Poetic Yiddish art songs to poems by Y.L. Peretz depicting the relationship between mother and child (see lyrics below).

Moshe Milner (1886-1953) was a Russian-Jewish composer and pianist who was fully committed to his Jewish heritage. He was a member of the St. Petersburg Jewish Folk Music Society founded in 1908. His music, characterized by his use of Yiddish speech patterns, is imbued with the spirit of Eastern European Judaism.

Milner was born in Ratkine (Kiev), Ukraine, as Moses Mikhail Melnikov. At the synagogue in Kiev he studied with cantors Nissan Belser and Jakov Morogovsky, and he started his piano studies with the choirmaster Abram Dzimitrovsky. He continued his piano studies at Kiev Conservatory and St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition with Anatoly Lyadov and Maximilien Steinberg (1907-15).

Milner's main focus was on vocal music, but he also composed piano, chamber music, choral and orchestral works, incidental music and three operas, of which the opera "Die himlen brenen" (1923) was banned by Soviet censorship after the second performance and the other two "Anschel and "Josephus Flavius" were never performed.

Nevertheless, his early songs, such as "In cheder" (At School) (1914), became quite popular. They were performed at concerts in Leningrad and New York

Milner composed his “Vocal Suite to Y.L. Peretz’s Ten Children’s Songs” for voice and piano in 1916.
After the separate publications of the songs in 1919, the complete song cycle was published by Kultur Lige – Meluche Farlag, Kiev in 1921. Later the song cycle was translated into Russian and published under a different title, "Мать и дитя” (Mat’ i ditya / Mother and Child), which led to some confusion in the cataloging of the work.

We obtained the sheet music of Milner's "Vocal Suite to Y. L. Peretz's Ten Children's Songs" (in the original Yiddish edition of 1921) from the late singer Mascha Benya Matz in New York.

Our rendition of Milner’s Vocal Suite was recorded in 2005 / 2007 and was first released (under the title of the Russian edition mentioned above) in 2008 as part of the CD "Curtain Call for the St. Petersburg Jewish Music Society (1908) - 100th Anniversary” (JMP CD 002) under the aegis of the Jewish Music Projects Foundation, Amsterdam.

In his review of this CD, Jan Waas wrote that “The Sovali-Prenen duo gave a magnificent performance, full of love for the music.” (NIW, 23 October 2009). .

Lyrics:

1. Viglid / Cradle Song

Shteyt in feld a boymele, / In the field a tree stands
Hot es grine tsvaygelakh. / With green branches.
Zitst deroyf a foygele, / On it is perched a bird,
Makht es tsu di oygelakh. / It is closing its eyes.

Oyf di grine tsvaygelakh / On the green branches
Vakst a goldn epele / A golden apple is growing.
Di oygelakh makh tsu mayn kind, / Close your eyes, my child,
A brokhe oyf dayn kepele! / Blessings on your little head!

Oyf di grine tsvaygelakh / On the green branches
Shlofn shoyn di foygelakh. / The birds are already asleep.
Di mame zingt zey: a, a... / Mother sings to them a, a…
S’iz a shtile nakht, a, a, a, a...! / The night is quiet, a, a, a…!


2. Ketsele, Shtil / Pussycat Be Quiet

Ketsele, shtil! Maysele, shtil! / Pussycat, be quiet! Little mouse, be quiet!
Mayn oytserl shoyn shlofn vil. / My darling is falling asleep.
Kelbele, kelbele nisht gemekt, / Calf, do not bleat,
Un mayn oytserl nisht gevekt. / And do not wake up my darling.

Du veyhe nisht tsu vintele! / Do not waft, breeze!
Shtiler, shtiler hintele! / Be quiet, dog!
In moyl ferbays dos tsingele, / Bite your tongue in your mouth,
Shlofn vil mayn yingele. / My boy is falling asleep.


3. A Gute Nakht / Good Night

Tsugedekt di fisselakh, / The feet tucked in,
Ikh breng dir morgen nisselakh, / Tomorrow I will bring you nuts,
Frishe nisselakh fun vald, / Fresh nuts from the forest,
Zolst, mayn kind, nor shlofn bald! / My child, go to sleep now!

Drimlt ayn mayn kindele fest, / Sleep sound, my child,
Kumen bald di libe gest. / Soon the sweet guests will be coming.
Kumen, kumen ongefloygn, / They will come flying,
Malokhimlakh mit zise oygn. / The angels with their kind eyes,
Di fligelakh fun loyter gold, / With wings of pure gold,
Zey hobn shtile kinderholt. / They quietly love children.

Un zey kumen tsu bahitn, / And they come to protect,
Tsu bahitn un b’shitsn, / To protect and guard,
Mit khaloymoys, shtile, sheyne, / With dreams, quiet, beautiful,
Vi es past far kinder kleyne. / As it should be with small children.

Makh nor tsu di oygelakh, / Close your eyes now,
Zey flihen on vi foygelakh. / They are flying like birds.
Herst, mayn kind, herst mayn kroyn, / Listen, my child, listen, my jewel,
Di fligelakh zey royshn shoyn! / The wings are already rustling!
Zey flihen on vi foygelakh, / They are flying like birds,
Makh nor tsu di oygelakh! / Now close your eyes!

Shtil di oygelakh fermakht, / Quietly close your eyes,
Hob a gute, zisse nakht! / Have a good, sweet night!


4. Der Foygl / The Bird

Oyf a boym in grinem vald / On a tree in the green forest
A vunderlekher foygl shalt / A strange bird sings
“Tralala, tralala!” / “Tra la la, tra la la!”

Iz a yingele tsugeloyfn / A boy comes walking up
Un der foygl iz antloyfn / And the bird flies off
“Tralala, tralala!” / “Tra la la, tra la la!”

“Vos antloyfstu?” s’yingele shrayt / “Why are you fleeing?” the boy cries
“Nisht gevolt dir tun kayn layd” / “I don’t want to harm you”
“Tralala, trala!” / “Tra la la, tra la la!”

“Ikh bet dikh, foygl, foygele, blayb!” / “I beg you bird, little bird stay!”
Un der foygl: “ikh nisht gloyb!” / And the bird says, “I don’t believe you!”
“Tralala, tralala!” / “Tra la la, tra lal a!”

Oyf a boym in grinem vald / On a tree in the green forest
A vunderlekher foygl shalt / A strange bird sings
“Tralalala, tralala!” / “Tra la la la, tra la la!”


5. Der Shifer / The Skipper

S’hot der regn oyfgehert, / The rain has stopped,
Der himl iz shoyn oysgeklert, / The sky has cleared,
Nor di dekher zaynen nass, / Only the roofs are still wet,
Rinen taykhelakh in gass. / Drips are falling in pools in the alley,
Rinen, rinen, rinen. / Drip, drip, drip.

Kh’hob mayn shifele gefunen, / I found my ship,
Oyfn vasser es gelozt, / Launched it on the water,
Un es kumt der vint un blozt, / And the wind comes blowing,
Yogt mayn shifele geshvind, / Pushes my ship swiftly
Oyf di fliglen fun dem vint. / On the wings of the wind!

“Flih dir, flih, mayn shifele! / “Sail, my ship! Sail!
Un vuhin flihstu, mayn shifele?” / And where are you sailing, my ship?”
“Tsu der frayer velt ahin, / “To the free world,
Vus’iz likhtik, vus’iz grin, / Where it’s light, where it’s green,
Foygl zingt, blumen bliht”. / Where birds sing and flowers bloom.”
“Shifele, nem mikh mit!” / “Ship, take me aboard!”


6. Breytele / Bread Roll

Breytele, breytele, kleyn! / Bread roll, small bread roll!
A breytele zol dokh kaylekhdik zayn, / A bread roll should be round,
Un tsind geshvind in eyvele arayn, / And swiftly put in the oven,
Genug in eyvele gezessn, / When it has been in the oven long enough,
Am, am, am, oyfgegessn! / Yum, yum, yum, it is all gone!


7. Tants, Meydele, Tants! / Dance, Girl, Dance!

Tants, tants, meydele, tants, / Dance, dance, girl, dance,
Mit’n blumenkrants! / With your garland!
Zehst, der himl lakht mit trern, / Look, the sky smiles through its tears,
Vest in gikh’n a kale vern. / Soon you will be a bride.
Tants, meydele, tants, / Dance, girl, dance,
Mit’n blumenkrants! / With your garland!

Klezmer, shpil! Klezmer, shpil! / Musician, play! Musician, play!
Tantsen vil mayn meydele, / My girl wants to dance,
Inem faynem kleydele / In her beautiful dress
Tantst es mit gefil, / She loves to dance.
Shpil, klezmer, shpil! / Play, musician, play!
Tants, tants, meydele, tants, / Dance, dance, girl, dance,
Mit’n blumenkrants! / With your garland!


8. Der Yeger / The Hunter

Yankele vil a yeger zayn, / Yankele wants to be a hunter,
Yankele vil in vald arayn. / Yankele wants to go to the forest.
Shissn vil er nor a ber! / He only wants to shoot a bear!
Vu nemt men gever? / Where will he find a gun?

Undzer Yankele der zet / Our Yankele, he sees
In vinkele a bezem shteyt. / A broom in a corner.
Mitn bezem vet er yogn, / With the broom he’ll go out hunting,
Un a groysn ber dershlogn! / And slay a big bear!

Er kon in shtub shoyn mer nisht blaybn, / He can no longer stay indoors,
Vil dem bezem unterhoybn. / He wants to pick up the broom,
Shverer bezem kehrt zikh iber, / The heavy broom topples over,
Un der yeger falt ariber! / And the hunter trips on it!

Nisht kayn ber un nisht kayn hoz, / No bear and no hare,
Un tseshlogn zikh di noz! / And the nose injured!
Er vil shoyn nisht in vald arayn, / He no longer wants to go to the forest,
Er vil shoyn nisht kayn yeger zayn! / He no longer wants to be a hunter!


9. Bal-Shpil / Ball Game

Tsu der vant! Shpring tsurik! / To the wall! Bounce back!
In oygnblik tsu der vant! / Right away to the wall!

Tsu der vant! Tsurik tsu mir! / To the wall! Back to me!
Eyns un tsvey, dray un fir! / One and two, three and four!

Finf un zeks, shtarker klop! / Five and six. a strong kick!
Ikh varf un khap, varf un khap! / I throw and catch, throw and catch!

Ahin, tsurik! Zibn, akht! / Back and forth! Seven, eight!
Dos maystershtik iz obgemakht! / The masterpiece is finished!


10. Oyfn Grinem Bergele / On the Little Green Mountain

Oyfn grinem bergele / On the little green mountain
Vakst a yung boymele, / Grows a young tree.
Vil dos boymele nit shlofn, / The tree doesn’t want to sleep.
Di lvone tut es shtrofn: / The moon will punish it:
“Tsayt tsu dremlen boymele, / "It is dream time, little tree,
Oyfn grinem bergele!” / On the little green mountain!”

Azoy zogn oykh di shtern, / The stars are saying the same thing,
Nor dos boymele vil nisht hern, / But the tree doesn’t want to listen,
Vil nisht tsumakhn di oygn. / It doesn’t want to close its eyes.
Iz a vintele tsugefloygn / A little breeze comes flying
Tsu dem grinem bergele, / Towards the little green mountain,
Khapt arum dos boymele./ Seizes the little tree.

Shoklt shtil un vigt es ayn: / Swings and rocks it gently:
“Boymele, boymele, ruhik zayn! / “Little tree be quiet!
Shlofn muz men, boymele grin.” / Go to sleep, little green tree.”
Vigt aher, vigt ahin, / Rocking, rocking to and fro,
Dremlt ayn dos boymele / The small tree dozes off,
Oyfn grinem bergele. / On the little green mountain.