The earliest songs recorded here—Shtile tener (1918), Volt mayn tate raykh geven (1918), Dos gold fun dayne oygn (1922), Tsela-tseldi (1922), and Viglid (Markish; 1925)—are perhaps more conventional and less adventurous than the later ones, but they are expertly composed. Volt mayn tate raykh geven and Tsela-tseldi are full of high spirits, with virtuoso piano parts and striking contrasts. Dos gold fun dayne oygn, impressionistic in overall style, nevertheless exhibits certain melodic characteristics that tie it to eastern European Jewish folksong. It is one of the many love songs Weiner dedicated to his beloved wife, Sarah Naomi.
Editor's note by Neil W. Levin:
Dos gold fun dayne oygn's poet, Samuel Jacob Imber, the brother of the author of the words to Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem, edited one of the earliest English-language anthologies of modern Yiddish poetry in 1927.
Poet: Samuel Jacob Imber (1889–1942)
The gold in your eyes,
The silver in your voice
Have blinded me with a thousand rays.
The breath of your silence,
Your strong, deep calm
Have so silently bound my hands.
Your trembling magic,
Your youth, red and pale,
Have softly sucked out my heart.
The fire of your love,
The fire of your hate
Have sweetly sucked my blood.
Poet: Samuel Jacob Imber (1889–1942)
dos gold fun dayne oygn,
dos zilber fun dayn kol
hot mikh mit toyznt shtraln geblent.
der otem fun dayn shvaygn,
dayn shtarke tife ru
hot mikh gor shtil gebundn di hent.
dayn tsiteriker tsoyber,
dayn yugnt royt un blas
hot veykh aroysgetsoygn mayn harts.
dos fayer fun dayn libe,
dos fayer fun dayn has
hot zis aroysgetsoygn mayn blut.
Performers: Ida Rae Cahana, Mezzo-soprano; Yehudi Wyner, Piano
Translations and Transliterations: Eliyahu Mishulovin
Preliminary preparations by Adam J. Levitin
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