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Philip Laskowsky

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Philip Laskowsky

Philip Laskowsky (Yiddish: פֿיליפּ לאַסקאָװסקי; c.1884–1960) was a Polish-born American composer, arranger, bandleader, comedian and actor of the Yiddish theatre.[1][2][3] He collaborated with a number of well-known figures of the American Yiddish theatre such as Boris Thomashefsky, Louis Gilrod, Isidore Lillian, Jacob Jacobs, and Rubin Doctor.[2] He is sometimes credited with having written the music for the well-known Yiddish song Oyfn veg shteyt a boym, although this is disputed.[4]

Biography

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Early life

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He was born Pinchas Laskowsky in Warsaw, Poland in the 1880s.[1][5][6] His exact year of birth is uncertain; the Leksikon fun yidishn teater gives it as July 17, 1889, but in immigration documents Laskowsky usually indicated July 17, 1884 or sometimes 1886.[7][8] His father was a lumber merchant and follower of the Radzymin Hasids.[1] As a youth he was taught by Melameds and his father, and learned music from a Hazzan as well as from his brother, who was a music professor.[2][1] His brother wanted to prepare him for the career of being a military bandleader.[1][3]

Theatre career

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However, rather than the military he was apprenticed in the opera company "Bustnai" in Warsaw.[3] He soon became the second choir conductor with them.[1][3] He also befriended Yiddish Theatre actor named Strasfogel and started to act in small productions with him.[3] He then acted in traveling Yiddish theatre troupes in Poland and the Russian Empire until the outbreak of World War I.[1] When Germany occupied Warsaw a central theatre was organized and he played as a character actor in operettas there.[1][3] He also began to compose music for operettas at around this time.[1][3] He married his wife Sarah around the end of the war, and they had their daughter Chaia in July 1919.[8][5]

He left Poland in 1921 and emigrated to the United States, sailing first to Halifax, Canada, then to Montreal and arrived in New York City in March.[7][9][10][1][6][8] There he continued to act and compose short works for the Yiddish theatre, often for productions by Boris Tomashevsky.[3] He held a number of jobs in smaller Yiddish theatres during the 1920s, often following Tomashevsky to other cities, including in Los Angeles in 1925 and in Philadelphia in 1927.[11][3][12]

It was in 1929 that he got his first high-profile job writing full compositions, becoming the director, conductor and composer at the Prospect Theatre with Nathan Goldberg and Jacob Jacobs.[3][1] That same year, on March 4 1929, Goldberg, Laskowsky and actor Lucy Finkel were involved in an automobile accident, leaving Finkel with a fractured skull and Laskowsky with a broken spine.[13][14][15] According to Pesach Burstein, Laskowsky spent several months recovering in bed from the injuries.[16]

Philip Laskowsky

In the 1930s Laskowsky continued to be very productive in the Yiddish theatre, not only composing but also arranging the compositions of other composers for performance.[9] In 1930 and 1931 he worked for the Hopkinson Theatre and also worked for a time in Winnipeg, Canada.[1][6] In 1931 he returned to the United States to work at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia.[1] He then returned to New York in 1932 and worked at the Liberty Theatre in Brooklyn.[1]

During and after World War II, as the Yiddish theatre waned in popularity, he collaborated regularly with Israel Rosenberg and Vera Rozanka.[17][18] His only contribution to film music seems to have been a partial credit for Catskill Honeymoon, a low-budget 1950 film directed by Josef Berne.[19][20]

He died in New York on June 13, 1960.[9] He was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance section.[21]

Selected list of plays and operettas he wrote music for

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  • Der griner melamed
  • Di griner kuzine (1922, written by Boris Thomashefsky)[22]
  • Di khasene in Rumenien (1924)[23]
  • Di bar mitzvah (1927, written by Boris Thomashefsky)[12][3]
  • Khad gadya (1927, written by Boris Thomashefsky)[12]
  • In rabins hoyf by Nestor
  • Der konig fun gamblers (1928, written by Meir Schwartz)
  • Dayn mames gelibter (1928, by H. Kalmanovitsh)[24]
  • Avrahamale melamed[3]
  • Farlangt a khosn (by Samuel H. Kohn)[3]
  • Di kenigin fun meyn harts (1929, written by William Siegel and lyrics by Louis Gilrod)[25][26]
  • Der kleiner bondit (1933, written by Samuel Steinberg)[27]
  • Der kleyne rebele (1935, written by Anshel Schorr)[28]
  • Farblondzhete mener (1951, written by Israel Rosenberg)[18]
  • Gezang fun libe (Song of Love, 1951, written by Israel Rosenberg)[18]
  • Hintern farlang fun lebn (1951, written by Israel Rosenberg)[18]
  • Yosef mit zayne brider (1955, written by Israel Rosenberg)[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Zylbercweig, Zalmen; Mestel, Jacob (1931). Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer Vol. 2 (in Yiddish). New York: Elisheva. p. 1004.
  2. ^ a b c Rumshinsky, Joseph (1944). Klangen fun mayn lebn (in Yiddish). New York: A. Y. Biderman. pp. 819–20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Perlmutter, Sholem (1952). Yidishe dramaṭurgn un ṭeaṭer ḳompoziṭors (in Yiddish). New York: IKUF. pp. 384–5.
  4. ^ "A Tree Grows in Zion". The Forward. January 10, 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Pincus Laskowski. Migration • Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Philip Laskowsky. Census • United States Census, 1930". FamilySearch. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Pinchas Laskowski. Migration • Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Pincus Laskowski. Migration • New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "הײנט די לװיה פון פֿיליפּ לאסקאָװסקי". Forverts (in Yiddish). New York, NY. June 16, 1960. p. 10.
  10. ^ "Pineus (Unknown) Laskowski. Migration • United States Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895-1956". FamilySearch. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  11. ^ "ALL-YIDDISH PLAY TO BE PRESENTED ON SEPTEMBER 20". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. September 7, 1925. p. 8.
  12. ^ a b c Zylbercweig, Zalmen; Mestel, Jacob (1931). Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer Vol. 2 (in Yiddish). New York: Elisheva. pp. 829–30.
  13. ^ "Jewish Star and Composer Hurt in Crash". Daily News. New York, NY. March 5, 1929. p. 4.
  14. ^ "Composer and Singer Hurt in Auto Crash". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. March 5, 1929. p. 24.
  15. ^ "פֿפשזישפּילערין לוסי פּינקעל אין דער מוױקער לאַסקאַװסקי שװער פֿאַרװאזנדעט אין אָטאָמאָביל אזמגליק". Forverts (in Yiddish). New York, NY. March 5, 1929.
  16. ^ Burstein, Peysachke (1980). Geshpilṭ a lebn (in Yiddish). Tel-Aviv. p. 135.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ "Parkway offers 'Song of Love'". Daily News. New York, NY. October 31, 1951. p. KL 1.
  18. ^ a b c d e Zylbercweig, Zalmen; Mestel, Jacob (1931). Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer vol. 4 (in Yiddish). New York: Elisheva. pp. 2537–9.
  19. ^ Hanson, Patricia King (1999). American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States _ Feature Films 1941-1950 Indexes_. University of California Press. p. 394.
  20. ^ Within our gates : ethnicity in American feature films, 1911-1960. Berkeley, Ca.: University of California Press. 1997. p. 175. ISBN 9780520209640.
  21. ^ "PHILIP LASKOWSKY". Mount Hebron Cemetery. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Advertisement". Forverts (in Yiddish). New York, NY. October 14, 1922.
  23. ^ "Advertisement". Forverts (in Yiddish). New York, NY. October 17, 1924.
  24. ^ Heskes, Irene (1992). Yiddish American popular songs, 1895 to 1950 : a catalog based on the Lawrence Marwick roster of copyright entries. Library of Congress. p. 306.
  25. ^ "קעניגיז פון מיין האַרץ". Forverts (in Yiddish). New York. January 10, 1930. p. 3.
  26. ^ Heskes, Irene (1992). Yiddish American popular songs, 1895 to 1950 : a catalog based on the Lawrence Marwick roster of copyright entries. Library of Congress. p. 319.
  27. ^ Heskes, Irene (1992). Yiddish American popular songs, 1895 to 1950 : a catalog based on the Lawrence Marwick roster of copyright entries. Library of Congress. p. 342.
  28. ^ Heskes, Irene (1992). Yiddish American popular songs, 1895 to 1950 : a catalog based on the Lawrence Marwick roster of copyright entries. Library of Congress. p. 356.
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