February 04, 2021

Slepovitch and Lurje: Songs from Testimonies

1 hour 1 minute

Tonight's show is an interview with Sasha Lurje and Zisl Slepovitch,

who discuss the Songs From Testimonies project, which collects

and records songs and poems discovered in the testimonies of the

Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale

University. The songs are sung in a variety of languages,

including Yiddish, Polish, and French, from both the prewar period

as well as from the ghettos and camps during the war. All were found

among individual testimonies recorded by survivors for the Fortunoff

Archive. The Archive's musician-in-residence, Zisl Slepovitch, took

the songs, conducted research about their origins, and then arranged

and recorded versions with his ensemble, featuring singer Sasha

Lurje. The project has resulted in two albums, Where Is Our

Homeland? Songs From Testimonies in the Fortunoff Video Archive,

Vol. 1, released in 2019, and שרײַ, הערצעלע, שרײַ! Cry, My Heart,

Cry!, Songs from Testimonies, Volume 2, which was just released in

2021 for streaming and download and is soon to be available on CD

and vinyl.

This past week, on Jan 27, Slepovitch and Lurje streamed live to

debut and introduce the most recently recorded songs, along with

video recordings of the musicians performing, COVID-style in video

boxes. The live-stream replay is available now on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/101650124837284/videos/530750214557627/

For additional information and to hear the music from the Songs From

Testimonies project, visit:

https://fortunoff.library.yale.edu/education/songs-from-testimonies/

Zisl Slepovitch, producer and artistic director of the

recordings, arranged all the tracks and also contributed as

composer, lyrics translator, additional vocalist, and musical

instrumentalist on most of the tracks. A native of Minsk, Belarus,

he is a musicologist (Ph.D., Belarusian State Academy of Music); a

multi-instrumental klezmer, classical, and improvisational musician;

a composer and poet; and a music and Yiddish educator. He is a

founding member of the critically acclaimed bands Litvakus, Minsker

Kapelye, and Zisl Slepovitch Trio. Additional info at his web site:

http://dmitrislepovitch.com

Sasha Lurje, the main vocalist of the recordings, is an

internationally renowned Yiddish singer, born in Riga, Latvia, and

now based in Berlin, Germany. She is the featured singer of several

Yiddish music bands and projects, including Forshpil, Litvakus,

STRANGELOVESONGS with Daniel Kahn, Semer Ensemble, and You Shouldn’t

Know from It. Additional info at her web site:

https://sashalurje.com

Music:

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble featuring Sasha Lurje: In Dinaverke

Lily M. (Fortunoff interviewee/survivor): In Dinaverke

Liubov K. (Fortunoff interviewee/survivor): In Dem Kleinem Dorf Von Smiltschenz

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble feat. Sasha Lurje: In Dem Kleinem Dorf Von Smiltschenz

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble feat. Sasha Lurje: Walc François

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble feat. Sasha Lurje: W Pociągu Jest Tłok

Peretz H. (Fortunoff interviewee/survivor): W Pociągu Jest Tłok

Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble feat. Sasha Lurje: Shtubuneltsto

Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Je...

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