IN MEMORY OF..., a cantata set to texts by Moses ibn Ezra, first premiered at Park Avenue Synagogue in 1960 and was dedicated to the memory of Jack's father, a Ukrainian immigrant. 

This recording from February 2014 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, NY features organist Pedro d'Aquino and Cantors Lori Corrsin, Meredith Stone, Josh Breitzer, Erik Contzius, and Bruce L. Ruben performing the final movements, "Silent Prayer," "They that play upon harp and flute," and "Let man remember all his days."

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They that play upon harp and flute,
Bring comfort unto mourners,
To give them respite from weeping...

Let man remember all his days,
That he from birth to death goes unloiteringly.
So gently it can be, that oft he seems
Unto himself to be at rest,
And deems his state secure;
But, surely, every day
Finds him further, further on the way –
Like one on shipboard that reclines at ease,
Yet with winged wings flies o'er the seas.

--Translation by Solomon Solis Cohen (Jewish Publication Society, 1945)

Full score available for purchase at https://www.halleonard.com/product/48004496/in-memory-of-

Gottlieb Memorial Concert

IN MEMORY OF... [excerpts] by Jack Gottlieb

"And on the morning before Yom Kippur he takes oath by Him who enshrined His name in this House, that he will alter nothing of all that they told him for there may be some false belief in his heart.

"He goes aside and weeps because they suspected him, and they go aside and weep because they suspected one whose deeds are unknown and in whose heart there may be no guilt.

"And they say to him, 'See unto Whom thou enterest, into a place of fire, flame blazing, the congregation of our community relying upon you. And through you may we be forgiven.'"

--Avodah Service (Nusach Sefarad)

V'erev Yom Hakippurim Shacharit - Bezalel Shulsinger (Odesser)

"It is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it, and all its supporters are happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace. Return us to You, and we will return; renew our days as of old." (Proverbs 3:17-18, Lamentations 5:21)

Recorded live October 11, 2010 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York. Featuring Donna Breitzer and Cantor Josh Breitzer, vocals; Rabbi Marcus Rubinstein, trumpet; Benny Koonyevsky, percussion; Pedro d'Aquino, organ; Joyce Rosenzweig, piano; and choir conducted by Cantor Aviva Marer.



Shirei Y'didot: The Music of Jack Gottlieb in Contemporary Jewish Worship

Eitz Chayim/Hashiveinu by Jack Gottlieb

From "Funny, it Doesn't Sound Jewish: A Lecture-Entertainment" by Jack Gottlieb. Judy Blazer, vocals; Michael Barrett, piano. Recorded live March 30, 2011 as part of the New York Philharmonic Insights Series. Used by permisson.
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LYRICS BELOW

[Verse:]
Poor little immigrant feeling Oh, so sad
I came from Petrograd with ev'rything I had
Now that I'm over here they won't let me stay
That's why I'm so unhappy today
Please don't send me away

[1st refrain:]
Don't send me back, I don't want to go back to Petrograd
Don't send me back, I don't want to go back to my hometown

There's millions of people on the shore
Why can't you make room for just one more
There's a boy that I love waiting out on the pier
How can I go when my heart is over here

Give me the chance that you gave all my friends from Petrograd
I want to be in the land of the free and settle down

That Liberty statue down the bay
Is looking right at you and seems to say
Oh! don't send me back
It's terrible in my hometown

[2nd refrain:]
Don't send me back, I don't want to go back to Petrograd
Don't send me back, I don't want to go back to my hometown

The very best people that you know
Were foreigners not so long ago
When they came over here they were all immigrants
So were their cousins and their uncles and their aunts

Give me the chance that you gave all my friends from Petrograd
I want to be in the land of the free and settle down

That Liberty statue down the bay
Is looking right at you and seems to say
Oh! don't send me back
It's terrible in my hometown

Funny, It Doesn't Sound Jewish: A Lecture-Entertainment

Don't Send Me Back to Petrograd (Irving Berlin)

Newly digitized, out-of-print LP, covering great Israeli folk and rock songs! Courtesy Ari Vernon, Tsila's son.

Tsila Avigad

Yedid Nefesh

Oseh Shalom

Ma Avarech

Ki Mizion Tetze Tora

Ten Shabat Ve'ten Shalom

Yevarechecha

Shalom Al Yisrael

Kochavim Badli

Chatzot Shel Or

Melody by Andi Joseph after Linda Arnold
Adapted and performed by Yonatan Gutfeld

Al gabei dalti dinoza'ur amiti
Makish achat shtayim shalosh [knock knock knock]
Al gabei dalti dinoza'ur amiti
Sherotzeh la'asot Shabbat iti

L'hadlik et haneirot
Nishteh mitz anavim
Nochal et hachallah
Oh, kamah zeh ta'im!

Al gabei dalti dinoza'ur amiti
Makish achat shtayim shalosh [knock knock knock]
Al gabei dalti dinoza'ur amiti
Sherotzeh la'asot Shabbat
Hu rotzeh la'asot Shabbat
Hu rotzeh la'asot Shabbat iti!

Dinozaur Amiti (There's a Dinosaur in Hebrew)

Cantor Josh Breitzer has served Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn since 2011. Recently listed by The Jewish Daily Forward as one of the top new Jewish music voices in its "Soundtrack of Our Spirit" series, Cantor Breitzer has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Merkin Concert Hall. For the past several years, he has appeared with the New York Festival of Song in their annual “A Goyishe Christmas to You” program and has previously enjoyed significant collaborations with Pulitzer Prize-winner Yehudi Wyner and the late author/composer Jack Gottlieb. As a dedicated and passionate Jewish music educator, Cantor Breitzer has coached young artists at NYC Opera, The Juilliard School, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. He has also taught at the Academy of Jewish Religion, the URJ Kutz Camp, and the North American Jewish Choral Festival. Cantor Breitzer is on faculty at the HUC-JIR Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music and is a vice president of the American Conference of Cantors.

Popular tracks by Cantor Josh Breitzer