Strange Interlude
Did Bach really write music for someone Jewish?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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This actor was born in London in 1893
and appeared in numerous plays and
films, including Of Human Bondage and
Pygmalion. He served with Britain's air
force during World War II, when he van-
ished mysteriously over the English
Channel. Name the actor and his most
famous role.
Send to: Tell Me Why, c/o The Jewish
News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield,
MI 48034. Entries will be accepted
through June 20. No phone calls,
please.
Q: I have been a music lover all
my life, but only recently have I be-
gun listening to classical music. I
used to think it was boring and
could only be appreciated by ivory-
tower intellectuals. But some clas-
sical music really swings and has
a lot of catchy tunes!
Anyway, the other day I was in
my car and had the radio on the lo-
cal classical station, which was
playing some really nice piano mu-
sic. Afterward, the announcer said
it was the "Goldberg Variations" by
Johann Sebastian Bach.
Was this some kind of joke? Did
J.S. Bach, the supreme German
composer, really name a piece of
music for some guy called Gold-
berg? And if he did, who was he?
A: There is indeed a compo-
sition for keyboard called the
"Goldberg Variations" by J.S.
Bach. It was first published
around 1741 as "Clavier-Ubung
iv" (keyboard exercise). It was
not until some 60 years later
that the piece took on the name
of the "Goldberg Variations,"
and mainly because of one
man's book.
In 1802, Johann Nikolaus
Forkel, a German musician and
ward the average Joe. He did
so well that he soon established
another facility, the Diamond
Horseshoe, which quickly be-
came New York's hottest night
spot.
In 1930 Billy Rose took on yet
another career — this time as
Broadway producer. His shows
included Jumbo, Seven Lively
Arts and Carmen Jones.
After World War II, Rose be-
gan collecting art. He came to
own works by such prominent
artists as Rodin and Daumier,
much of which can now be seen
on display in the Billy Rose
Garden at the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem.
Rose also took up investing,
favoring real estate and stocks.
Among his favorite companies:
the American Telephone and
Telegraph Co., where he was,
for many years, the largest sin-
gle stockholder.
Though Rose had great tal-
ent and business skills, his per-
sonal life wasn't so successful.
He married five times, includ-
ing once to Fanny Brice (James
Caan portrayed Rose in Funny
Lady, the second film in which
Barbra (---"'- roi sand chronicled the
:1:1 Price).
Q: I seem to remember, many life
years ago, a rumor to the effect that
a Jewish businessman owned more
stock in AT&T than any other indi-
vidual. Who was he?
A: He was born William
Samuel Rosenberg (1899-1966),
though everyone knows him
best as Billy Rose. Raised in a
poor family in New York, he The killer of Bugsy Siegel, who died at
was a man of many talents, not this home in 1947, has never been
the least of which was making found.
wise investments.
Rose's first remarkable skill,
Q: I say mobster Benjamin
though, was shorthand. He was "Bugsy" Siegel is buried in a Jew-
so good and so quick that he ish cemetery. My best friend says,
found a job working for Bernard
Baruch, presidential adviser "No way!" Who is correct?
A: You are.
and chairman of the War In-
"Bugsy" (a nickname he
dustries Board during World
loathed)
was shot and killed in
War I. But by the end of the
war he'd had enough of short- 1947 at the home of his girl-
hand, and decided instead to be- friend, Virginia Hill, 810 Lin-
come a songwriter. Rose wrote den Drive in Los Angeles. He is
the lyrics for some 400 songs, buried in a crypt at the Beth
one of the most popular of Olam Mausoleum in the Hol-
which was "Me and My Shad- lywood Memorial Cemetery. ❑
ow." His first hit was in 1920
when, at 21, Rose wrote "Ain't Send questions to Tell Me Why,
Nature Grand." By the time he The Jewish News, 27676
was 24, he was earning an in- Franklin Road, Southfield, MI
credible $100,000 a year.
48034, or fax to (248) 354-6069.
Rose would write lyrics All letters must be signed and in-
throughout his life, but he de- clude the writer's address. Ques-
cided to take on another pro- tions answered in the column will
fession, as well. So in 1924 he feature only the writer's initials
opened a nightclub geared to- and city of residence.
historian, published the first bi-
ography of J.S. Bach. Forkel
told in his book how Hermann
Karl von Keyserlingk, Russian
ambassador to the court of Sax-
ony, discovered in Danzig (now
Gdansk, Poland) a brilliant
young keyboard player named
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg. Key-
serlingk, Forkel said, commis-
sioned Bach to write a set of
variations to be played by Gold-
berg.
Because the story contains
several errors of fact, modern
scholars doubt the veracity of
Forkel's tale. They agree, how-
ever, that young Goldberg was
an extraordinarily talented key-
boardist who could have taken
on with relative ease Bach's
technically difficult composi-
tion.
There is no evidence that
Goldberg was Jewish. He was
baptized in the year of his birth,
1727. In sources, he is referred
to as Gollberg, Goltberg and
other variants.
Although "Goldberg" is found
predominantly among Jews,
keep in mind that it is, after
a German name.
"