Albert Einstein, typewritten letter with his signature, addressed to the cantor Leib Glantz. Princeton, April 1949. English.
In the letter Einstein thanks Glantz for the album of Hebrew spirituals Glantz had sent him, and notes: "It is indeed a merit to collect these original expressions of our people before the equalizing influence of our modern world has extinguished them".
Einstein's name and Princeton address are embossed at the top of the leaf.
The letter's addressee, Leib Glantz (1898-1964), was one of the great cantors of his time. Glantz was born in Kiev to a family of cantors. His father, a cantor and Talne Chassid, taught him the foundations of cantorial performance from a young age. In his youth he was involved in Zionist activities and visited Palestine a number of times. In the 1920s he immigrated to the U.S. and was the chief cantor of the Ohev Sholom synagogue in Brooklyn, New York. In 1954 Glantz immigrated to Israel, served as cantor at the Tifereth Zvi synagogue in Tel Aviv and taught cantorial performance at the Cantors Academy he had founded.
[1] leaf, 28 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and creases. Foxing. Some small tears to fold lines.
Provenance: Shlomo Shva collection.