Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble, Sasha Lurje - Shotns - Shadows: Songs From Testimonies in the Fortunoff Video Archive, Vol. 3 (2024) [Hi-Res]

The Songs From Testimonies project is a musical research and performance based on poems and songs in the interviews with Holocaust survivors recorded at Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. The Fortunoff Archive’s collection consists of more than 4,300 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. Consisting of more than 12,000 hours of video material, the testimonies were recorded in more than a dozen different countries and in more than 20 different languages. There are more than 100 testimonies in the collection in which survivors recount poetry or sing musical compositions from the prewar, wartime and postwar periods. The Fortunoff Archive asked musician-in-residence, Zisl Slepovitch, to locate these songs, conduct research about the origins of each song, and then arrange and record versions with his ensemble, featuring Sasha Lurje. The songs and poems included on the forthcoming third volume, Shotn/Shadows, were sung or recounted in a number of testimonies and reflect the richness of Holocaust video testimonies as a unique form of documentation. Originally, these songs were sung individually and collectively, but in survivors’ testimonies they are recounted or performed by individuals. They thus remind us that the survivor singing them represents all those who did not survive to sing again, and remind us of the absence of the original audience. -Stephen Naron, Director, Fortunoff Video Archive

Shotns/Shadows, Songs from Testimonies (2024) is the latest volume in the Fortunoff Video Archive’s Songs from Testimonies project. Over the past four years, the Fortunoff Archive has worked closely with D. Zisl Slepovitch, a Belarusian-born and New York based composer, multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusicologist, and Yiddish educator to document the songs recounted in the Archive’s collection. As the Archive’s first musician-in-residence, Zisl located songs and conducted research about their origins. He then arranged and recorded versions with his ensemble, featuring renowned singer Sasha Lurje. Sasha, a Latvian-born Yiddish singer, specializes in performing and teaching old Yiddish singing styles.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Szydłowiec Nign I (2:54)
1.02 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Loy Iuni (5:11)
1.03 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Bin Ikh Mit Dir Broygez (4:00)
1.04 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Der Hoyfzinger (8:25)
1.05 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Muestra Tierra (3:08)
1.06 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Yinete Prosklitiryo Ke Stavrou Voutira (3:51)
1.07 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Di Bone (3:46)
1.08 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Efsher Hot Ir Finef Sent? (4:44)
1.09 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Shotns (4:38)
1.10 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Geto, Getunyu (3:24)
1.11 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Zog Shoyn "Lekho Doydi" (5:49)
1.12 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Pochod Neutralu (3:05)
1.13 - Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble - Szydłowiec Nign II (3:34)
1.14 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Szydłowiec Nign I (Jack M.) (0:34)
1.15 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Loy Luni (Jack M.) (2:37)
1.16 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Bin Ikh Mit Dir Broygez (Jack M.) (0:32)
1.17 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Der Hoyfzinger (Jack M.) (3:26)
1.18 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Muestra Tierra (Šemtov H.) (0:46)
1.19 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Yinete Prosklitiryo Ke Stavrou Voutira (Pepo S..) (0:53)
1.20 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Di Bone (Hella R., Ada V.) (0:29)
1.21 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Efsher Hot Ir Finef Sent? (Jack M.) (1:04)
1.22 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Shotns (Sima S.) (0:18)
1.23 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Geto, Getunyu (Joseph W.) (1:23)
1.24 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Zog Shoyn “Lekho Doydi” (Moshe B. ) (1:10)
1.25 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Pochod Neutrálů (Miriam A.) (0:34)
1.26 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Odom Harishon Nign (Jack M.) (0:35)
1.27 - Fortunoff Video Archive for Holcaust Testimonies - Szydłowiec Nign II (Jack M.) (0:42)