Milken Archive of Jewish Music

The Milken Archive of Jewish Music is a collection of material about the history of Jewish Music in the United States. It contains roughly 700 recorded musical works, 800 hours of oral histories, 50,000 photographs and historical documents, an extensive collection of program notes and essays, and thousands of hours of video footage documenting recording sessions, interviews, and live performances.

History

The Archive was founded in 1990 by businessman Lowell Milken, with the stated mission to "document, preserve, and disseminate the vast body of music that pertains to the American Jewish experience." [1] It was originally established as the Milken Family Archive of 20th Century American Jewish Music, with composer Michael Isaacson as its Artistic Director [2] In 1993, Neil W. Levin of the Jewish Theological Seminary became the Artistic Director[3] and the Archive became known as the Milken Archive of American Jewish music. Between 2003 and 2006, it released a series of 50 CDs on the Naxos label,[4] which have sold nearly 300,000 copies. In 2005, Producer David Frost was awarded the Grammy award for Producer of the Year, Classical,[5] for five of the albums in this series. At present, the Archive's website serves as the primary vehicle for the Archive’s music, and the access point for its other media. The material is organized into 20 thematic groups.

Recent Media Coverage

In its remembrance of Dave Brubeck after his Dec. 5, 2012 passing, PBS Newshour featured footage of the Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Take Five at a 2007 Milken Archive concert and recording session in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Milken Archive footage of Dave Brubeck was featured in the documentary "Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way" directed by Clint Eastwood that aired on December 6, 2010 on Turner Classic Movies.[6]

In September 2010, Milken Archive Artistic Director Neil Levin was featured on televisions stations across the United States in the documentary 18 Voices[7] Sing Kol Nidre discussing the Kol Nidre, a declaration recited or sung in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur.

On May 26, 2010, the NPR program “All Things Considered”[8] featured Milken Archive music[9] in its broadcast about clarinetist David Krakauer, “Abraham Inc.: Klezmer with a funky hip hop beat.”

20 Volumes

The Milken Archive's collection is organized according to the following 20 thematic groups, known as volumes. As of May 2013, the Archive released 16 of the 20 volumes.

  1. Jewish Voices in the New World: The Song of Prayer in Colonial and 19th-Century America
  2. A Garden Eastward: Sephardi and Near Eastern Inspiration
  3. Seder T'fillot: Traditional and Contemporary Synagogue Services
  4. Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home: Prayers and Celebrations Throughout the Jewish Year
  5. The Classical Klezmer: Rebirth of a Folk Tradition
  6. Echoes of Ecstasy: Hassidic Inspiration
  7. Masterworks of Prayer: Art in Worship
  8. Sing Unto Zion! In Praise of a Jewish National Home
  9. The Art of Jewish Song: Yiddish and Hebrew
  10. Intimate Voices: Solo and Ensemble Music of Jewish Spirit
  11. Symphonic Visions: Orchestral Works of Jewish Spirit
  12. Legends of Toil and Celebration: Songs of Jewish Solidarity, Social Awareness, and Jewish Americana
  13. Great Songs of the American Yiddish Stage: Yiddish Theater, Vaudeville, Radio, and Film
  14. Golden Voices in the Golden Land: The Great Age of Cantorial Art in America
  15. Swing His Praises: Jazz, Blues, and Rock in the Service of God
  16. Heroes and Heroines: Jewish Opera
  17. Odes and Epics: Dramatic Music of Jewish Experience
  18. Psalms and Canticles: Jewish Choral Art in America
  19. Out of the Whirlwind: Musical Reflections of the Holocaust
  20. L'dor vador: A Celebration of Children’s Voices

Composers

The Milken Archive has recorded or licensed music by the following composers:

A - F G - L M - R S - Z
Joseph Achron Moshe Ganchoff Will Macfarlane Lazare Saminsky
Hugo Adler Mordechai Gebirtig Meyer Machtenberg Mordecai Sandberg
Samuel Adler Michl Gelbart Samuel Malavsky Jacob Sandler
Bruce Adolphe Miriam Gideon Ursula Mamlok Simon Sargon
Aminadav Aloni Louis Gilrod Mana-Zucca Nicholas Saslavsky
Israel Alter Leib Glantz Jakov Medvedieff Heinrich Schalit
David Amram Philip Glass Henry Mendes Walter Scharf
Solomon Ancis Abraham Goldfaden David Meyerowitz David Schiff
Daniel Asia Rabbi Israel Goldfarb Jan Meyerowitz Benjie Schiller
C. Attenhofer Maurice Goldman Darius Milhaud Sigmund Schlesinger
Aaron Avshalomov Jack Goldstein Aaron Miller Ralph Schlossberg
Morris Barash Raymond Goldstein Issachar Miron Arnold Schoenberg
Steve Barnett Osvaldo Golijov Douglas Moore Paul Schoenfield
Robert Beaser Solomon Golub Richard Neumann Ruth Schonthal
Sidor Belarsky Jack Gottlieb Alexander Olshanetsky Israel Schorr
Ofer Ben-Amots Jacob Gottlieb Leo Ornstein William Schuman
Paul Ben-Haim Morton Gould Charles Osborne Abe Schwartz
Aaron Bensoussan S. Gozinsky Moishe Oysher Gerard Schwarz
Jean Berger Max Graumann Thomas Pasatieri Sholom Secunda
Irving Berlin Helen Greenberg Arnold Perlmutter & Herman Wohl Harold Shapero
Herman Berlinski Todros Greenberg Frederick Piket Ralph Shapey
Leonard Bernstein Emily Gresser Pierre Pinchik Michael Shapiro
Thomas Beveridge Roy Harris Sergei Prokofiev William Sharlin
Abraham Binder Vladimir Heifetz Jan Radzynski Judith Shatin
Ernest Bloch Max Helfman Shulamit Ran Ben Zion Shenker
William Bogzester Jerry Herman Jacob Rappaport Nathaniel Shilkret
Victoria Bond Joel Hoffman Karol Rathaus Solomon Shmulowitz
Yehezkel Braun Michael Horvit Maurice Rauch Bonia Shur
Martin Bresnick Michael Isaacson Steve Reich Elie Siegmeister
Murray Brody Frederick Jacobi Stephen Richards Mark Silver
Dave Brubeck Max Janowski Sid Robinovitch Sheila Silver
Samuel Bugatch Pinchos Jassinowsky George Rochberg Moses Silverman
Shlomo Carlebach Tzipora Jochsberger David Roitman Leo Smit
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Oscar Julius Emanuel Rosenberg Ray Smolover
Julius Chajes Alois Kaiser Yossele Rosenblatt Robbie Solomon
Gerald Cohen Sholom Kalib Morris Rosenzweig Max Spicker & William Sparger
Gustave Cohen Martin Kalmanoff Salomone Rossi/Freed Robert Starer
Aaron Copland Isaac Kaminsky Bruce Roter Edward Stark
Doug Cotler Fischel Kanapoff Joseph Rumshinsky Leon Stein
Mario Davidovsky Abraham Kaplan Frederic Rzewski Benjamin Steinberg
Charles Davidson Adolph Katchko Robert Stern
A. J. Davis Aaron Kernis David Stock
Paul Dessau Gershon Kingsley Robert Strassburg
David Diamond Frederick Kitziger Igor Stravinsky
Paul Discount Jonathan Klein David Tamkin
Rubin Doctor Jeff Klepper Alexandre Tansman
Jacob Druckman Henech Kon Craig Taubman
Haim Elisha Jerome Kopmar Aaron Tishkowsky
Abraham Ellstein Erich Korngold Ernst Toch
Shaye Englehardt Moshe Koussevitzky Ilia Trilling
Charles Feldman Leo Kraft Joelle Wallach
Irving Fine Leon Kramer Donald Waxman
Vivian Fine Meyer Kupferman Franz Waxman
Meir Finkelstein David Kusevitsky C. Weber
Lukas Foss Ezra Laderman Kurt Weill
Isadore Freed Paul Lamkoff Jacob Weinberg
Avraham Fried Marc Lavry Lazar Weiner
Debbie Friedman Henri Lazarof Hugo Weisgall
Dan Frohman Benjamin Lees David Werdiger
Herbert Fromm Marvin Levy Richard Wernick
Jorge Liderman Herman Wohl
Joshua Lind Juliusz Wolfsohn
Leo Low Stefan Wolpe
Yehudi Wyner
Herman Yablokoff
Judith Zaimont
Herman Zalis
Eric Zeisl
Alexander Zemlinsky
Zavel Zilberts
Solomon Zim
John Zorn

References

External links