Klezmer

Klezmer is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these would have been played at weddings and other social functions. The musical genre incorporated elements of many other musical genres including Ottoman music, Baroque music, German and Slavic folk dances, and religious Jewish music. As the music arrived in the United States, it lost some of its traditional ritual elements and adopted elements of American big band and popular music. Among the European-born klezmers who popularized the genre in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s were Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein; they were followed by American-born musicians such as Max Epstein, Sid Beckerman and Ray Musiker.
After the destruction of Jewish life in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust, and a general fall in the popularity of klezmer music in the United States, the music began to be popularized again in the late 1970s in the so-called Klezmer Revival. During the 1980s and onwards, musicians experimented with traditional and experimental forms of the genre, releasing fusion albums combining the genre with jazz, punk, and other styles. By the 1980s and 1990s the American revival spread to Europe and inspired a new interest in the genre in places such as Germany, France, Poland and Russia. A parallel tradition has also continued in Israel with such figures as Moussa Berlin.

Etymology and usage

The term, as used in the Yiddish language, has a Hebrew etymology: klei, meaning "tools, utensils or instruments of" and zemer, "melody"; leading to k'lei zemer, meaning "musical instruments". Over time the usage of "" in a Yiddish context evolved to describe musicians instead of their instruments, first in Bohemia in the second half of the sixteenth century and then in Poland, possibly as a response to the new status of the musicians who were at that time forming professional guilds. Previously the musician may have been referred to as a or other terms. After the term became the preferred term for these professional musicians in Yiddish-speaking Eastern Europe, other types of musicians were more commonly known as or. Twentieth-century Russian scholars sometimes used the term "klezmer"; Ivan Lipaev did not use it, but Moisei Beregovsky did when publishing in Yiddish or Ukrainian.
It was not until the late 20th century that the word "klezmer" became a commonly known English-language term. During that time, through metonymy it came to refer not only to the musician but to the musical genre they played, a meaning which it had not had in Yiddish. Early 20th century recording industry materials and other writings had referred to it as Hebrew, Jewish, or Yiddish dance music, or sometimes using the Yiddish term Freilech music. The term 'klezmer' to refer to a genre of music was popularized as a marketing term in the late 1970s by Revival bands; Walter Zev Feldman, whose 1979 LP with Andy Statman used the term, claims credit for this shift in usage.

Musical elements

Style

The traditional style of playing klezmer music, including tone, typical cadences, and ornamentation, sets it apart from other genres. Although klezmer music emerged from a larger Eastern European Jewish musical culture that included Jewish cantorial music, Hasidic Niguns, and later Yiddish theatre music, it also borrowed from the surrounding folk musics of Central and Eastern Europe and from cosmopolitan European musical forms. Therefore it evolved into an overall style which has recognizable elements from all of those other genres.
Few klezmer musicians before the late nineteenth century had conservatory musical training, but they generally learned through apprenticeship and inherited a rich tradition with its own advanced musical techniques. Each musician had their understanding of how the style should be "correctly" performed. The usage of these ornaments was not random; the matters of "taste", self-expression, variation and restraint were and remain important elements of how to interpret the music.
Klezmer musicians apply the overall style to available specific techniques on each melodic instrument. They incorporate and elaborate the vocal melodies of Jewish religious practice, including the vocal style of the Hazzan, Jewish prayer, and paraliturgical song, extending the range of human voice into the musical expression possible on instruments. Among those stylistic elements that are considered typically "Jewish" in klezmer music are those which are shared with cantorial or Hasidic vocal ornaments, including imitations of sighing or laughing. Various Yiddish terms were used for these vocal-like ornaments such as קרעכץ, קנײטש, and קװעטש. Other ornaments such as trills, grace notes, appoggiaturas, glitshn, tshoks, flageolets, pedal notes, mordents, slides and typical klezmer cadences are also important to the style. In particular, the cadences which draw on religious Jewish music identify a piece more strongly as a klezmer tune, even if its broader structure was borrowed from a non-Jewish source. Sometimes the term dreydlekh is used only for trills, while other use it for all klezmer ornaments. Unlike in Classical music, vibrato is used sparingly, and is treated as another type of ornament.
The accompaniment style varies depending on instrumentation and context, ranging from playing in octaves without harmonization, to partial chords played by a second violinist, to very elaborate harmonized brass bands arrangements in the twentieth century.

Historical repertoire

The repertoire of klezmer musicians was very diverse and tied to specific social functions and dances, especially of the traditional wedding. These melodies might have a non-Jewish origin, or have been composed by a klezmer, but only rarely are they attributed to a specific composer. Generally klezmer music can be divided into two broad categories: music for specific dances, and music for listening.

Dances

Given that Ashkenazic Jewish weddings have taken place in many countries and historical contexts, the dances preserved in klezmer music show a variety of ritual and cultural origins:

A is the simplest and most widespread type of klezmer dance tunes are those played in and intended for group circle dances. Depending on the location this basic dance may also have been called a ,,, ,,, etc.
A, or is a circle dance originating in Moldavia dance with a recognizable syncopated rhythm in or. It became the most popular klezmer dance form in the United States in the early twentieth century.
Sher is a contra dance in, typically arranged for four couples who move together and trade places during the dance. Musically, it sounds like a Freylekhs, but the total number of sections allows the particular dance to be performed. Beregovsky, writing in the 1930s, noted that despite the dance being very commonly played across a wide area, he suspected that it had its roots in an older German dance. This dance continued to be known in the United States even after other complex European klezmer dances had been forgotten.
or are ritual dances dating back hundreds of years, often in and borrowing the form and melodies of a polonaise or a gavotte. Incorporating themes of purity, piety or commitment, the dance would see the bride would dancing with the groom or other community members separated by a handkerchief or belt. A is a related type of dance which involves pantomimes of anger and reconciliation.
, or, named after Hasidic Jews, is a more dignified embellished dance in or. The dance steps can be performed solo, or in a circle or in a line. Stutschewsky notes that it can contain elements of irony or self-parody.
Hora or is a circle dance in which entered the klezmer repertoire from Romanian and Moldavian music. In the United States, it came to be one of the main dance types after the Bulgar.
Kolomeike is a fast and catchy dance in time, which originated in Ukraine, and is prominent in the folk music of that country.
is generally thought to be a more elaborate which could be played either for dancing or listening. The name, which is of Slavic origin, is thought by some to refer to a hopping movement in the dance.
Nigun, a very broad term which can refer to melodies for listening, singing or dancing. Usually a mid-paced song in.
Waltzes were very popular, whether classical, Russian, or Polish. A padespan was a sort of Russian/Spanish waltz known to klezmers.
Mazurka and polka, Polish and Czech dances, respectively, were often played for both Jews and Gentiles.
Kozak or is a dance of Ukrainian origin in popular among klezmer musicians.
Sirba – a Romanian dance in or . It features hopping steps and short bursts of running, accompanied by triplets in the melody.
Non-dance repertoire

Historically, klezmer musicians also performed a variety of ritual and listening music which may have been rhythmic or freeform depending on the type. As with dances, these often borrowed from Jewish or non-Jewish folk melodies, religious music, and so on.

There were a variety of non-metrical, semi-improvised listening genres. The best known is the borrowed from the Romanian doina. Other lesser known types include the, also coming from a Romanian-Moldavian tradition; the, whose name is borrowed from the Ottoman/Arab Taqsim; and a Fantasia where klezmers would compose variations on a simple musical theme.
Forms centering on bridal rituals, including the or . In these freeform pieces the would sing to the bride as the soloist accompanied with a freeform piece.
Other more rhythmic listening pieces drew on the Hasidic Nigun. A was a melody played for listening at the table; a inspired spiritual arousal or a pious mood. Many of these melodies were sung at the Hasidic table and also performed instrumentally by klezmer musicians.
A , pieces in especially in the Hasidic context, may be slower than non-Jewish waltzes and intended for listening while the wedding parties are seated at their tables.
Processional melodies could have a variety of musical forms or even borrow non-Jewish melodies, and were used to lead wedding parties or other groups as they walked. These include , were used to lead the wedding party around the neighborhood or between different stages of the wedding. According to Beregovski the was always in time. Similarly, could be non-Jewish march melodies adapted into joyful singing or playing contexts. Parting melodies played at the beginning or end of a wedding day, such as the , , or etc. are closely related.
Other types of listening music borrowed from the forms and melodies of neighboring cultures, either from folk melodies or non-Jewish dances. A is a type of virtuosic solo piece in in an Ottoman or "oriental" style, and melodies may incorporate references to Greek Hasapiko into an Ashkenazic musical aesthetic.