NOAH GREENBERG: 1919-1966
H., I.
The world knew him as a gifted musician, but to those of us who had grown up with him in the socialist youth movement, he was, above all, a figure from those vibrant years when everything...
...He was soon involved in a fierce struggle against an entrenched union bureaucracy, led by a man who had risen to power through an alliance with the Communists, had learned from them all he could about suppressing critics and dissidents, and, to consolidate his rule, had turned first upon the Communists and then upon the authentic union militants...
...Even during his most politicallyactive years, music was his passion...
...Buoyant, large and zestful, he radiated a vast energy, the very heat and noise of life...
...The last time I spoke to him he grew vivid with his characteristic excitement, a kind of kinetic fervor, as he expressed disagreement with some article I had written, and then went on to describe a visit to the Soviet Union, where he had discussed politics with young people and formed his impressions about the cultural plight of the Russian Jews...
...The world knew him as a gifted musician, but to those of us who had grown up with him in the socialist youth movement, he was, above all, a figure from those vibrant years when everything seemed possible...
...He was one of those fortunate enough to have an apartment of his own, and on Saturday nights we would pile into his place on East 14th Street, submitting ourselves to his musical teaching, listening to the baroque and medieval pieces he had discovered, and succumbing to his enthusiasm as he sang in accompaniment to the records, his voice, hands and body alive with the pleasure of sound...
...A bit later Noah shipped out as a seaman and became intensely active in a maritime union...
...Others honor him, rightly, for his work as a musician, but for at least some of his friends he seems like a force stolen away, a figure embodying the strength of memory...
...Against this entrenched machine Noah and his few friends had no chance, but they fought well, with courage and good faith...
...When Noah Greenberg died, he was at the peak of his achievement...
...we wanted the socialist revolution and avant garde modernism, Trotsky and Joyce, Marx and Stravinsky, everything that seemed bold and truthful...
...For his old friends, scattered by life and various in their ideas, there was pleasure in following his work: the same spirit flamed through it that had warmed our youth...
...Even after Noah organized the Pro Musica Antiqua, he kept a strong interest in politics...
...He is gone, at 46...
...In those days we never supposed there could be any conflict between politics and culture, engagement and taste...
...I. H...
Vol. 13 • March 1966 • No. 2
