Yechiel Meyer Posner, the well-known composer, has died here suddenly at the age of 40. Posner was born in Pkotzk, his parents removing to Lodz when he was six years of age. He studied in Lodz under the famous Rabbi Meizel, who looked upon him as one of his most promising pupils. When he was 15 his parents emigrated to London; on the advice of Rabbi Meizel, since he was too young to take his Rabbinate, he learned to be a shochet so that he should be able to obtain a position in London as Cantor and Shochet. He taught Hebrew for a time, and at 18 he became choir-master in a London synagogue. He was also conductor of the Yiddish Song Society “Hazimir”. He studied for a time at the Guildhall School of Music. In 1913 he was appointed choir-master of the Manor-Park Synagogue and in 1916 at the Great Synagogue.
He was invited to America in 1919 by the Workers’ Circle to become conduotor of their choir. In America he did a great deal to popularise Yiddish folk songs, and in 1920 arranged the first Yiddish folk song concert at Carnegie Hall. He also wrote extensively in the Yiddish Press on musical subjects. He adapted many Yiddish folk songs and wrote a great many synagogue compositions.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
