Lerner & Wall: Still Soft Voiced Heart (New Yiddish Lieder) * by Marilyn Lerner (CD, Feb-2002, Crossroads (Music Box Recordings))

Album Features
UPC:	780702431028
Artist:	Marilyn Lerner
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2002
Record Label:	Crossroads (Music Box Recordings)
Genre:	Avant-Garde/Downtown, Jazz Instrument

Track Listing
1. Ale mayne nekhtns zaynen shtign (All my yesterdays were steps), for voice & piano
2. Trili, for voice & piano
3. Es hot mikh gezalbt a levone (Anointed by the moon), for voice & piano
4. Mayln-Vayt fun zikh aleyn (Miles Away From Myself), for voice & piano
5. Vi durkh grin bagrozte felder (How through green grassed fields), for voice & piano
6. Tsu a sotsialistin (To a woman socialist), for voice & piano
7. Mayn shotn (My Shadow), for voice & piano
8. Yeder yesh (Every Being), for voice & piano
9. Vint, A (A Wind), for voice & piano
10. Der Zinger (The Singer), for voice & piano
11. Fun beyde ekn Velt (From both ends of the earth), part 1 for voice & piano
12. Fun beyde ekn Velt (From both ends of the earth), part 2 for voice & piano
13. Himen, A (Anthem), for voice & piano
14. Rusishe Sher, arranged for piano
15. Shtil lomir ale farshvindn (Softly let us all vanish), for voice & piano

Details
Playing Time:	46 min.
Producer:	Harold Hagopian, Ken Whiteley
Distributor:	Bayside Record Dist.
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel includes: Marilyn Lerner (piano); Dave Wall (vocals).Composers: Marilyn Lerner; David Wall.Personnel: Marilyn Lerner (piano).Liner Note Author: Lorin Sklamberg.Recording information: Casa Wroxton Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (05/03/2000-01/06/2001).Photographer: Alan R. Chandler.Translators: Michael Wex; David Wall.Arranger: Marilyn Lerner.This album consists of 15 neo-romantic treatments of modern Yiddish poems. The texts were all written during the 20th century, except for "Rusishe Sher," which is a new arrangement of a traditional tune. Yiddish was once the lingua franca of Eastern European (Ashkenazic) Jewry, but was nearly wiped out during the Holocaust. It is now enjoying a resurgence, as younger Jews are discovering that their cultural and religious identities can often be found within the guttural, song-like cadences of the ancestral tongue. New York Jews are especially devoted to reclaiming their heritage. During the 1920s, there were several Yiddish newspapers, as well as a burgeoning theater scene, but very few Jews had much interest in restoring these crucial folkways until recently. However, even if the present works are a tributary of the older sources, any listener who is expecting a cozy, home-like experience is in for a surprise. These are not folk tunes but refined art pieces, performed by well-trained, professional musicians. David Wall, an angelic-voiced tenor who composed the vast majority of the pieces, sounds as though he would be equally at home on the classical recital circuit or on a Broadway stage. He is accompanied throughout by Marilyn Lerner, whose sensitive, supportive piano stylings allow his vocals to soar. Although this set could be best described as a classical song cycle, world music fans might also be attracted to these passionate outpourings from a rebounding language and culture. This album is a poignant reminder of times gone by but also offers renewed hope for the future. ~ Christina Roden