Collection of Jewish Musical Folklore (1912-1947)
Documentary heritage submitted by Ukraine and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register in 2005.
Collection of Jewish Musical Folklore (1912-1947) Wax phonocylinders, note and text decoding manuscripts, typewriting). Fonds 322, 190.
The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine is the world’s foremost repository of Jewish folk music recorded on Edison wax cylinders. Comprising over 1 017 cylinders with two to seven minutes of music each, the collection contains historical recordings, as well as note and text decoding, made from 1912 to 1947 in Jewish areas of Ukraine and Belarus.
The collection contains the only authentic phonogram of the Sholom-Alejhem voice, examples of voices of eminent Jewish actors Solomon Mikhoels, Benjamin Zuskin, Lela Romm recorded on phonograph. There are also records of voices of famous writers such as Jehieskil Dobrushin, Notke Lurie and instrumental pieces performed by the famous violinist and composer Leo Pulver, director of the Jewish instrumental ensemble.
This collection of Jewish Musical Folklore on wax cylinders from 1912-1947 has no direct equal in the world and has had great influence on the course of Jewish and Ukrainian history.
It reflects the impact of key individuals of Jewish ethnographic science on the development and preservation of Jewish folk musical treasure, represents particular intellectual development in human sciences, culture and arts.
The collection has outstanding aesthetic, stylistic, linguistic value. Edison wax cylinders are typical exemplar of a disappearing recording carrier of the late 19th -early 20th cc.