Sholom Secunda (,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (also ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

13 June 1974,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) was an American composer of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, best known for the tunes of ''

Bei Mir Bistu Shein "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" ( yi, בײַ מיר ביסטו שעהן, or yi, בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין, , "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song written by lyricist Jacob Jacobs and composer Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish lang ...

'' and ''

Donna Donna "Dona Dona", popularly known as "Donna, Donna", is a song about a calf being led to slaughter, written by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin. Originally a Yiddish language song "Dana Dana" (in Yiddish דאַנאַ דאַנאַ), also known as "Dos ...

''.

Biography

He was born in 1894 as Shloyme Abramovich Sekunda (russian: Шлойме Абрамович Секунда) in Aleksandria city,

,Zalmen Zylbercweig, Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater (Volume 2), p. 1515-1518

(now in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

) to the family of Abram Secunda and Anna Nedobeika. In 1897 the family moved to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

port city of

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bri ...

, where they opened an iron bed factory. At age 12 Shloyme played Abraham/Avrom in Abraham Goldfaden's ''Akeydes Yitskhok (The Sacrifice of Isaac)'' and Markus in ''The Kishef-Makherin (The Sorceress).'' In 1907, like many other Jews of the

(see

History of the Jews in Russia The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

), he and his family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

after a series of

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

s in 1905. In January 1908 the family arrived to New York as

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North America ...

passengers on board the '' SS Carmania'' and were inspected and briefly detained on

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 m ...

. In New York City (they first lived on East 127th Street where his father had settled before sending for his wife and children), young Sholom became a noted child '' khazn'' (cantor). When his voice changed he studied music and taught piano, then worked in a comedy theater in the chorus until his song "Amerike" was accepted by Jennie Goldstein, who sang it in Kornblum's ''Unzere kinder (Our Children)''. In 1913, after studying at the Institute for Musical Arts in New York City (predecessor to the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

), he worked at the Odeon Theater as chorist and composer; 1914 saw the premier of "Yoysher, music by Sholom Secunda and Solmon Shmulevitsh." He began working in "Lyric theater" as choir director, then as director and orchestrator of the old "historic" operetta repertoire; he studied orchestration for a year under Ernest Bloch. In 1918, he became a naturalized US citizen. In 1919-1920 he earned his first solo composer's credits with S. H. Kon's ''The Rabbi's Daughter'' and ''Free Slaves''. He worked in Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House with director Boris Thomashevsky; in 1921-22 he was director and composer at Clara Young's

Liberty Theater The Liberty Theatre is a former Broadway theater at 234 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1904, the theater was designed by Herts & Tallant and built for Klaw and Erlanger, the partnersh ...

. He composed for the musical ''Di Yidishe Shikse'' by Anshl Shor (1927) and ''A nakht fun libe (A Night of Love)'' by

Israel Rosenberg Israel (also Yisroel or Yisrol) Rosenberg (c. 1850 – 1903 or 1904; Yiddish/ Hebrew: ישראל ראָזענבערג) founded the first Yiddish theater troupe in Imperial Russia. Life Having been a "hole-and-corner lawyer" (without a diplo ...

. An exhaustive list of his many works can be found in the ''Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater''. In 1932 he wrote the melody for the popular song " Bay mir bistu sheyn" on the lyrics of Jacob Jacobs for the musical performed at the

Parkway Theatre The Parkway Theatre, also known as the Rolland Theatre and since 1952 as the Holy House of Prayer for All People, is a historic former theater at 1768 St. Johns Place, at the intersection with Eastern Parkway in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, N ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, which later became a major hit for the

Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

. Together with Aaron Zeitlin he wrote the famous Yiddish song "

Dos kelbl "Dona Dona", popularly known as "Donna, Donna", is a song about a calf being led to slaughter, written by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin. Originally a Yiddish language song "Dana Dana" (in Yiddish דאַנאַ דאַנאַ), also known as "Do ...

(The Calf)" (also known as "

") which was covered by many musicians, including

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world musi ...

and

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

. Along with

Abraham Ellstein Abraham "Abe" Ellstein ( yi, אַבֿרהם עלשטײן, , July 7, 1907 – March 22, 1963) was an American composer for Yiddish entertainments. Along with Shalom Secunda, Joseph Rumshinsky, and Alexander Olshanetsky, Ellstein was one of the "b ...

, Joseph Rumshinsky, and

Alexander Olshanetsky Alexander Olshanetsky (1892–1946) was a Jewish-American composer, conductor, and violinist. He was a major figure within the Yiddish theatre scene in New York City from the mid-1920s until his death in 1946. Life and career Was born in Odess ...

, he was one of the "big four" composers of his era in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

's Second Avenue National Theater (

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic ...

) scene in the Yiddish Theater District. Secunda also worked at another theater founded by Maurice Schwartz (an emigrant from the

), Yiddishe Art Theater, earning $75/week for conducting an orchestra. In 1938 he gave an interview to the

Courier-Post The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscr ...

about the hit song,

Personal life

Secunda married the former Betty Almer, and they had two sons, Sheldon and

Eugene Secunda Eugene Secunda is an American academic who is a member of the faculty in the Department of Media, Culture & Communication at New York University. He is also an academic adviser in NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He previously serv ...

. He died on June 13, 1974 in New York City, and was buried in Montefiore Cemetery in Springfield Gardens, Queens.

Works

Filmography

* 1930 : '' Sailor's Sweetheart'' * 1931 : ''

A Cantor on Trial A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' * 1939 : '' Kol Nidre'' * 1939 : '' Tevya'' * 1940 : '' The Jewish Melody'' * 1940 : '' Her Second Mother'' * 1940 : '' Motel the Operator'' * 1940 : '' Eli, Eli'' * 1950 : '' God, Man and Devil'' * 1950 : ''

Catskill Honeymoon ''Catskill Honeymoon'' is a 1950 American musical comedy film directed by Josef Berne. It features several prominent Jewish-American entertainers. Cast * Michal Michalesko * Jan Bart * Bas Sheva * Cookie Bowers * Max Bozyk * Reizl Bozyk * The Fe ...

Operas

* ''I Would if I Could'' (1933), musical (associated song:

) * ''Esterke'' (1940), musical (with the song Dos Kelbl (Donna Donna))

Autobiography

* ''Sholom Secunda Tells ...''

References

External links

Guide to the Sholom Secunda Papers
in the Fales Library of NYU *
Opera Glass
* ''Let be blessed his memory''.

January 26, 1938. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secunda Sholom 1894 births 1974 deaths People from Oleksandriia People from Kherson Governorate Ukrainian Jews American male classical composers American classical composers American opera composers Male opera composers Yiddish theatre Jewish American classical composers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews