As this year comes to a close, take a look back at new recordings of Copland’s music released in 2020.
Read more- Title
- Vitebsk
- Subtitle
- Study on a Jewish Theme
- For
- violin, cello, and piano
- Year Composed
- 1928
- ARCO Number(s)
- 20
- Category
- Chamber
- Duration
- 11'
- Premiere
- World: New York, February 16th, 1929 (Walter Gieseking, Alphonse Onnou, Robert Maas)
- Commission Info
- The League of Composers, for Alphonse Onnou, Robert Maas, and Walter Gieseking
- Dedication
- To Roy Harris
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes
- Publishing Status
- Published
Buying Options
Boosey & HawkesProgram Note
Based on a Jewish folk song from Ansky's play The Dybbuk, Vitebsk is one of Copland's few works making use of a Jewish theme. (Vitebsk, Ansky's home town in Russia, was where the playwright first heard the tune.) Copland wrote, "Jewish influences were present in my music, even when I did not refer to them overtly. I grew up in the Eastern European tradition and so there was no novelty to it as was the case with folk materials relating to the American West." With Vitebsk, it was Copland's intention to reflect the harshness and drama of Jewish life in Russia. Audiences find it a strangely moving work.
- Author
- Vivian Perlis
- Year
- 1998