Records of the Al Glaser Recording Orchestra
Scope and Content Note
This collection relates to Al Glaser's career as a bandleader, musician and musical composer and arranger. Materials include original compositions and arrangements by Glaser and printed sheet music of Jewish, Hungarian and Romanian music. The unidentified handwritten sheet music may have been arranged or composed by Al Glaser or may have been collected or written out by Glaser for use with his orchestra.
Dates
- 1900-1947, undated
Language of Materials
The collection is in musical notation. The song titles are in a variety of languages, including English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Romanian, and Yiddish.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to the public. Permission to publish part or parts of the collection must be obtained in writing from the YIVO Archives.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
YIVO Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
Biographical Note
Jewish bandleader, composer, arranger, producer, and musician Adolph (Al) Glaser was born in Czernowitz (Chernivtsi, Ukraine) in 1898. He began his musical training under his father, who was the conductor of the Staatstheater Orchestra in Czernowitz. In 1916, Glaser was inducted into the Austrian army. He was taken prisoner by Russian forces and ended up in Irkutsk, Siberia, where he performed with the prisoner of war orchestra. In 1918, after World War I, Glaser began touring with a Soviet opera company, which he left while they were performing in Shanghai. Glaser immigrated to the United States in 1922, where he built his reputation as a bandleader. In 1938, he produced an album of Yiddish dance music, Al Glaser's Bukovina Kapeleye, using the top klezmer musicians of the time, including Dave Tarras, the Epstein Brothers and Benny Zuger. Al Glaser died in 1982.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
2 Boxes : 3" flat boxes
Abstract
This collection contains original compositions and printed and handwritten sheet music collected by Al Glaser as well as Glaser’s own arrangements of traditional Hungarian, Romanian and Jewish music.
Arrangement
The materials are arranged in one alphabetical series. Musical titles are written according to whatever spelling or languages appear on the sheet music, for example Rumanian Medley and Roumanian Selection. Some titles are in English and then German, such as To Spring (An den Fruehling), while others are in Yiddish transliteration and then English, such as Wus Geven is Geven un Nitu (Memories of Days Gone By). Additionally, folder 33, Potpourri of Russian Favorites, and 34, Potpury of Russian Favorites, may refer to the same music but the titles are spelled as they appear on the sheet music and have been alphabetized accordingly. Some folders contain a single piece of music or a fragment while others contain multiple parts and copies from a musical score.
Acquisition Information
Al Glaser’s children Bonnie Shirakhoon, Jeff Glaser and Doris Gutnick donated the collection to the YIVO Archives in 1985.
Separated Material
Recordings of the Al Glaser Recording Orchestra are in YIVO’s Max and Frieda Weinstein Archives of Recorded Sound. To access these, please contact: soundarchives@yivo.cjh.org
Processing information
Processed by Rachel S. Harrison in October 2013, made possible by the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support "Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History."
- Title
- Guide to the Records of the Al Glaser Recording Orchestra 1900-1947, undated RG 1360
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Rachel S. Harrison in 2013, made possible by the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support "Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History."
- Date
- ©2013
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Repository
