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10 Must-Have Albums from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music

Photo 9 of 10 Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre, Volume 1 — Abraham Ellstein

Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre, Volume 1 — Abraham Ellstein

The American Yiddish musical theater became famous during its heyday in the 1920s–1940s. Combining the musical flavors of Viennese operetta, Tin Pan Alley, and eastern European nostalgia, these songs and duets are quintessential American popular music—with a Yiddish voice. 

Volume 1 spotlights the hit songs of Abe Ellstein, one of the genre's premier songwriters. Orchestrations recreate the unforgettable glory days of Yiddish radio and film, the uproarious vaudeville houses and the thrill of a night at the theater on old New York's fabled "Second Avenue."

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The Gates of Justice — Dave Brubeck
Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home — Volume 4: Digital Album 13
Songs of the Soul (symphony), Shir L'erev Shabbat (excerpts) The Final Ingredient (excerpts) — David Amram
Genesis Suite (1945)
Jewish Operas — Volume 1
Ladino Songs of Love and Suffering, Mikhoels the Wise (excerpt), Out of the Whirlwind — Bruce Adolphe
The Mirror, Passover Offering, Tants un Maysele — Yehudi Wyner
A Jewish Legacy — Leonard Bernstein
Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre, Volume 1 — Abraham Ellstein
A Hanukka Celebration