Der shtiler bulgar
“The Quiet Bulgar”in English
Abe Schwartz · 1918
“The quiet bulgar,” first recorded by 's orchestra in 1918. Twenty years on, trumpeter Ziggy Elman's adaptation became Benny Goodman's #1 hit “And the Angels Sing” — a klezmer (כּלי־זמר) dance tune at the top of the American charts.
Schwartz’s orchestra recorded “Der shtiler bulgar” (“the quiet bulgar”) in 1918, early in the Columbia Jewish-music sessions he ran. Twenty years later, trumpeter Ziggy Elman — a klezmer player inside Benny Goodman’s band — swung the tune; with Johnny Mercer’s English lyrics it became Goodman’s 1939 #1 hit “And the Angels Sing.” For a moment a Bessarabian wedding dance sat on top of the American pop charts. The piano-roll arrangement on this site is the klezmer original, not the swing rewrite.