Shimon Shteynberg

Shimon Shteynberg (Yiddish spelling שמעון שטיינבערג; European spelling: Simeon Steinberg, Russian spelling: Семён Наумович Штейнберг) (1887–1955) was a Jewish composer. He was born in Odessa (former Russian Empire, now Ukraine), and died in Czernowitz (former Chernovtsy, USSR, now Chernivtsi, Ukraine).

Biography

Shteynberg started playing violin at an early age being taught by his stepfather, a renowned local wedding toast-master and fiddler, and later by the private teachers. Demonstrating a great talent for music, he was accepted into the newly founded Odessa Conservatory in the class of Witold Maliszewski. After graduation Shteynberg continued composing, first as a freelancer and later as a music director of Russian and Yiddish theaters in Ukraine. He became the music director and the major composer of the Kiev Jewish Theater since its inception in the 1920s till its liquidation at the height of Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign. His great-grandson Vladislav Adelkhanov is an internationally acclaimed violinist.

Compositions

S.Shteynberg composed music to more than 100 plays, including “Tevye the Milkman”, “Wandering Stars”, ”Stempenyu” by Shalom Aleichem,”Favourful people” after Mendele Mocher Sforim, ”Uprising in Ghetto” by Peretz Markish, ”In fire” by M.Daniel, ”Russian People” by Konstantin Simonov, ”The Merchant of Venice”, “The Taming of the Shrew ” by William Shakespeare etc. Along with Lev Pulver and Lev Yampolsky, he contributed to the bulk of incidental music in Jewish theaters of the former USSR. Shteynberg was also a prolific writer of symphonic and chamber music, songs, arrangements of ethnic tunes (Jewish, Ukrainian, Kazakhian, Middle Asian). His music, rooting into the classical tradition at the turn of 20th century as well as Jewish cantorial and klezmer heritage, was recognized for its beauty, expressivity, compositional depth and sophistication. However, it fell into obscurity due to decades-long attitude of Soviet authorities toward everything Jewish. In December 1987 the Music College of Chernivtsi, where Shimon Shteynberg used to teach, commemorated his 100th anniversary with an evening of his music, which was exceptionally warm received by public. There are no known audio recordings of his music available.

References

• M. Loev. Music was his life. ”Di Tsukunft” magazine, volume 1, 1991 New York City /in Yiddish/
• T.Shklover. Anniversary of a Jewish composer. ”Birobidzhaner Shtern” newspaper, issue 6, 1988 Birobidzhan /in Yiddish/