Family genealogy
Klezmer music
Reporting on the Klezmer phenomenon today:
It is about studying how a musical genre is born, evolves and transforms throughout history.
It also means considering music in a given society and the inevitable interaction that exists between these two elements.
According to Hervé Roten (Director of the European Institute of Jewish Music)
Klezmer is a festive instrumental music that was once practiced in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe to accompany weddings or joyous religious celebrations, such as the carnival-like festival of Purim, the celebration of the Torah (Simhat Torah) or the inauguration of a new synagogue.
Like most Jewish musical traditions, klezmer is a music of exile, deeply marked by its geographical and cultural environment. The Greek term "diaspora" (dispersion), which originally applied only to uprooted Jews, has now entered common parlance to refer to exiled ethnic minorities. In Eastern Europe, klezmer music borrowed from various cultures, resulting in a rich and diverse practice that has constantly evolved over time and across different regions.
The term "klezmer" derives from the Hebrew "kli zemer" which means "instruments of singing". It is in a 16th century manuscript that "klezmer" first refers to the musician and no longer to the instrument.
At the beginning of the 20th century, "klezmer" referred to a self-taught musician playing folk music by ear: it designated a poor fellow who played vulgar and unsophisticated music. Klezmers were not highly regarded musicians. When they played, each added their own harmonies, whatever came to mind, according to their talent and inspiration.
But nowadays, the term has become rather flattering for the musician and in common parlance, it also refers to traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe, as well as all its more contemporary derivatives.
A short story
Modern klezmer musicians are the descendants of Jewish itinerant musicians whose traces can be found as early as Roman times.
Until the end of the Middle Ages, many Jews became acrobats and other entertainers.
There are mentions of Jewish musicians attached to the courts of both Christian kings and Muslim caliphs.
These Jewish minstrels or jugglers played an international repertoire, mainly consisting of songs, instrumental pieces, but also recitations of long epic poems and various types of poetry.
In the 13th century, they played alongside provençal "troubadours", "trouvères" from northern France, and Minnesänger in the countries beyond the Rhine.
From the 16th century onwards, the instrumental practice of klezmer music was severely restricted.
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on the one hand by the civil authorities who granted permission to play sparingly to a limited number of musicians,
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on the other hand by the Jewish religious authorities themselves who frowned upon the enthusiasm of the faithful for this music which was not in accordance with Jewish ethics.
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However, klezmer musicians were regularly invited by the communities to play at various festive occasions. To make a living, the professional Jewish musician also performed for Christian audiences.
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Indeed, klezmer music built bridges between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. Jewish musicians played in local orchestras, and non-Jewish musicians played in Jewish orchestras known as kapelyes, kompaniye, or orkestr. Musical exchanges between Jews and Roma also took place daily.
At the turn of the 20th century , hundreds of thousands of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe, fleeing pogroms and poverty, emigrated to the United States. Among them, many musicians found work in theaters, cabarets, hotels, cafes, circuses, and later cinemas, in Europe and the USA.
The American Jewish community, for its part, sought out klezmer musicians for weddings and other traditional celebrations. Yiddish theater also provided a space where singers, musicians, and composers could give free rein to their talent.
During the Second World War, Central and Eastern Europe was emptied of its Jews ("Judenrein") by Nazi barbarity.
Entire communities disappeared, taking a centuries-old culture with them into oblivion.
But in the United States, klezmer music survived and even flourished as dance and celebratory music. Approximately 50,000 records of Jewish music—700 of which were klezmer alone—were recorded between 1894 and 1942.
During the Second World War, Central and Eastern Europe was emptied of its Jews ("Judenrein") by Nazi barbarity. Entire communities disappeared, taking a centuries-old culture with them into oblivion.
But in the United States, klezmer music survived and even flourished as dance and celebratory music. Approximately 50,000 records of Jewish music—700 of which were klezmer alone—were recorded between 1894 and 1942.
After World War II, the trend towards cultural assimilation and Zionism that prevailed among American Jews relegated Jewish music to oblivion.
However, in the 1970s and 1980s, interest in Yiddish culture resurfaced. Thanks to pioneers like clarinetist Giora Feidman, Henry Sapoznik (of the group Kapelye), and Lev Liberman (The Klezmorim), a music reappeared that was named "klezmer" by the same chance that led to Irish music being called "Celtic." In 1970, the klezmer revival movement had 3 orchestras in the United States; by 1990, there were more than 50, including 10 in the New York metropolitan area alone.
New klezmer music groups are created in France every year.
While klezmer is very much alive, it has nevertheless evolved considerably: this is evidenced by the instruments and repertoire currently in use.
The instruments of klezmer music have always been varied: firstly the violin and other bowed string instruments (viola, cello, double bass), but also the clarinet, flute, drum and cymbals, then in the 20th century the brass instruments.
It's a bit long, but it covers the whole issue. Sory, i haven't the english translation!
Today, my favorite is David Krakauer: he "jazzifies" and renews Klezmer
A classically trained New York clarinetist, David KRAKAUER made a name for himself through his collaborations with contemporary music ensembles (the BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC, the ARDITTI STRING QUARTET, the KRONOS QUARTET…), which did not prevent him from becoming, in parallel with John ZORN, Matt DARRIAU and Frank LONDON, an emblematic figure of what is known as the “new wave of klezmer music” which appeared in the 1990s in the wake of groups like THE KLEZMATICS, with whom KRAKAUER crossed paths.
With luminous and imaginative virtuosity, a jovial and unrestrained expressiveness, and a proven taste for improvisation – three essential qualities for playing klezmer music