Yiddish Songs
In 1987, Frances Raven Sieman and her brother Bert Raven made a home recording of a few Yiddish and Russian songs that they’d learned from their mother. With assistance from staff at UCLA, the old cassette tape has been restored, so we can hear their lovely singing and playing. Click on the song titles to listen.
Yiddish Clementine (click here for a transcript and translation)
A Sukkah a Kleine (click here for a transcript and translation)
Riesele (click here for a transcript and translation)
U Pa-pa bilah Sabbachka (click here for a transcript and translation)
Nem Aroys a Ber Fun Vald (click here for a transcript and translation)
Der Rebbe Elimelech (click here for a transcript and translation)
Gei Ich Mir in Shtaleh (click here for a transcript and translation)
Di Grine Kuzine (click here for a transcript and translation)
Transliterations and translations by Bert Raven
It’s so many years later; yet, Fran’s voice had me listening with wonder and a wry smile. She was always a woman whose capabilities did not go unnoticed by my parents. Hence, they made her my godmother. Bert and Fran both let me enjoy a few minutes of my personal and ancestoral past. Thank you, David, also.
Beautiful! Angelic! I’m here at work and decided to check it out briefly. Very briefly (it’s 6:30 and I need to get home). Ended up listening to all of these melodies. Brought a tear to my eyes. This touches me deeply and the indescribable feeling inside defines who I am. Thanks to Dad and Aunt Fran and all who made this possible (Even Al Gore, he did invent the internet after all).
Thank you ever so much, Steel Valley Voices, for your letting people know more about my wonderful and beloved sister Frances. Also for making our songs, a precious part of our family heritage, available on-line. I have fond memories of our harmonizing these songs as our family drove the long, bumpy, tedious 18 miles to Lake Milton on hot summer days. I sang these songs with our mother in Heritage Manor in her later years when I stopped off in Youngstown en route between LA and the east coast, and now when I visit Frances. As our memories fade, it is amazing how these songs are still remembered. It is so good of David to bring these to your attention with Frances’ biography and family photos.
–Bert Raven
I especially loved The Rabbi Elimelech. It’s somewhat of a tongue twister, and the satisfied sigh she lets out at the end is priceless.