Itzikl Kramtweiss

Broder Kapelle, Philadelphia klezmer group, 1920s

Itzikl Kramtweiss (c. 1878 - 1958) or Krantweiss, also known by the anglicized name Isadore Krantweiss, was a Russian-born American klezmer musician and recording artist of the early twentieth century. He was leader of the Broder Kapelle, a popular klezmer orchestra in Philadelphia which made recordings for the Victor Recording Company in the late 1920s.[1]

Biography

[edit]

Kramtweiss was born in January 1876[2] or 1878,[3] in Teplyk, Podolian Governorate, Russian Empire.[3] By 1906 he was living in Ternopil, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was married to his wife Sarah (Schewa, née Noten).[4][3] In 1913 he emigrated to the United States, landing in Boston in May of that year.[3][5] He apparently stayed in Boston for at least three years, as his son Harry was born there in 1916.[3] By 1918 he had relocated to Trenton, New Jersey, where he ran a music store.[2]

In Philadelphia, where he settled by 1919, he became known as a klezmer clarinetist. It was in 1929 that he finally entered the studio with his own orchestra at Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey and recorded roughly six sides which were sold as the Broder Kapelle.[6][7] These recordings included klezmer bulgars as well as polkas. In the 1930s he remained a popular player in the city's Jewish music circuit.[8] He had a reputation as a "wild character".[9][10] He also gained work due to his birthplace; the Teplyk Landsmanshaft regularly hired him and Cornet player Nachman Grossman.[11]

He died on October 1, 1958.[12][13] He was buried in the Mount Sharon Cemetery in Springfield, Pennsylvania.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Broder Kapelle". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Isidore Krantweiss United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918". FamilySearch. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Isidore Krantweiss Pennsylvania, Eastern District Petitions for Naturalization, 1795-1931". FamilySearch. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Tarnopol PSA AGAD Births, 1906-13 Marriages 1906-14 Deaths 1912-15". JRI Poland. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Isaac Kruntweiss in the U.S, Boston Arrivals of Jewish Immigrants from HIAS Records, 1882-1929". Ancestry Library. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  6. ^ Spottswood, Richard K. (1990). Ethnic music on records : a discography of ethnic recordings produced in the United States, 1893 to 1942. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 1306. ISBN 9780252017186.
  7. ^ Rubin, Joel E. (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Rochester University. p. 92. ISBN 9781580465984.
  8. ^ Netsky, Hankus (2015). Klezmer : Music and Community in Twentieth-Century Jewish Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-4399-0903-4.
  9. ^ Sapoznik, Henry (1999). Klezmer! : Jewish music from Old World to our world. New York: Schirmer Books. p. 96. ISBN 9780028645742.
  10. ^ Netsky, Hankus (2015). Klezmer : Music and Community in Twentieth-Century Jewish Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4399-0903-4.
  11. ^ Netsky, Hankus (2015). Klezmer : Music and Community in Twentieth-Century Jewish Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4399-0903-4.
  12. ^ "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Death Certificate. Isadore Krantweiss". Ancestry Library. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  13. ^ "ISADORE KRANTWEISS". Philadelphia Inquirer. 1958-10-03.
  14. ^ "Isadore Krantweiss (Unknown-1958) - Find A Grave..." Find a Grave. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
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