Mark Zuckerman - Composer

Harbstlid [Autumn Song]

1999 SATB a cappella (CE) Get the Music Recording: Goldene Keyt Singers
A reflective arrangement of a song by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, one of the most active and prestigious recent Yiddish poets. Part of the ECS Mark Zuckerman Yiddish Choral Series.

Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman is a well-known Yiddish poet from a prominent Yiddishist family living in New York City. Her Harbstlid (Autumn Song) comes from a collection of her songs, Zummerteg (Summer Days).

See, it’s fall, and all that greened has yellowed, withered. See, it’s fall, and all that bloomed is gone. And I who thought that spring would last forever, and in my hand I hold Eternity. Oho, falling leaves! Oho, flying days! Oho, how will I wander now when thick fog settles on my way… Sadly cawing birds say “Good-bye!” At the window the moaning, wailing wind: “I wish that I could get away from here to a shore where there is still spring.” Driving rain gallops on a wild horse, whispers secret love into my ear: “Why do you wait for springtime, when autumn offers baskets full of gold?

Part of the Mark Zuckerman Yiddish Choral Series at ECS. Recorded on Centaur Records CRC 2611: The Year in Yiddish Song.