Re: Klezmer

[Moshe Denburg <denburg...>]

Joe Kurland wrote:

> I may be going out on a limb here, and if someone definitively knows
> better, please correct me and point me to a source, but I wonder whether
> "kley-zemer" ever meant a non-human musical instrument, even in loshn
> koydesh (Hebrew).

It definitely does originally mean a musical instrument in Hebrew. The 
derivation is from the singular, compound word: kli (instrument) zemer 
(song), thus = instrument of song. Klei Zemer is the plural form.

Here are two sources:
a) Jewish Musical Traditions  by Amnon Shiloah (a renowned Israeli 
Musicologist), published by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1992.
I quote from page 19:
' The term Klezmer (derived from the Hebrew klezemer, meaning "musical 
instruments") is the Yiddish designation of a small popular orchestra.
Also from the same treatise,  note 6 on page 243:
'The term used in eastern Europe, derived from the Hebrew word for 
instrument (kli zemer), designates a professional folk musician.'

b)The citation in the Avraham Even-Shoshan Dictionary (Hebrew to Hebrew), 
under 'kli zemer' leaves no doubt that the Hebrew denotes a musical 
instrument. I translate the first entry:
'An appliance for making music (machshir n'gina), such as: a violin, a 
flute, a piano, a drum.'

> The words I find for musician in hebrew are: nagon and zamor.  
> Kley-zemer is not mentioned.

The Hebraic pronunciation for the above words is: nagan, and zamar. Today 
these literally mean instrumental musician (nagan), and singer (zamar).
Kley-zemer, was taken into Yiddish and only there did it receive its 
meaning as 'a musician'.
 
> When I look up in Hebrew-English, I find kley-zemer as: "musical
> instruments; (col) popular musicians (orchestra, band; at weddings, etc.)"
> I'm not really a Hebrew speaker, so I'm way out of my area of experience.
> Do, or did people ever use kley-zemer in its literal meaning as a non-human
> instrument, or has it always meant a
> person-who-is-an-instrument-of-song-for-religious-purposes?  If kley-zemer
> is used in modern Hebrew to mean a musical instrument, does that use
> predate the Yiddish use as musician?

I do not think that there is much usage of the Hebrew word 'kley-zemer' 
nowadays; to my ears it sounds a bit archaic. But its meaning as 'musical 
instrument' does indeed predate the Yiddish usage. 

Also, it should be pointed out that the pronunciation of Kley-zemer in 
Hebrew, and Kleyzmer (or klezmer) in Yiddish, differ. In Hebrew the 
accent is on the first syllable of ZEmer; in Yiddish the accent is on the 
KLEY. Thus:
Hebrew -  kley ZE - mer  (meaning: musical instruments)
Yiddish - KLEY zmer (meaning: musician; musical ensemble)

I hope this helps somewhat.

Moshe Denburg