Herman Wohl


Herman Wohl was a Jewish–American composer closely associated with the American Yiddish Theatre.

Galicia

Wohl was born in Otyniia near Stanislavov in eastern Galicia, now Ukraine. He was raised in a Chasidic home and studied with cantors from the age of 9. He soon began composing, directing choirs, and singing as a Hazzan himself. At the age of 16 he joined Kalman Juvelier's troupe in Galicia, acting, singing in the chorus, and writing songs for their repertoire.

America

In 1896 he was brought to America to teach; he soon began writing for several theater troupes. He partnered with Aaron Perlmutter and over the course of 16 years they wrote music for many operettas including Mezinke, Bnei Israel, Yakov un Esau, and dozens of others by Moshe Hurwitz, Anshel Shor's Di Almoneh ' and A mentsh zol men zayn ' also Motashevski's Dos Pintele Yid, Di neshomah fun mayn folk, and Di Poylishe Khasene.
Working with Edelstein in the People's Theater, he composed music to
  • Mikhl Goldberg's musical comedy Gelebt un gelakht '
  • Adam Mesko's operetta Di nakht fun libe '
  • Boris Thomashefsky's Dos Heylike lid '
  • Itskhok Lesh's Yoshke Kvat, 1921
  • Israel Rozenberg's Yankl Litvak
  • Tomashevski's Lebedik un freylekh and Thousand and One Nights
  • William Siegel's Dem rebbin's zindl and Di galitsianer khasene '
  • Israel Rozenberg's Di galitsianer rebetsin
Some of his hundreds of songs, most composed with Arnold Perlmutter, are listed at Florida Atlantic University's website:
  • A bisele erd ' 1911
  • A kind is dos glik oyf der velt ' 1917
  • A pintele Yid 1909
  • Az du kenst nit un veyst nit nemt men zikh nit under ' 1911
  • Bist mayn matonele ' 1907
  • Dorf's meydl ' 1911
  • Dos is di libe fun yankele mit rokhlen ' from Galitsianer khasene
  • Emese yidishe harts ' 1906
  • Goles lid ' 1921
  • Hersher is der man ' 1910
  • Leben zol Kolumbus ' 1915
  • Mayn libster fraynd iz mayn mamenyu ' 1921
  • Men hoydet zikh in Amerike ' 1908
  • Meydele vest nokh gliklekh zayn '
  • Tsveyte Vayb ' 1910
  • Vayber, makh mir far president ' 1910
  • Yeder eyner straykt atsind ' 1919
Besides being a Second Avenue songwriter and composer in the Yiddish Theater District, Wohl continued to work as a synagogue choirmaster and liturgical composer. For many years he conducted the choir for the most widely acclaimed and revered cantor of the time—and probably of all time—Yossele Rosenblatt. His many cantorial-choral compositions for Sabbath, High Holy Days, and Festivals remain in manuscript, and the whereabouts of many of these are not even known. He died in 1936.