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Teddi Schwartz

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Teddi Schwartz in around 1970

Theodora "Teddi" Schwartz (4 July 1914–13 October 2017, Yiddish: טעדי שװאַרץ), occasionally spelled Teddy, was an American Yiddish-language singer, writer and translator. She is mainly remembered today for her singable English translation of Dona, Dona which she cowrote with Arthur Kevess.

Biography

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She was born Theodora Rothfarb on July 14, 1914 in East Harlem to Yiddish-speaking Russian Jewish immigrant parents.[1][2][3] Her mother was called Anna; her father Mendl "Max" Rothfarb was a Klezmer cornet player and tailor, and her grandfather was also a musician who taught music to the family.[4][5][6] She studied in public schools and then at the Manhattan School of Music.[1] In 1937 she married a lawyer named Harry Schwartz.[7]

She was influenced by the folk music revival of the 1930s and 1940s and in particular the work of Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger[3][2] She started to translate American songs into Yiddish, collaborating with Arthur Kevess, who often translated Yiddish and German songs.[3][1] Schwartz and Kevess published a book of singable translated Yiddish songs in 1956, which included the Aaron Zeitlin and Sholom Secunda's Yiddish song Dona, Dona.[3][1][8] It was republished in the magazine Jewish Currents in 1958 along with their English versions of Tumbalalaika and The Partisan Girl.[9] That version was recorded by Joan Baez in 1960, as well as by Donovan and Mary Hopkin. Its popularity spurred further translations into a number of other languages.[3]

During this period Schwartz performed regularly in concerts, on radio and television, at the 1964 New York World's Fair.[1][6] She also led choral groups and taught music in camp settings and at the Guild for the Jewish Blind.[4][6][1] In 1970 Schwartz released an LP Walk Right In/Kimt arayn on her own label, Tevye Records.[1] In 1981 and 1982 she joined the Yiddisher Caravan tours, a national touring variety show of klezmer, Yiddish theater, cantorial music and folk songs funded by the National Council for the Traditional Arts.[10][11][3] She also attended KlezKamp in New York in its early years.[3]

Schwartz died on October 13, 2017 at age 103.[3] She was buried in the New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York.[12]

Selected works

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  • Tumbalalaika: a collection of 17 Jewish songs, including Dona dona dona: for singing in English or the original in transliteration (booklet)[13][1]
  • Songs my Grandma Taught me: singable English versions of Yiddish folksongs (booklet, 1961).[1]
  • Walk Right In/Kumt arayn (LP, Tevye Records, 1970).[14][1]
  • Kumt arayn "Walk Right In" (audiocassette, Global Village records)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j ASCAP Biographical Dictionary (4 ed.). New York: R. R. Bowker Company. 1980. pp. 450–1. ISBN 0835212831.
  2. ^ a b "Yiddish troupe to entertain at the Y". The Jewish Community News. Clifton, New Jersey. April 1981. p. 12.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kutzik, Jordan (31 October 2017). "ניטאָ מער טעדי שוואַרץ, איבערזעצערין פֿון „דאָנע דאָנע‟". The Yiddish Daily Forward (in Yiddish). Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Biographies, Compilations, Encyclopedia Articles and Periodicals". Jewish folklore and ethnology newsletter. 3 (1–2): 19. 1981.
  5. ^ Schwartz, Teddi. Kumt arayn "Walk right in": American Songs in Yiddish (audiocassette liner). New York City: Global Village Records. C141.
  6. ^ a b c Schwartz, Teddi (1970). Kumt arayn (Walk right in) (LP sleeve). New York City: Tevye Records. TEVYE LP101.
  7. ^ "M-K-1937-0015201". NYC Historical Vital Records. NYC Department of Records & Information Services. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  8. ^ Rogovoy, Seth (9 January 2023). "The Secret Jewish History Of Joan Baez". The Forward. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Three Yiddish Songs". Jewish Currents. 12 (1): 16–17. January 1958.
  10. ^ "NCTA Tour List". The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA). Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  11. ^ Sapoznik, Henry (1999). Klezmer! : Jewish music from Old World to our world. New York : Schirmer Books. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-02-864574-2.
  12. ^ "Internment Details - THEODORA SCHWARTZ". New Montefiore Cemetery. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Tumbalalaika : a collection of 17 Jewish songs, including Dona dona dona : for singing in English or the original in transliteration". WorldCat. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Kumt arayn = Walk right in". WorldCat. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
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