Three large Autograph manuscript music-books belonging to famed synagogue Cantor, Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt.

SUBSTANTIAL AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT VOLUMES BY CHAZAN YOSSELE ROSENBLATT. Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt, Cantor-extraordinaire, was internationally celebrated like no Chazan before or since. He had an exceptionally beautiful tenor voice, with a huge and seemingly effortless range. Combined with a deep sincerity of prayer and great theatrical charisma, this all led him to quickly become - and remain - a star of synagogue music throughout his life. Born in 1882 in the Ukrainian town of Belaya Tserkov, Yossele was his parents tenth child and first son. His father was a Cantor and from a young age, Yossele learnt musical notation from him. He sang in his father's choir and by the time he was in his teens, Yossele was a leading Cantor in his own right. He was appointed Chazan in Munkács, then Pozsony (Bratislava) followed by Hamburg, Germany. Through his recordings, his reputation spread to America and in 1912, he followed an invitation to the First Hungarian Synagogue Ohab Zedek in New York City. Yossele became an immediate hit upon arrival to America and created a sensation everywhere he sang. He was asked to perform in concerts and shows, where he would always sing to full theaters and packed synagogues. He famously refused a role in the motion-picture The Jazz Singer, notwithstanding Warner Brothers' $100,000 offer, as he felt it would be dishonorable to sing the sacred Kol Nidre in such a secular setting. Similar was Yossele’s denial to the Chicago Opera to perform in "La Juive" due to his unwillingness to condone negative stereotypes about Jews and Judaism. Despite many other lucrative offers, Rosenblatt strugled with financial debt. Conseqeuntly, in 1933, he agreed to undertake a project for the Palestine-American Film Company to record in the Holy Land the semi-documentary "Dream of My People." It was while singing on a boat at the Dead Sea, he suffered an acute heart-attacdk and died shortly thereafter. He was aged just 51. See S. Rosenblatt, Yossele Rosenblatt: The Story of his Life as Told by his Son (1954). The present lot is an extraordinarily rich trove of numerous unrecorded and unpublished cantorial compositions of synagogue music from throughout Europe. The compositions are mostly choral alongside solos, as well as grandiose full orchestral pieces. The centerpiece of the lot are two volumes of compositions all written in the hand of Yossele Rosenblatt and include many of his own compositions as well as those he heard from a great many other cantors, all of which he sets down from memory. Represented are an unusually wide range of cantorial music, by both famous cantors and those quite unknown today. (A comprehensive list is available upon request). These unknown compositions, by both Yossele and others, many of which are quite magnificent, would undoubtedly form a vital addition to the repertoire of present-day Chazanim and for the study of Cantorial music as a whole. Kestenbaum & Company wishes to thank Cantor Ben-Zion Miller as well as Dr. Noah Schall for their assistance in examining these manuscripts