
Solomon Small
Solomon Smulewitz (1868–1943, also Shloyme Smulewitz, Solomon Small) was a Russian-born (later American) Jewish singer, badkhn, recording artist, and primarily composer for the Yiddish theatre. He was born on April 13, 1868 in Pinsk, White Russia (now Belarus) His father was a cantor; Solomon sang in his chorus from the age of 5. When his father died seven years later Solomon went into the tailoring trade while still singing in cantorial choirs in exchange for his meals. He left to join the chorus of a traveling theater troupe and was very successful in girls' roles. After being left behind in an inn as a mashkn (pledge that the others would come back and pay their bill) he went back to the cantor in Pinsk but was thrown out. He became a street singer. He wrote his first song at the age of 12: The desolate orphan, an autobiographical plaint. Having learned Russian he sang and played the fiddle from town to town, finally settling in Minsk, where he became a successful badkhn, also writing songs for other local wedding singers. He wrote for Shomer's play productions in Warsaw. He published his first book in 1891. In America he toured singing his own songs, which eventually totalled around 500 (in a letter to the press he claimed 300 written to his own melodies and 200 set to melodies by others). The most famous were A brivele der mamen, Dos talesl, Al tashlicheinu, Khave, and Dos blumenkrentzele - these and others have through the years often been considered folksongs. From 1905 to 1909 he issued a yearly collection of his lyrics called "Der teater zinger." In 1916 he published "Poeziye un lider." His 500-page autobiography was never published. His song "Khave" was so popular the famous Russian singer Feodor_Chaliapin included it in his repertoire. He was a prolific recording artist. Smulewitz had a strong and piercing tenor voice which suited early recording capabilities well; after 1920 both his manner of singing and style of composition went out of fashion. Smulewitz fell on hard times and to make a living continuously toured the United States and Canada from Halifax to Calgary and Winnipeg, often with his daughter Dorothy, without much success. He died impoverished on January 1, 1943 in New York. |
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Birth and Death Data: Born April 13, 1868 (Pinsk), Died January 1, 1943 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1936
Roles Represented in DAHR: tenor vocal, lyricist, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 75 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | A-1568 | 7-in. | 7/8/1904 | Die fier kashes | Lizzie Goldfinger ; Goldin Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-1568 | 10-in. | 7/8/1904 | Die fier kashes | Lizzie Goldfinger ; Goldin Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-1573 | 10-in. | 7/8/1904 | The children's song | Lizzie Goldfinger ; Goldin Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | A-1573 | 7-in. | 7/8/1904 | The children's song | Lizzie Goldfinger ; Goldin Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-6625 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | A brivele der mame | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal, composer | |
Victor | B-6626 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | Wart a kappale | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6627 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | Dus fertriebene teibele | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6628 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | Yhi oir | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6629 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | A mensch sol mein sein | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6630 | 10-in. | 11/30/1908 | Schlaf lied | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6635 | 10-in. | 12/2/1908 | Schemen megt ihr sich | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6636 | 10-in. | 12/2/1908 | Der ounig Schabes | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6637 | 10-in. | 12/2/1908 | A Kaddisch'l der Mamen : Part II | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6638 | 10-in. | 12/2/1908 | Dos Yiddische hertz | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-6639 | 10-in. | 12/2/1908 | A Nasch | Solomon Smulewitz | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-9088 | 10-in. | 6/14/1910 | Wejiten l'cho | Frances Simonoff | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-9094 | 10-in. | 6/15/1910 | Dos Yiddish herz | Frances Simonoff | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-9128 | 12-in. | 6/23/1910 | Die Blumenkrentze | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal, composer | |
Victor | B-9129 | 10-in. | 6/23/1910 | Shtoist Zich On | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-9130 | 10-in. | 6/23/1910 | Menschele sei nit genart | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-9131 | 10-in. | 6/23/1910 | Sog Gottenu Alein | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | C-9132 | 12-in. | 6/24/1910 | Das Thilem'l | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-9133 | 10-in. | 6/24/1910 | Das Kiduschen Ring | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, composer, vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | C-9134 | 12-in. | 6/24/1910 | Das Yiddisches kind | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | B-9135 | 10-in. | 6/24/1910 | Oi, is dos a mame | Solomon Small | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Small, Solomon," accessed May 31, 2023, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110456.
Small, Solomon. (2023). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110456.
"Small, Solomon." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2023. Web. 31 May 2023.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Small, Solomon, 1868-1943 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no97016740
Wikidata: Solomon Smulewitz - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3489579
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/56213280
MusicBrainz: Solomon Smulewitz - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4fb5ccbd-e861-4f97-a88d-13d3d686cd63
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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