KITKA: Three Yiddish Lullabies

THREE YIDDISH LULLABIES Song arranged by Barbara Byers and Kitka Video by Perry Blackshear The trailblazing American folk singer and song collector Ethel Raim shared these three striking lullabies with Kitka. As is the case in many old world lullabies, comforting melodies provide a cathartic vehicle for the singer to express stories that are often dark and sorrowful. 1.) “Dremlen feygl oyf di tsvaygn“ Text by Leah Rudnitsky (born 1916 in Kalvarija, Lithuania, died c. 1944 in an Estonian concentration camp). From Ruth Rubin’s book, Jewish Folk Songs, New York: Oak Publications, 1965. English Translation: “Birds are dozing on the branches. Sleep my dear child. By your cradle, in the field, a stranger sings you to sleep. It was at your cradle she stood, filled with joy. And your mother, oh, your mother will never come back to you. I saw your father running under showers of stones, and his orphaned cry flew across the fields.“ Soloist: Barbara Byers