Klezmer fiddle


Klezmer is a genre of fiddle music rooted in the medieval shtetl of Eastern Europe, where wandering Ashkenazi musicians played at bar mitzvahs, weddings and holidays – a ritual of rabbinic Judaism.

Influences

Antecedents

Some academic musicologists suggest that ancient Semitic traditions preceded and influenced, along with Tanakh hymns, Greek Pythagorean music. It consisted of a blend of dance tunes, liturgy and meditative chants. Richard J. Dumbrill of City University of New York traced the evolution of Jewish harp, balags, lyre, lute and aerophone instrumental music in the ancient Near East. Following the destruction of the second Temple, all rejoicing and use of musical instruments was banned, with the exception of occasional use of the Rams Horn.

Medieval

Traditions combined in medieval klezmer include Greek, Turkish, Slavic and later, Jazz. Some modern bands, like the Klezmatics, incorporate gospel, punk, Arab, African, and Balkan rhythms.

History

Mel Bay music writer Chris Haigh, who himself performs in Klezmer bands, is one of the more prolific and popular writers on the topic, and he makes numerous assertions regarding the history of klezmer music which he does not corroborate with academic references. He contends that klezmer musicians constituted a hereditary profession with a "secret language" supported by guilds, starting out in Prague 1558 with the fidl for a logo, and a fiddler leading the band with second or third fiddles for harmony and rhythmic support. Other centres of klezmorim included Odessa, Ukraine, which to this day hosts annual Rosh Hashanah gatherings with tremendous music and dance. In the past there have been clashes with the authorities at these gatherings, regarding vending licenses and similar issues. Haupt notes the history of persecution by the Gentile authorities in medieval Christian Europe, but does not link the much-discussed, long-standing history of anti-Semitism with perceptions of secretiveness and proximity to criminality, which he reiterates in his version of klezmer historiography. For example, pressure from non-Jewish musicians ensured that in Prague, it was over a century before the Klezmer Guild was given permission for its members to play at non-Jewish functions. One way around these labyrinthine laws was to pretend to be professional Romani musicians.

Repertoire

Klezmer music incorporates ritualistic aspects of Hebrew culture but also incorporates non-Jewish waltzes, polkas or mazurka. The NIGUN is the wordless melody used in liturgy and adopted by klezmer musicians. According to Bob Cohen, "the Jewish fiddle style is one form of east European fiddle which, like Gypsy fiddle styles, served to play several repertoires and styles." He laments, however, the difficulty for music historians in that "by the time of the 'klezmer revival' there were very few Jewish fiddlers left to learn from".

Bulgareasca

In the early 19th century, Russia took over Moldava from the Ottomans and increased liberality led to migration and contact between Jews and Bulgarians which led to "shoulder out the sher" and freylechs styles. The end result was the use of triplets to a new extent in klezmer music.

Horas

Khosidl

This is an Hasidic dance; a derivative of zemerl. The time signature is typically or. This music usually begins at a moderate tempo and accelerates.

The Hora

Examples include Bessarabian Hora.

Klezmer in fusion with other styles

As described above, all klezmer is eclectic, and thus the term fusion, as used with references to combinations of disparate genres, may be redundant, but some klezmer musicians combine the specific eclecticism of klezmer with very specific genres such as rock, dub or reggae. Russian classic romance music borrowed klezmer fiddling techniques, so do some of the more modern musical styles derived from Russian romance, such as shanson. An up an coming new genre of Jewish-influenced music is "Jewgrass", which is a combination of bluegrass and other American folk genres. The lyrics are generally satirical and sung in English as opposed to Yiddish or Hebrew. Klezmer is one of many kinds of Jewish folk music that has contributed to Jewgrass.

Style

Klezmer fiddle is melancholy and portrays a wide range of mood, including religious ecstasy. It draws heavily on the tradition of learning in Judaism, and particularly on the long-standing tradition of excellence in violin work as exhibited by Heifetz, Menuhin, and so many others. This attitude towards the use of the violin differs from the distinct traditions of Irish fiddle or Old time fiddle which place less emphasis on technical musical ability. Thus, klezmer is more complex and utilizes more difficult techniques such as playing in the third, fourth and even fifth position - techniques which are basic to violinists but seldom used by fiddle players.
Dissonance is frequently employed harmonically, and accidentals are used quite freely, creating the signature mood and tones of klezmer. This dissonance is created by using complex scales.

Ornaments

Trills are slower and less dense than the trills used in classical or Celtic. Cohen contends that "one form of trill is actually a slow sliding back and forth of the finger – primitive wah-wah" and that often the trills are executed on two strings at once.

Proponents of the style

Cohen asserts that "Michael Alpert of Brave Old World, Alicia Svigals of the Klezmatics, and Steven Greenman of Khevrisa" are the most reliable proponents of this tradition.