Yidl Mitn Fidl, with Ronald Robboy

Yidl Mitn Fidl – a close reading of a canonic Yiddish film score, a lecture with Ronald Robboy.

Lecture #16 in Josh Horowitz’s series, The Promiscuous World of Jewish Music.

Yidl mitn fidl (1936), the most successful of Yiddish films, starred Molly Picon and featured a score by wunderkind Abraham Ellstein, then still in his twenties, with lyrics by the brilliant poet Itsik Manger. Join Ron Robboy for a look under the hood of Ellstein’s remarkable score. How did the composer and lyricist integrate their work within the film grammar? How did Ellstein combine traditional Jewish modes with 20th-century compositional techniques? We’ll dissect not only songs that have become Yiddish standards — think of Shpil, du fidl, shpil or Oy, mame, bin ikh farlibt, to say nothing of the film’s iconic title song — but also the background underscore Ellstein composed that was designed to be barely heard even as it shaped the viewers perceptions of plot and character. Robboy, an independent scholar of Yiddish theater and film music, has written and lectured extensively.

Donations are accepted and appreciated, but not required.

Event begins 11am California; 2pm New York / 7pm UK / 8pm most of Europe, and lasts 1-2 hours.

Zoom Meeting ID: 967 8901 9038
Password: 156230