Recent Accession: The Collection of Paula Eisenstein-Baker

Paula Eisenstein-Baker (1939–2024) was a cellist and musicologist who became the leading expert on composer Leo Zeitlin. Zeitlin, who had been active in the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg in the early part of the 20th century, had received little attention from contemporary scholars until Eisenstein-Baker’s research began in the late 1980s. After identifying him as the composer of the well-known composition “Eli Zion”—it had been misattributed to a violinist with almost the same name—Eisenstein-Baker devoted herself to the composer and his work, meticulously collecting his compositions, arrangements, and biographical material.

Eisenstein-Baker wrote about Zeitlin and his music in musicology and Jewish journals, including YIVO Annual, co-edited critical editions of his compositions, arranged for performances of them, and performed his works herself. Eisenstein-Baker had a long relationship with YIVO, and her collection will be invaluable to future researchers of Jewish music.