o musical notes. The only song which is not included in the collection “It Burns” was “In The Moments Of Dispair." This song was published for the first time in September, 1952 in the Johannesburg monthly journal, “South-Africa." It came out at that time because Melekh Perlin (M. Bakaltshik) borrowed the song from Hofman’s daughters and copied it. The beginning of the song implies that Gebirtig wrote it a year after the war began and, surprisingly, Mordechai suddenly feels so hopeless:
A year of war passed,
A terrible, overwhelming war!
How to live through it,
How to survive?
In the painful five lines he makes a strong complaint to G_d and comes to a sad conclusion:
Our prayer is futile,
It won’t achieve God’s tent.
The Haven is closed
As are the human hearts.
He has still more doubts, which opened for “the secret” for him, that “there is no justice, no G_d." He ends the song in helpless despair:
There is no consolation,
Just suffering and pain.
What are we coming to?
What will happen to us?
There is an opinion that Mordechai Gebirtig, usually an optimist, in the very beginning of the war succumbed to a deep pessimism, which we see in the “Moments Of Dispair". Nevertheless, seeing the pessimism around, he forced himself to return to his “and you chose life” and was looking for a ray of hope for himself and others.
Gebirtig’s Musical Themes
Mordechai Gebirtig did not create his compositions sitting at the piano or holding the tuning fork. He was not an educated musician, did not learn to play any musical instruments and did not know solfeggio or any elementary basics of musical theory and composition, but judging by his achievements, one get the impression that he was well oriented in Jewish melodies as well as in the complicated use of rhythm and meter.
The only instrument he played was the shepherd’s pipe. That was the popular Polish pipe, on which the Polish shepherds played their sad melodies of unachievable desire during summer evenings. In his youth he often played on his pipe. Sometimes he was even invited to provide accompaniment for theatrical shows where musical embellishment was needed. He did it with great pleasure.
This primitive instrument was a big help for Gebirtig when he composed his songs. The sound of the pipe was relaxing and brought inspiration. He created songs which, with their sweet melodies, deeply touched the Jewish heart. They sounded as if they flowed from a clear stream, were notable for their soft and flexible melodic lines.
Gebirtig’s compositions were logical and architectural, fitted and polished, as if they came from the pen of an experienced composer. Besides, their rhythm related to the spirit and disposition of every Jew, so the songs were easy to learn and remember.
It is worthwhile to mention the two elements, without which music cannot be described - melos[i] and rhythmus - and to see how our folk composer unfolded and revealed them.
Melos – means everything that builds the melodic lines and the musical content. This is the intertwining of the notes, combination of the sounds, the different intervals and transitions from note to note and, mainly, the “modus” in which the work is written. The rhythmus is related to the form of the song. This is the movement of the melos; dividing the melody into definite even parts, assembling the notes according to certain order, setting the time length of the sounds, and finally, creating the phrases and periods that build the whole structure. To these we should add the precise designation of the accents, movements and tempos of the specific musical creation.
From which sources did Gibirtig derive his “melodic lines”? On what foundations did he build his songs?
His general base was the modal music of European Ashkenazi Jewry. East European music took its roots from the prayers in the synagogues and then spread to other kinds of Jewish music. These were the sounds which every Jew grew up with: the tones of the Jewish prayers in all of their traditional styles[ii]; the Friday night Shabbat zmirot (songs) and Hasidic melodies; monotonous recitatives 