Herman Wohl

Herman Wohl, Jewish American composer from Poland

Herman Wohl (1877–1936) Born in Otinya near Stanislavov (now called Ivano-Frankivsk) in eastern Galicia, now Ukraine.[1] He was raised in a Chasidic home and studied with cantors from the age of 9.[2] He soon began composing, directing choirs, and singing as a Hazzan himself. At the age of 16 he joined Yuvelir's troupe in Galicia, acting, singing in the chorus, and writing songs for their repertoire.

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 Mezinke, Bnei Israel, Yakov un Esau, and dozens of others by Moshe Hurwitz (Horowitz), Anshel Shor's Di Almoneh (The Widow) and A mentsh zol men zayn (One should be a decent person) also Motashevski's Dos Pintele Yid, Di neshomah fun mayn folk, and Di Poylishe Khasene.

Working with Edelstein in the People's Theater, he composed music to

Some of his hundreds of songs, most composed with Arnold Perlmutter, are listed at Florida Atlantic University's website:[3]

Besides being a Second Avenue songwriter and composer in the Yiddish Theater District, 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. 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.[4] He died in 1936.

References

  1. Zalmen Zylbercweig, Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater (Volume 1) pp 639-640
  2. Sholom Kalib, The musical tradition of the Eastern European synagogue, Volume 1, Part 1
  3. http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/spc/musicpdfs/Yiddish.pdf
  4. http://www.milkenarchive.org/people/view/all/655/Wohl,+Herman

External links