The Malavskys Family Profile - The Comparison of the Horowitzs and the Malavskys
In the annals of Jewish music in America, the Malavsky Family Choir stands out as a significant player. Originating from Russia, the choir was led by Hazzan (Cantor) Saul Malavsky, who made significant contributions to Jewish liturgical music and popularized Jewish cantorial and folk music in the United States during the mid-20th century. Their extensive performances were featured on radio and recordings, helping to preserve and spread Jewish musical traditions in American Jewish communities.
However, a historical radio drama script for the Malavsky family remains elusive in online searches. One such script, titled The Horowitz's, was recently discovered in the Mid-West Broadcasting Company, Inc.'s stationery. The script, undated but likely from around 1950, offers a unique insight into the Malavsky family's cultural and musical heritage, their immigrant experience, and their role in sustaining Jewish music in America.
The script focuses on the relationship between an elder cantor and his young daughter, named Goldie, who is named for Goldie Malavsky, the eldest daughter and lead soloist in the family cantorial choir. The father's training as a cantorial choir singer involved performing to earn his livelihood, a theme that resonates in the script. Goldie's music education is driven by parental authority and her own interest in music.
The Horowitz's script also delves into the issue of educating young people in the aural culture of Jewishness in the new American context. The interaction with a social worker in the script personifies the authority of the American government and its enforcement through "soft" power. The father admonishes his daughter for not working hard enough compared to his own past labor, recalling his rigorous training under Chazan Goechmann in Kiev.
The script, apparently tailored as a star vehicle for the Malavsky's, offers an allegory about the cultural problems the family encountered in their music career. The media of radio offers the family a path towards success and a new opportunity to perform and present their special forms of insider knowledge. Goldie Malavsky's unique re-interpretation of "Ich Benk Aheym," an aria from Joseph Rumshinsky's 1919 Yiddish operetta Dem Rebns Nign, heard on her only solo record from the late 1950s, is one of the great classics of mid-century Jewish American music.
For those interested in more detailed and specific materials about the Malavsky family, consulting archives of Jewish radio broadcasts, historical societies focused on Jewish American culture, or libraries with collections on American Jewish music history could be a fruitful endeavour. The personal scrapbook kept by the Malavsky Family Choir, recently donated to the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, is a valuable resource in this regard. The scrapbook spans the career of Cantor Samuel Malavsky (1894-1983) and his six children, offering a glimpse into their lives and contributions to Jewish music in America.
The historical radio drama script titled The Horowitz's sheds light on the Malavsky family's musical heritage, featuring a story of an elder cantor and his daughter, Goldie, who is a musician like Goldie Malavsky, the lead soloist in the family's choir. This script, set around 1950, uses music as a medium to explore the family's cultural problems and their journey in America, with Goldie's unique interpretation of Jewish American music, such as her version of "Ich Benk Aheym," serving as a highlight.
