Paul Godwin

He was born on March 28, 1902, in Sosnowitz (Russian Empire; now Poland), his real name was Pinchas Goldfein. Early recordings on the POLYPHON label gave the name "Tanz-Orchester Goldfein". He studied the violin at the Warsaw Conservatory under Stanisław Barcewicz.[1]

At the age of 20 he formed his own dance band in Berlin. Between 1926 and 1933 his orchestra Tanz-Orchester Paul Godwin recorded a countless number of records for European labels, mostly for Berliner Gramophone. Many recording singers were backed by his orchestra at that time. His band performed current hits and longtime favorites of various styles: foxtrots, waltzes, tangos, polkas. Occasionally Paul Godwin recorded classical pieces, with his full orchestra as well as the "Paul Godwin-Trio" or "Paul Godwin Quartet". Due to the variety of their repertoire, his orchestra recorded under various monikers: Tanz-Orchester Godwin, Paul Godwin's Jazz Symphoniker, Paul Godwin-Ensemble, Paul Godwin & sein Weekend-Orchester etc. In 1929–1933 he turned to cinema and provided many UFA motion pictures with hugely popular soundtracks.

Paul Godwin and his orchestras were enormously popular in Europe at the time: the recent report stated that within the ten-year period (1923–1933) nine millions of his records were sold.

In early 1933 Paul Godwin moved to the Netherlands where he remained for the rest of his life. After the war Godwin formed a classical violin trio with which he performed until the 1970s. He died on December 9, 1982 in Driebergen in the Netherlands.

• Article by Hans Lang in German
• Short biographiy with a few images