Paul Godwin

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Paul Godwin (aka Pinchas Goldfein ; born March 28, 1902 in Sosnowiec , Russian Empire (now Poland ); † December 9, 1982 in Driebergen , Netherlands ) was a Polish - German violinist and orchestra conductor . He initially emerged in the field of jazz and light music , before working in the field of classical music after 1945 .

Record from Deutsche Grammophon-Aktiengesellschaft: “The Harem on a Journey” by Rudolf Nelson with the Godwin Dance Orchestra
Label of a shellac record for the Swedish market

Musical career

Paul Godwin first studied in Warsaw with the Polish violinist and composer Stanisław Barcewicz . Later he went to Vienna, then to Jenő Hubay in Budapest . First appearances in Germany at the age of 15 at the end of 1917 as Paul Goldfein. At the end of 1920 he settled in Berlin to study at the Berlin University of Music with the violin virtuoso Willy Hess . For financial reasons he was dependent on playing in restaurants and small entertainment orchestras, but this was resented at the university as a deviation from the right path of music and led to his exclusion.

Berlin time

Godwin founded his first orchestra in Berlin in 1922. He was also active in several ensembles at the same time and became a sought-after accompanist in the Berlin entertainment and cabaret scene for well-known soloists such as Curt Bois , Otto Reutter , Max Hansen and Paul O'Montis . Radio appearances and engagements in Berlin dance palaces and revue theaters made the record industry aware of Godwin. In 1925 he signed a record deal with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft and their foreign brand Polydor , which lasted until 1933. Over 1500 shellac records in millions of copies appeared with his various orchestras. But he was also involved in recordings by Kurt Weg and Franz Thon . Godwin was thus the most commercially successful German musician of the Weimar period. With his dance orchestra Paul Godwin's Jazz Symphonians he appeared regularly in the Delphipalast ( Kant - / corner Fasanenstraße ), as well as in Rudolf Nelson's revue theater on Kurfürstendamm . In 1932, his orchestra was modernized based on the British model: enlargement of the instrument groups for elegant composition work and international soloists made the orchestra a modern ensemble, which from September 1932 played in the elegant " Femina-Palast " in Berlin as a permanent house orchestra. Thanks to the drumming bass and the newly inserted guitar, the rhythm was already swinging, making Paul Godwin's band a modern society orchestra. He played compositions by Kurt Weill , Friedrich Hollaender and Willy Rosen , and worked since 1929 for the sound film of Ufa . In 1933, a few weeks after the seizure of power , he left Germany because the persecution of the Jews began .

Exile and the post-war period

Godwin first went to Luxembourg, later to the Netherlands, where he founded a new orchestra with pianist and arranger Ben Silbermann , with which he toured various European countries. From 1940, when the German Wehrmacht occupied the Netherlands, he had to do forced labor for the Germans. From 1941, when Jews in the Netherlands were banned from participating in cultural life, Godwin played in the Jewish entertainment orchestra and appeared in the Amsterdam Joodschen Schouwburg , a theater previously known as the Hollandsche Schouwburg . He only escaped deportation to a concentration camp because he was married to a so-called " Aryan " woman. After the war he played classical music as a violinist in the Ensemble Alma musica , the Dutch String Quartet and other chamber music formations . His teammates included the violinists Jaap Schröder and Nap de Klijn , as well as the pianist Alice Heksch . He now played works ranging from Mozart to Shostakovich . In 1952 Godwin received Dutch citizenship , from 1955 he worked for the radio, including for the then social democratic broadcasting company VARA . He gave his last major concert on November 4, 1972 in Amsterdam with Yehudi Menuhin .

Sound documents (selection)

a) classical music:

  • Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op.13, 1st movement: Lento doloroso - Allegro vivace. Piano accompaniment: Alexander Zakin . Polydor 27064, Matr. 1654 BM I and 1655 BM II.
  • Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op. 13, 2nd movement: Allegretto temprillo

Polydor 27065, mat. 1656 1/2 BM I.

  • Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op. 13, 3rd movement: Allegro animato

Polydor 27065, Mat. 1657 BM II.

b) dance music:

1. as a dance orchestra Goldfein:

  • Yes! We have no bananas . Foxtrot by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. Dance Orchestra "Goldfein" (Paul Godwin here still with his real name) Polyphon Record 31173, Matr. 849 ax (approx. September / October 1923).

2. as Paul Godwin with his artist ensemble:

  • It goes the Lou lila - Lied and Foxtrot ( Robert Katscher ). Max Kuttner, tenor - accompaniment: Paul Godwin with his artist ensemble. Gramophone 20 255 (Matr. 3664 ar), aufgen. Berlin, summer 1925 youtube.com
  • The police, who regulate the traffic - Onestep (Stafford-Amberg). Max Kuttner, tenor - accompaniment: Paul Godwin with his artist ensemble. Grammophon 20 391 (Mat. No. 2381ax) (around November 1925). youtube.com
  • The song about fishing, from the revue “An und Aus” (W. Collo, text: Rideamus & Haller) Paul Godwin with his artist ensemble. Gramophone 20 557 (mx. 197 bd) - beginning. 1926 youtube.com
  • From ear to ear - potpourri part 1 and 2 (Morena). Paul Godwin with his artist ensemble. Attach the gramophone 19 623 (Matr. 88bi / 89bi). Berlin, autumn 1926 youtube.com

3. as Paul Godwin's Jazz Symphonist:

  • "Wau-Wau Stomp" (When the Kunigund with her dog), Foxtrot (Huntley)

Grammophon 20 938 (Matr. 449 bd) - 1927 ( Wau-Wau Stomp on YouTube , accessed on September 21, 2019)

  • The most beautiful legs in Berlin. Foxtrot et al. Charleston (Kollo & Wolff) vocals: Franz Baumann. Gramophone 21 089 (mx. 608 bd) - 1927 youtube.com
  • You were bathed too hot as a child. One-Step (Ed. May, text: Friedrich Schwarz / Hans Pflanzer) with refraing singing. Gramophone 21 774 (B 50 474) - 1928 youtube.com
  • “What's going on?” (Weans - Fleßburg) with German refraing singing: H [elmut]. Wernicke. Attach the gramophone 22 917 (Matr. 700 BT 2). 1929 youtube.com

4th as Paul Godwin Dance Orchestra:

  • Miss Lisa (Mona Lisa) - Fox-trot (Sullivan. Text: Robinson). Paul Godwin Dance Orchestra, refrain: Paul Dorn. Gramophone 1053 (mx. 4922 BD VII). Berlin, May 1932
  • Don't say yes, don't say no - Slow-fox (Margulies / Schmidt-Boelcke / Karlick) from the sound film: "Two good comrades". Paul Godwin Dance Orchestra, refrain: Erwin Hartung. Gramophone 1311 (mx. 1978 1/2 BN 7). Berlin, February 1933

c) Drama, theater music:

  • Tango ballade from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill. Paul Godwin with his Jazz Symphony Orchestra. Grammophon 21 943 (mx.1002) - Berlin, 1928 youtube.com
  • It's in the air, from the eponymous revue (Marcellus Schiffer, Mischa Spolianský)

Paul Godwin and his Jazz Symphony Orchestra. Grammophon - Berlin 1929 ( It's in the air on YouTube , accessed September 21, 2019)

  • "I have to love you" from the optte "I only cheat you out of love" by Ralph Erwin, text by Fritz Rotter. Paul Godwin dance orchestra with German refraing singing Leo Monosson. Gramophone 22 207 (B 51 405) - 1929 youtube.com
  • My girl is just a saleswoman. Slowfox from the music. Comedy “My sister and I” (Ralph Benatzky) Paul Godwin dance orchestra with German refraing singing Leo Monosson. Gramophone 23 178 (B 51 041) - 1930 youtube.com

d) concertante:

  • German champion Slow-Fox (arrangement: Frank Fox). Jazz paraphrase about Wilh. August Jurek's “Deutschmeister March”. Paul Godwin with his Jazz Symphony Orchestra. Polydor 22 831 (Matr. 2551 BK II) youtube.com
  • “The Acrobat” - characteristic dance interlude (Carl Robrecht). Paul Godwin Artists Orchestra. Gramophone 24 447B (Mat. No. 4263 1/2 BR3) - 1932 youtube.com
  • “Jalousie” - Tango tzigane by Jacob Gade. Paul Godwin, solo violin with orchestra. Polydor XS 50 206-A (Matr. 1966 BN7) youtube.com recorded in Berlin shortly before Godwin emigrated - possibly in February 1933

Pseudonyms

The Gramophone Company also marketed Goldfein under the Polyphon brand as Joan Florescu .

Lexical entries

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ grammophon-platten.de
  2. ↑ hollandscheschouwburg.nl
  3. ↑ freitag.de
  4. ↑ soundfountain.com
  5. ↑ youtube.com , Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op.13, 1st movement: Lento doloroso - Allegro vivace
  6. ↑ youtube.com , Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op. 13, 2nd movement: Allegretto temprillo
  7. ↑ youtube.com , Grieg. Sonata for piano and violin in G major Op. 13, 3rd movement: Allegro animato
  8. ↑ youtube.com , Foxtrot by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. Dance Orchestra "Goldfein"
  9. ↑ Björn Englund, Gabriel Goessel and Rainer E. Lotz: Deutsche National-Diskographie Volume 8 . ISBN 978-3-9805808-8-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Godwin, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Goldfein, Pinchas (real name); Joan Florescu (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-German violinist and orchestra leader
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Sosnowiec , Russian Empire, now Poland
DATE OF DEATH December 9, 1982
Place of death Driebergen , Netherlands