Laugh . . . and Forget!
6 March until 21 June 2009
Songs by Jewish artists
There
was a time when live music really was 'live'. A time when listening
to music at home generally meant playing it yourself, often with
the aid of sheet music. Laugh . . . and Forget! takes us
back to the world of entertainment before television.
Dutch performers, many of whom were Jewish, made eager use of sheet
music to reach a broad public. In those days, printed sheet music
was a simpler and more effective way of marketing songs and
performances than other methods such as gramophone records. The
songs available as sheet music included hits from successful revues
like Loop naar den duivel (Go to the devil, 1915)
and films as De Jantjes (The Jack Tars, 1934).
With its beautiful illustrations and decorations, this sheet music
from 1890 to 1960 presents a colourful picture of social trends,
artistic styles, fashions, and the vibrant night life of the
period. Designers and artists created covers that were impossible
to ignore, and a signed portrait or photo of an artist never failed
to boost sales. A good cover combined the talents of the designer,
the composer, and the artist, with rhythmic patterns and
illustrations representing the melody. The illustrations also
reflected the subject matter of the songs, which might be
satirical, politically tinged, romantic, or even a bit racy.
Many songs were published both as vocal arrangements with piano
accompaniment and as instrumental versions for salon orchestra.
That way, if they became successful, they could be performed not
only in cafés and clubs but also in the family circle. The main
reason for the popularity of sheet music was that in the early
years of home audio, many Dutch homes still had neither radio nor
record player.
A strikingly large number of Jewish performers - of cabaret,
revues, jazz, and light music - introduced new styles or even whole
new genres of entertainment from abroad. Many of them had a strong
influence on later artists such as Wim Sonneveld and Toon Hermans,
and thus on the postwar history of Dutch cabaret.
This exhibition presents the most prominent among the many Jewish
performing artists of this period, along with a selection from the
enormous library of sheet music belonging to Jaap van Velzen and
the Jewish Historical Museum.
