Jan Meyerowitz (1913 -1998)

TRANSCRIPTION

Jan Meyerowitz                                                              3 – 28 – 57
27 Morningside Avenue
Cresskill, New Jersey

 Wiederum: 

… So dass er seit dies geschah
            nur [sein] süsses Bildnis sah.

         Am Dienstag habe ich (von 7 – 10.35)
Colleg. Wehe, dass ich Deine ausgezeichneten
Programme vermisse!! Ach, wenn man doch
tun könnte, was man wollte, - und: vor
allem: sollte!

         Wir sehen uns also nächste
Woche!!

             Ergebenste Grüsse

             An Beide Simons

                    JM

TRANSLATION

Jan Meyerowitz                                                              3 – 28 – 57
27 Morningside Avenue
Cresskill, New Jersey¹

            Again:

            ...So that he, since this happened
             saw only [his] sweet portrait.²

 From 7 – 10.35 on Tuesday I attend College³.  Woe betide me for missing your excellent programs!! Mind, if one could do whatever one feels like doing, - and: especially: should be doing!

         Nevertheless we shall meet next week!!

         Sincere greetings

           To both Simons⁴

                        JM

NOTES:
1)  Presumed residence.

Map of 27 Morningside Ave
Cresskill, NJ 07626-1511

2) The source of this quotation may be a German poem. (Compare
     German meter and end-of-line rhyme.)

3) It seems unlikely that he was a student. He had already become a U.S. citizen in 1951, so he was not taking a citizenship class. Possibly a class he taught--but where? Apparently not at Brooklyn College where he taught only from 1958 to1962 (verified with B.C. 1/13/04).

4) The Austrian-American clarinetist and composer Eric Simon (1907-1984) and wife(?).

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Jan Meyerowitz was born in Breslau, Germany, on April 23, 1913. He studied at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik with Alexander Zemlinsky.  Fleeing Hitler's regime, he went to Rome and there studied with Ottorino Respighi and Alfredo Cassella. After a stay in Belgium, he moved to southern France and remained there until 1946. He met and married French singer Marguerite Fricker. He then came to the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen in 1951. As a teacher, he taught at the Berkshire Music Center and Brooklyn College (1956-1962) after which he was appointed the faculty of the City College of New York. Meyerowitz received Guggenheim Fellowships in 1956 and 1958. According to "Der Spiegel," Meyerowitz died on 15 December, in Colmar, France, at age 85.

REV. 01/15/2004

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