Artur Gold

The Gold-Petersburski Orchestra, Artur Gold in back row, left.

Artur Gold (born March 17, 1897, Warsaw, died 1943 in Treblinka) was a Polish Jewish violinist and dance-music composer. He was the second son of Michał Gold, a musician in the Warsaw Opera; when Michał died an uncle took him to England, where he received his musical education.^[1] He later returned to Warsaw and played there in various nightclubs. His closest collaborators were his brother Henryk and Jerzy Petersburski, with whom he arranged for his famous ensembles; they were among the most popular composers in interwar Poland and their many hits were sung through the whole country.^[1] Gold ran an orchestra in the Qui Pro Quo theater (1922) and in the Warsaw cabaret Adria (1931–1939).

Some of his noted compositions were the foxtrot Gdy Petersburski razem z Goldem gra ("When Petersburski and Gold play together") (1926), the tango Gdy w ogrodzie botanicznym ("In the botanical garden"), Jesienne róże ("Autumn roses"), Nie odchodź ode mnie (Don't walk away from me), Nie wierzę ci, Jaśminy (Jasmine), Kwiaciarka z Barcelony (Flower girl from Barcelona), Oczy czarne (Black Eyes), Ostatni jeszcze, and others. Most of the texts were by Andrzej Włast.^[1]

He also performed with English orchestras in the 1920s and recorded for Columbia records. In the 1930's he also recorded several albums for the "Odeon" phonograph company.

During World War II, Artur played with an orchestra in the Warsaw Ghetto. He was deported by the Germans from the Umschlagplatz to Treblinka extermination camp where he played for the Nazis in their casino and where he was murdered in 1943. According to recollections of some of the Treblinka survivors Gold might have been killed during the uprising at Treblinka which occurred on August 2, 1943.

The melody of his song Chodź na Pragę (Come to Praga) (1930) is currently played as a Hejnał of the Warsaw borough of Praga, each day at noon.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Isaschar Fater, Jewish Music in Poland Between the Two World Wars, 1970

External links

• Music and the Holocaust
• About Artur Gold's orchestra in Treblinka and his death there

Persondata
Name	Gold, Artur
Alternative names
Short description	violinist and composer
Date of birth	March 17, 1897
Place of birth	Warsaw, Poland
Date of death	1943
Place of death	Treblinka extermination camp, Poland