and apparently only child Rachmiel (Ralph) was born in 1917.

References

External links

List of Joseph Feldman recordings
in the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

.
Joseph Feldman recordings
in the

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

Judaica collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Feldman, Joseph Yiddish theatre performers Yiddish-language singers of the United States Jewish singers People from Galați Romanian Jews Jews from Western Moldavia Romanian emigrants to the United States 1886 births 1967 deaths American Zionists