Jakub Kagan (7 February 1896 – 1942) was a popular
Polish-Jewish composer, pianist, jazz musician and
arranger. In the early 1920s, he formed the Kagan's Jazz Band in
Warsaw, performing in operettas, cabarets, and hotels. Since 1922 Kagan was a feature artist at the Kabaret Mirage and at the Teatr Nowości. In 1926 he signed a contract with the luxury
Hotel Bristol in Warsaw. His band performed world-renowned standards as well as his own compositions widely popular
across the country. He died in Warsaw during
the Holocaust in occupied Poland.[1]
Life
Kagan was one of four sons of Morduch (Mordechai) and Sara
née Kantor. He was born in
Nowogródek in the
Minsk Governorate of the
Russian Empire (now Navahrudak in
Belarus). His eldest brother Mieczysław (born in 1887) changed his name to Kochanowski and became composer of dance music before the First World War. Jakub followed in his brother's footsteps.[2] He graduated from the
Warsaw Institute of Music before 1918 and became member of the
Polish Composers Union. In 1920 he fought in the
Polish–Soviet War defending
Warsaw during the
Battle of Radzymin. He began composing at that particular time. His first widely popular tango was "Złota pantera" (The Gold Panther) to words by
Andrzej Włast (1895–1942), premiered in 1929 in
Żegiestów. The song opened all the doors for his subsequent Warsaw career, followed by international tours and concerts in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.[1] His greatest hits were performed by such headliners as
Hanka Ordonówna,
Adam Aston, and
Stanisław Grzesiuk.[3]
After the
invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany he was deported to the
Warsaw Ghetto where he played piano at the Splendid Café and the Melody Palace Theatre to survive. He was killed in 1942 possibly during the murderous Grossaktion Warsaw.[1] His other brother, Feliks, who had changed his name to Kochański, also perished during the war.[4] Only the youngest of the Kagan brothers, Alexander (born in 1906), survived
the Holocaust as a soldier of the
Polish Army in France (1939–40), interned in Switzerland.[2]
Popular songs
"Musiałem cię zostawić" (1937), words by Zenon Friedwald[5]
^
abcB.P.P. (2009).
"Kagan, Jakub". Biografia. Cyfrowa Biblioteka Polskiej Piosenki. With selected bibliography. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
^
abDr. Katarzyna Naliwajek-Mazurek (2010).
"Polish Composers in German Occupied Poland". Composers suppressed by the Nazis. University of Warsaw, Institute of Musicology: The OREL Foundation. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
^Naliwajek-Mazurek 2010 (ibidem), Note: see Tomasz Lerski, Syrena Record. Pierwsza polska wytwórnia fonograficzna 1904–1939, Editions ”Karin”, New York – Warsaw 2004: 661–662.
^
abcdefghiS.M. (2015).
"Old Melodies, Composer: Jakub Kagan. Index". Pages with full lyrics in the Polish language. Background info. Links to recordings featured at YouTube. Stare Melodie.pl. Retrieved 7 June 2015.