Fridoy, October 12, 1956
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Poge Five
• Books • Music • Dromo • Art • Humor
world traveller visits British Columbia in 1861 and predicts great
FROM "TKliEE Y£ARS IN AMERICA" (VOLUME II)
BY BENJAMIN 11 FIRST ENGLISH EDITION PUBLISHEli BY THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMEWCA, PHILADELPHIA,
ON JANUARY 28, 1861, I began the trip from San Francisco to the city of Victoria (on the British island of Vancouver) and went on board the steamer, Panama. Before we sailed, thie timely discovery was made that our ship was leaking^ and that several feet of water had gotten into its hold. The sailors were quickly placed at the pumps and, after a few hours of hard work, the ship was again declared seaworthy — after it had been patched ,up irather superficially in Yankee fashion. Oui^ departure, to'be sure, was delayed a few hours; but still, towards ten o'clock in the evening, sail and steam were set to work, and so our journey to the north began.
It may not be out of place, perhaps, to take this opportunity to insert a-few. remarks about the carelessness and lack of coriscience with which owners and managers of ships undertake the transport of precious lives and valuable cargo. Most of the steamers sailing between San Francisco and Victoria and several of those that go from San Francisco to Panama are not. seaworthy; I would not trust the life of a faifliful dog, let alone a human being, to a ship that goes to Victoria. The government puts too little weight or. the examination, of ships before they leave the harbor. There^ are, to be sure, well-paid officials "whose duty it is to see that no unseaworthy ship leaves the Jharbor and that no iship has:i,more.|iai$sengers and. mor^ on board than it has a right to carry accordingr to its register., But even if one of these officials really inspects a ship, the inspection is, and remains, without any result. For the Pacific Mail iSteamship Company has a great and mighty monopoly on that coast. Only a friendly hint and promise are needed to let a ship put out to sea without regard for the fate of the, passengers.
I will not leave unmentioned the fact that the steamship company gave me free passage along the northern and southern coasts, so that, personally, I have every reason to speak of it in the most grateful manner.
BENJAMIN II wos the pseudonym of I. J. Benjamin/ o European ieyr from Mofdayio, who troYelled all oyer the world in the mid-nine-ffe^ifih century, rie considered himself the successor to Benjamin of Tudela who trovelled throughout the known world in '1170, seeking out and describing the remnants of the tribes of Israel. Benjamin II travelled to America in 1859-62 ond then published his impressions in o book in German which is'^iilow out of print. He visited Victorio in 1861 and wrote several chapters of his impressions of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, the first of which is published here. The publishers stole that no attempt hos been mode to correct the author's statements or improve his observations. On- February 7, 1861 the Jews of Victoria held o meeting in honor of Benjamin II.
pany has insured' its bad ships heavily, it i$«quite indifferent whether or not, sooner or later, one of them falls a prey to the waves and few or many human lives are lost — if only it receives the insurance. As we left the harbor, nothing
The duty of being impartial, how- further occurred to distract us from
ever, demands that I deliver a true > report of doings and dealings in California, and to this duty I consider myself obligated to suborbinate every other consideration. SHIPS HEAVILY INSURED
The steamship Panama, therefore, continues its trips in spite of its thorqughly bad condition, although it suffers some accident or other on almost eviery voyage. Since the com-
the quiet contemplation of the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, and a sharp eye could watch these mountains from the ship. On the evening of February first, however, we again suffered one of those accidents to be met with so often in America. It was all the more terrifying for those on board the ship: they thought that after the icirst accident they hgd nothing further to fear and
A ■
We are pleased to announce the appointment of
Jack Spaiton
as manager of the
RECORD LIBRARY
Mr. Sporton has been in the record business for the past 12 years and is well versed in classical, popular and jazz niusic.
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412 WEST HASTINGS
were basking in the hope that the rest of the .trip would be pleasant. Their terror, then, was all' the greater when it appeared that the steamship had been damaged and that in its dangerous location — on a sand-bank, one of the most dangerous places of the Pacific — the bank of the Columbia River.
On tiie thu-d of February, we arrived at the city of Portland in Oregon. Here our ship had to undergo repairs once more. On the fifth, it directed its course - towards Victoria. It was a wonderful day. The sun shone in all its splendor and, although we were at the 46th degree, north latitudfe, the air was as pleasant as on an early autumn day in southern Europe. We stopped at Astoria, a little place of about eight hundred inhabitants. It is named after a German, John Jacob AStor, a lucky dealer in raw furs and the richest man in America. The purpose pf our stop was to leave at the custom-house, established here by the American government, an inventory of our dutiable goods.
As we left Astoria, we fbund the sea very stormy so that at times it threatened to scatter the planks of our ship — fragile enough without this. Still, we reached the Straights of Fuka at last and here the storm abated. Inasmuch as large ships cannot enter the harbor of Victoria because it is, shallow, we anchored at Esquimault, about four miles from
the city. From Esquimault I went by stagecoach to Victoria. The way there provides the traveler with' a singular experience. It runs from the landing-place through a rugged, wild district. The stage must find its v ty between ravines and swamps, woodland and ^eat rocks. The city itself winds along in the midst of this wilderness, between trees of great height. Right and left, one encounters the camps of Indians who go-about half-naked or entirely so. In the city* I put Up at a hotel run by a Jew, full of joy that the dangers and hardships of my journey had been,^appily overcome. I sauntered put tcy lopk about at the farthest of English possessions.
VICTORIA «GREW UP INANICmr'
The city, like the gourd of Jonah, grew up in a night as a result of the excitement caused two years before by the discovery of new goldmines along the Eraser River. I gathered the following history of Victoria from several newspapers and other more reliable sources.
It is hardly more than two years since Victoria had only several hundred inhabitants. In addition to those stationed there by the Hudson Bay Company, there were only twenty or thirty settlers. A lucky accident— the discover of a quantity of gold-dust — or rather the fact that here and in the neighborhood gold had been discovered, first directed the
Trealachs' on two; o womon cantor; David Oistrakh
■ ^ B]r DR. HARRY'WINROB
THE folk dance music collectively known as freilachs, and long associated with the most joyous and light-hearted events in the life of the Eastern European Jew, has to date been no-ticably neglected by the record makers. Now we have two releases which will partly fill the void. The first is called "Freilachs in Hi-Fi," a 12 inch LP, subtitled "Jewish W e d di n g Dances"—No. RL 1906 on the Period label. Led by Murray Lehrer, the "Klezmorim" or musicians are an American Jewish ensemble.
The music as a whole points to the multi-national origin of the Yiddish folk dance. We find here selections which derive frpm the Ukranian, Russian and Rumanian national dances. Yet in the process of adoption by the Jewish people, the music has not altogether maintained its original form. Alterations in style and inflection have occurred that give to the music today its special Jewish character.
The Russian Sher and the Rumanian Diona and Hora are still recognizable but they have acquired a Jewish flavor which is unique unto itself.
As for the recording,, would that Mr. Lehrer's arrangers had made up their minds whether this was going to be a swing session or an honest attenfipt to faithfully reproduce the dance melodies that thrived but a generation or two ago. *^ablltchld*' was much better done by Ziggy El-mdn as unpretentious swing than the curious half-baked version presented here. In other numbers, too, American swing techniques creep in to spoil any impression of authenticity.
There are interludes, however, and sometimes these add up to extended
passages, where adulteration is at a minimum and one can enjoy some of the old abandon and frivolity which marks the best of a passing tradition. Noteworthy as more genuine versions are the Bessarablan Dance, Dolna and Tzushpiel and the medley of three Chassidische numbers.
The musicians are very capable and the sound is reproduced faithfully, with special efforts to emphasize the high in hi-fi.
There is no excuse, however, for
the complete absence of descriptive
or back-ground notes on this higher
priced recording.
* * *
"TANZ** a 12 inch Epic LP, No. LN 3219, covers the same area in Jewish music. It, too, is a product of the American Jewish musical scene and, in fact, one of the leading solo instrumentalists is common to both recordings. Yet its arrangements do not lean so heavily on "Americanisms" so that it is more successful in creating a feeling of authenticity.
In other respects, too, this is a more satisfying recording. There is more variety to be found here, including the familiar Yiddish song, Papirosseu in a lively, danceable arrangement, and an unqsual gem in the Yemenite Dance.
The accompanying notes were written by Ivan Fiedel, a descendant from a family of "Klezmer" with an obvious affection for this tradition. They not only sen's ss an inforniailve guide to a better appreciation of the music, but possess a humorous sonorous style that is in complete character with the musical content. *
Surface noise on the sample sent to me is the only feature detracting from its overall superiority over the first recording reviewed. Either, however, is invaluable if you wish to in-
attention of the world to the island of Vancouver—^previously unregarded and its name hardly known.
An extraordmary importance was attached to this discovery.-It was soon rumored about that the dazzling discoveries of California and Australia had been repeated, indeed, that the glitter of both those lands would be outshone by this new, and much richer. El Dorado, i^urther, it was said, from the circumstances that the yield of' gold in the upper and northern parts of California was increasingly greater and richer than in the souths it followed readily that British soil contained boundless and inexhaustible sources of the precious metal.
In the mother country, England, men began to inquire quite seriously about the shortest ways to this new world of wealth and searched maps and geographies busily and anxiously until they learnt about the actual existence of an island called Vancouver: a discovery that all sellers of maps and the geographers of the Queen likewise confirmed. Most of the inhabitants of Great Britain now learnt for the first time of two colonies that ^England possessed^—the island of Vancouver and British (Continued on Page 8)
ject a bit of "Yiddishn torn" or flavor • into your dancing parties and social gatherings.
* * *
CANtdRIALS by a womian —this is what Capitol Records lias given us in **SduI Of A Peoirfe*, ifeaturing Bas Sheva, 10 inch LP No. L8287. * It should prove a popular item in anybody's Jewish record collection.
Firstly, it is a novelty, since women cantors practice this vocation only in the concert hall—^they are strictly taboo in the liturgical service of the synagogue. In addition, the singer has chosen well—all six of the prayers included are melodically ingratiating and only the exception is commonly heard.*
* Bas Sheva*s voice is pleasing, though wiry in the higher registers. Her forte is her intensely dramatic interpretive ability with emphasis in the use of'melisma, i.e. sliding of the voice while sustaining a single syllable—a distinguishing feature of can-torial song. However, there is complete absence of the atmosphere of reverence, awe, even mysticism which one associates with the cantorial purpose and that traditionally was so well fulfilled by the leading exponents of the art.
She has fiill orchestral accompaniment—^unorthodox but most acceptable in rounding out the concert effect of the whole.
Thfr recording is fully up to modern standards of sound reproduction. * * ♦
DAVID OISTRAKH, Russian- Jewish violinist, who in recent years has skyrocketed to prominence as one of the great artists of our time, is widely recorded on various labels and in numerous standard repertoire works. One out of the way recording is the very new Shostakovitch VioUia Concerto—Columbia LP No. ML 507?=— a product of Oistrakh*s recent American tour. The orchestra is the New York Philharmonic with Disiitri Metropoulos conducting.
This is a work that is not easily accessible on first listening but grows in stature with more intimate contact. Already one English music critic has hailed it as one of the great violin concertos of this century and Oistrakh's playing of it in London as the greatest musical event of the year.
If you want a change from the old war horses, try this one. It will be a favorite in time to come.
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