The Yiddish Book Center's
Wexler Oral History Project
A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.
Why It Was Forbidden to Record Nigunim
Watch now:
Velvel Pasternak, z'l, musicologist and major publisher of Jewish music, talks about his reasons for writing down and recording nigunim (traditional wordless melodies) and other traditional Jewish music.
This is an excerpt from an oral history with Velvel Pasternak.
This excerpt is in English.
Velvel Pasternak was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1933. Velvel died in 2019.
This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.
