528 PART 4 | SINCE WORLD WAR II
songwriters: Jacob Jacobs and Abraham
Ellstein
date: 1937; recorded 1997
performers: Instrumentation: vocal,
clarinet, trumpet, trombone, violin, bass,
piano, drums
genre: klezmer
meter: duple
form: aaba chorus with verse
timing section text translation comments
0:00 introduction 4 bars establish “Jewish-
sounding” minor key with
swing rhythm.
0:05 chorus a Oy, s’iz gut!... Oh, it’s good to sit with
your beloved,
Oh, it’s good when your
head is a-spinning,
Oh, it’s good to tell your
girl you love her.
The melody outlines the
minor tonic triad, then quick
notes touch on the raised
fourth scale degree. The fi rst
a section ends with a 2-bar
clarinet break in klezmer style.
0:17 a Oy, si’z gut!... Oh, it’s good, as my
mother used to say,
Oh, it’s good to carry a
secret in your heart,
Oh, it’s good to be the
master of your own
home.
0:28 b Oy, kh’hob
shoyn dem
bestn simen...
Oh, I just knew you
were really fi ne.
Oh, since he came
along he’s become
a part of me.
In the relative major, but
with a fl atted seventh that
resembles a Jewish liturgical
mode.
0:41 a Oy, si’z gut!... Oh, it’s good to hear
words of love,
Oh, it’s good that no
one is here to
interfere,
My heart is beating
at this moment.
Oh, it’s good!
A return of the opening
melody rounds out the 32-bar
aaba chorus.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
- alternation of swing rhythm with parlando
verse and freylekh bridge in second chorus - solos in two-bar breaks, as in early jazz, but
played in klezmer style - vocal sung in Yiddish
- minor mode and occasional augmented
second as musical signifi ers of Jewish
ethnicity
CD 4.12 Listening Guide 21.5 “Oy, s’iz gut” KLEZMER CONSERVATORY BAND
172028_21_514-530_r2_mr.indd 528 23/01/13 11:18 AM