Joel Engel (1868-1927) was born in the then Russian, now Ukrainian, town of Berdyansk. After studying at Kharkov University, he then entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied composition with Sergei Taneyev and Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. Not only a composer, but also a prominent music critic and collector of traditional Yiddish or Jewish folk melodies. He became a leading figure in promoting Jewish music, founding a publishing firm in Germany to promote the music by Jewish composers. Most of his works were either for voice, piano, or chamber ensembles.
The Freilachs Dance for Piano Trio dates from 1919 and was dedicated to his uncle. Freilachs is Yiddish for happy or joyful, and Freilachs (also Freylekhs) dances were traditional Jewish folk dances popular throughout Eastern Europe, usually played at celebrations such as weddings or bar mitzvahs. Engel, who was trained as a classical musician, had the goal of elevating Jewish folk melody into classical music and thus creating a repertoire in much the same way that other composers like Bartok and Dvorak were doing for their own country's folk melodies.
Here is a marvelous medium-length work perfect for where something shorter than a full-length piano trio is needed.
