rtig’s songs: “Baym taykhele” (“At The River”), the lullaby “Shlof shoyn, mayn kind”(“Sleep, My Child”), “Hungerik mayn ketsele” (“Hungry Is My kitten”), “Kartofl-zup mit shvamen” (“Potato Soup With Mushrooms”), “Halutsim-libe” (“Love of Eretz Israel Pioneers)” etc.
He divides longer songs into three parts in relation to the form a-b-c, which means every part is being sung with its own melody. Such is the song “Kivele" (Akiva). The first part has sixteen measures; the second and third have eight measures each. Similar in construction is the song “Kartofl-zup mit shvamen." The partition of the measures here is different: in the first and second parts there are sixteen measures, and in the third – just four. Many songs are of two parts only: “Moyshele mayn fraynt” (Moyshele My Friend”), “Tri-li-tri-li-li”, “Hulyet, Hulyet, Kinderlekh” (“Enjoy Yourselves, Children”), “Nokh a glezele tey” (“One More Glass Of Tea”) and many others. The form of these songs is a-b, which means that the melodies of both parts differ.
From the point of view of musical art, the most interesting songs are not divided. They have just a few compressed and condensed measures but, at the same time, are juicy and rich melodiously. Such are songs “Kinder yorn” (Childhood Years), “Reyzele”, “Motele”, “Hey, Tsigelekh”, “Moyshele”, “S’brent”, - all of these fall into this category.
Gebirtig’s songs were sung in the traditional time takts of 4/4, ¾ and 2/4, some were even faster, in 3/8, 4/8 and 6/8. He used syncopation when it had just made its first steps in Poland.
Gebirtig created his songs in moments of emotional experience, in relation to his inner feelings and convictions, as if his spirit drafted them. They lacked clichés and conventional structures and forms, and radiated an aroma of improvisation and deep soulfulness. The songs were musical literary improvisations of a melancholic Jew who described the condition of the people in which he lived.
M. Gebirtig’s Literary and Musical Heritage.
Over hundred songs, published in different editions and about twenty never published – this is the literary-musical heritage of M. Gebirtig. At that time the songs were published in different forms. The largest publication, under name “Mayne lider”(My Songs) was in New York, at 1948, and included songs from “Folkstimlekh” (Popular) (Krakow, 1920), Mayne lider (Vilno, 1936) and “S’brent”(It Burns) (Krakow, 1946). G. Chanin wrote a long introduction to this book.
In 1954 the publishing house “Avigdor Shpritser” of the Association of the Jews from Galicia in Argentine published “Geklibene Lider” “Collected Songs” of M. Gebirtig (with sheet music). The introduction was written by the poet Israel Ashendorf. Another book, titled “Mordechai Gebirtig Sings” was published in 1963 in Buenos Aires by the publishing house “Ikuf”. This book includes a number of songs in Spanish translation, and has a preface by A. Laufer.
In 1967 “Moreshet” publishing house, together with “Sifriat Hapoalim” (Library of the Workers) in Tel-Aviv published a grand edition, "Mordechai Gebirtig: Ündzer shtetl brent," in which there are 21 songs, some with sheet music and ornamented with original photographs which survived from Jewish Community of Kraków. The book is bilingual, Yiddish and Hebrew, and because of that, has a special importance. The book was edited by Mordechai Amitai.
Mordechai Gebirtig’s name is lauded with many plaudits: “the Jewish folk-troubadour," “the last of the Broder-singers," “the singer of the perished masses,” and so on. The truth is, he was all these and much more.
He was an educator of the Jewish masses, and his words, full of truth, made an impact on all those who heard them. He awoke compassion for the poor, sympathy for the suffering, love for fellow men, and strength in the fight with the enemy. He revived people’s hearts.
Let us crown him with divine love for the Jewish people, from which he drew spiritual nourishment, and let us sing his songs loudly, so that people in all the Jewish communities of the world can hear them. Let them echo in the hearts of our childr