Chaim Ritterband

Chaim Ritterband (1893-1944)

Chaim Ritterband was born in 1893 in Poland as the son of very orthodox parents. At the age of 19, he left Poland to travel to America but ended up living in Copenhagen. Here he raised a family and established a successful tailor business.

In the workshop in the center of Copenhagen you would hear singing all day long. Chaim Ritterband and his assistants had a big repertoire, which included both traditional folk songs and opera.

At a relatively late stage in life, Ritterband began to write songs and compose music himself. 

Melodies came easy to him, but were sometimes difficult for him to remember. He therefore joined forces with cantor M. Beresowsky who then wrote down the melodies on sheet music. Sometimes the melodies would come to Ritterband in the middle of the night. He would then jump out of bed to catch a taxi to Beresowsky’s place, all the while humming the melody to himself.

Many of the songs and melodies were published as sheet music and issued throughout most of Europe and one of his songs was recorded by the singer Osip Friedman in the USA. 

Chaim Ritterband died in 1944 as a refugee in Sweden and left behind more than 250 compositions.

Ann-Mai-Britt Fjord & Henrik Bredholt

[78RPM]

Baym Rebns Tish (Chaim Ritterband) Victor Chenkin Columbia Masterworks M435-5 1940

[33RPM]

Baym Rebns Tish (Chaim Ritterband) Masha Benya Music Internationale M7372 1984

Baym Rebns Tish (Chaim Ritterband) Victor Chenkin The Greater Recording GRC 230 1971

Baym Rebns Tish (Chaim Ritterband) Sarah Gorby Londisc RL 7000 A 1953

Baym Rebns Tish (Chaim Ritterband) Tova Ronni Roulette Records R-253523 1967

Last update 18-01-2025