Klezmer

Klezmer
Klezmer
Native name	קלעזמער
Other names	Jewish instrumental folk music, Freylekh music
Stylistic origins	Old European dance music; religious Jewish music; Romanian music; Moldovan music; Ukrainian music; Polish music; Baroque music; Ottoman music; Greek music;
Cultural origins	Ashkenazic Jewish ceremonies, especially weddings, in Eastern Europe
Typical instruments	Standard orchestra instruments, accordion, cimbalom

Klezmer (Yiddish: קלעזמער or כּלי־זמר) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.^[1] 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.^[2]^[3] The musical genre incorporated elements of many other musical genres including Ottoman (especially Greek and Romanian) music, Baroque music, German and Slavic folk dances, and religious Jewish music.^[4]^[5] 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.^[6]^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[1] 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.^[9]

^ ^a ^b Strom, Yale (Winter 2024). "The Mesmerizing Sounds of Klezmer". Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
^ Beregovsky, Moishe (1982). "4. Jewish Instrumental Folk Music (1937)". In Slobin, Mark (ed.). Old Jewish folk music : the collections and writings of Moshe Beregovski. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 530–548. ISBN 081227833X.
^ Rubin, Joel E. (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century: the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. p. 29. ISBN 9781580465984.
^ Slobin, Mark (2000). Fiddler on the move : exploring the klezmer world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780195161809.
^ Feldman, Zev (2016). Klezmer: music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 208–210. ISBN 9780190244514.
^ Rubin, Joel E. (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century: the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 71–74. ISBN 9781580465984.
^ Feldman, Zev (2016). Klezmer: music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 216–8. ISBN 9780190244514.
^ Feldman, Zev. "Music: Traditional and Instrumental Music". YIVO Encyclopedia. YIVO.
^ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1998). "Sounds of Sensibility". Judaism. 47: 49–55.

[Humanities-1] Strom, Yale (Winter 2024). "The Mesmerizing Sounds of Klezmer". Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

[OJFM_530-48-2] Beregovsky, Moishe (1982). "4. Jewish Instrumental Folk Music (1937)". In Slobin, Mark (ed.). Old Jewish folk music : the collections and writings of Moshe Beregovski. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 530–548. ISBN 081227833X.

[Rubin_2020_29-3] Rubin, Joel E. (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century: the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. p. 29. ISBN 9781580465984.

[Slobin_2000_7-4] Slobin, Mark (2000). Fiddler on the move : exploring the klezmer world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780195161809.

[Feldman_2016_208-10-5] Feldman, Zev (2016). Klezmer: music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 208–210. ISBN 9780190244514.

[Rubin_2020_71-4-6] Rubin, Joel E. (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century: the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 71–74. ISBN 9781580465984.

[Feldman_2016_216-8-7] Feldman, Zev (2016). Klezmer: music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 216–8. ISBN 9780190244514.

[YIVO_encyclopedia_instr-8] Feldman, Zev. "Music: Traditional and Instrumental Music". YIVO Encyclopedia. YIVO.

[9] Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1998). "Sounds of Sensibility". Judaism. 47: 49–55.

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