Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:07:13 -0500
From: Adrianne Greenbaum <klezmerflute@mail.com>
To: John Ranck <ranck@fas.harvard.edu>, FLUTE@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Sephardic/klezmer?
Oooo ooo ooo (or Oy oy oy!), I get to field this one!
Sholem Aleykhem, List! (In our world we have "responses" just as we sort of have "Hi, how are you? I'm fine..." Your response is "Aleykhem Sholem!"
So, huge difference between klezmer and Sephardic.
Klezmer is specifically eastern European only, also called music of
the Ashkanazi Jews. (VERY specifically, klezmer was not a "music"
type until the 1970s but only referred to the musician, not the
music itself. Musicologist Zev Feldman considers himself to have
titled the music as klezmer).
So, klezmer is instrumental music only, from eastern Europe.
Sephardic music is mostly that of Spain, but also Portugal, and now
considered as well music of Jews from the communities in Greece,
Bulgaria, South America, India, and elsewhere. Sephardic Jews are
also known as Oriental Jews, but I don't hear that term much any
more. Although some families can trace their presence in Palestine
back for six or eight generations, Sephardim began arriving in
Israel in large numbers only during the 1950's, well after the
Ashkenazi (eastern European Jews from Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia,
Poland...) establishment was firmly in place. Language of Ashkanzic
Jews is Yiddish - of various dialects, of course - and Sephardic
Jews speak Ladino. And sing Ladino. Now to more pertinent musical
connections:
The modes are totally different. I'm not an expert in Ladino music (also a name for music of the Sephardim, or, Sephardic music) and therefore wouldn't want to begin to do a theory paper here and now, but, modally, you will instantly hear a difference. I'm sure there are online sources that would distinguish or at least theoretically describe each. I'm good at describing the klezmer modes, but again, won't do that here :-)
Klezmer is both dance and listening music; Sephardic or Ladino is also dance and listening music. The dances themselves are totally different, as you would expect from any of my distinguishing factors above.
Finally, when a client asks us for "Ya know, that Kletzmire music, like a big hora, okay?" I kindly say "Oh, we certainly will give you a long, hefty, wild, loud hora with 25 tunes in a medley; not to worry." But I DON'T correct them to say "Uh, although that's not klezmer...." It's not. The hora itself is Israeli, that is, the dance. The music that goes with it (Hava Nagila being the most known world-wide) is Israeli. But most klezmorim play Hasidic (often considered klezmer because of the roots of the their people and therefore the music) as well, mixing it all up.
I AM in the process of arranging klezmer for flute ensembles and will self-publish them. It will be traditional klezmer tunes that will sound totally different from what many know as traditional Jewish tunes such as those songs that are arrangements included in the Valentines book by Shoenfeld or those that Lister Phyllis Avidan-Louke has already arranged. We'll therefore have a better range of offerings and I won't have repeated such repertoire. (I do have, from a past life, a few trio and quartet arrangements of Chanuka tunes that I might throw in. But again, Phyllis already did some, yes???)
Do I now get to push my latest CD - one more time? The only one of
its kind; seriously. This is an ensemble that existed centuries ago
but fell out of favor, so this is a second chance - after my first
record of 2003 - to hear it in its most original state. All klezmer,
of course, performed on 9 flutes, 7 of them historic, including
Berteling, Meyer, 2 Hungarian signed flutes (these are all Simple
System/pre-Boehm system), signed Th. Boehm., Cloos flute and
piccolo. Get it for the artwork alone :-) I was SO incredibly
pleased with Oasis's layout, color choices, fonts, etc. They took my
farshtunkineh photo I took in a forest and turned it into a work of
art, all because of the framing and the color choices. I decided to
try something different as well by adding commentaries at the end
instead of ALL liner notes. I do have the music to the first CD in a
book and also MUCH of the second CD is in my "Original Klezmer
Tunes" book, both sold at Fluteworld. (CDs of course also at
fluteworld, and also cdbaby.com)
Other than "Chuztpadikh" I don't know any other word for shameless
promotion, but there you have it. (Can I put a smiley face here,
please?)
A groyse dank (a huge thank you)
Adrianne
_____________________________________
Adrianne Greenbaum
http://www.klezmerflute.com
& http://www.klezband.com/
Associate Professor of Flute, Mount Holyoke College
Klezmer flutist: “FleytMuzik” and "FleytMuzik In Kontsert!”
Classical: "Sounds of America"
http://www.fluteworld.com
Powell Flutes and Miyazawa Flutes Artist
Posted with author's permission.
