Re: Olympic music

[Joshua Horowitz <horowitz...>]

Cantor Neil Schwartz wrote:
> 
> In article
> <Pine(dot)SUN(dot)3(dot)91(dot)960802123730(dot)2919C-100000 (at) 
> gigue(dot)peabody(dot)jhu(dot)edu>,
> fredj (at) peabody(dot)jhu(dot)edu wrote:
> 
> > Just an observation: Has anyone elso watching the Olympics Gymnastics
> > noticed that much of the Eastern European/Slavic music has been Jewish?
> > In fact, One Romanian girl's music was "Havenu Sholem Aleikhem" (played
> > on pan pipes with a traditional Romanian folk ensemble)!
> > Just today (Friday), a Ukrainian girl's Rhythmic Gymnastics music was a
> > Klezmer recording from, I think, Eyal Sela's recording (I may be mistaken
> > about that because I only have a poor dub of it, not being able to order
> > it in this country).
> >          This use of Jewish melodies by Communist countries
> > (even tho they have kicked the commies out, it will take time to reverse
> > the cultural and educational trends, so I still use this designation) is
> > a legacy of the totalitarian state's effort to forcibly assimilate
> > minorities by stealing their melodies and re-arranging them in various
> > forms (such as with a Romanian band) while providing them with new,
> > nationalistic lyrics. In my band's (Machaya Klezmer Band) KLEZMER CLUB we
> > often have Russian emmigres come to enjoy themselves and they tell us, "I
> > never knew that was a Jewish tune!". They grew up with many patriotic
> > songs which were actually Shers, Freilakhs, etc. Now we in the US are
> > being treated to a first-hand demonstration of the insidiousness of the
> > Communist Totalitarian State's ethnic policies. I.e., if you can't murder
> > 'em all, take away their heritage.
> >
> > Fred Jacobowitz
> > Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory and
> > Machaya Klezmer Band in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area
> 
> Interesting observation.  Since I am one of the few Americans who managed to
> totally ignore the Olympics, I did not notice this.  There may be a simpler
> reason, however:  if one knows where to look, recorded Jewish music is more
> available than music of most other Eastern European ethnic groups.  While I
> fear we don't do a good job teaching it to our kids, at least it is recorded.
> 
> --
> Cantor Neil Schwartz
> 
> schwartz (at) enter(dot)net

While it´s true that the Eastblock countries have implemented a revolting 
policy of homogenization toward their diverse cultures, Jews have not been 
singled out in this process. Formerly, those melodies you call "Jewish" were 
often pan-East European shared structures which each minority put its own 
text to (or danced to), the first of which phenomenon ethnomusicologists 
prefer to call "contra factum." It is certainly true that Jewish music is at 
least as present as other E. European ethnic groups in American record 
stores, but this is not true in East Europe. A cursory visit to any market in 
say Romania, Poland, Belorus, etc will show  you a dearth of Jewish music, 
but a preponderence of local groups playing anything from grass roots 
traditional to casio-synthesizer-influxed poppy folk. Western Distribution 
of CD´s in East Europe is just beginning (few people own CD players), but the 
main markets there are, first and foremost, cassettes and LP´s. Western 
companies have little interest in marketing CD´s to no-pay countries, which 
accounts largely for the lack of stock from cultures outside of their 
immediate region. Since the curtain came down, there has arisen an intense, 
often fanatic interest in ethnic cultures coming from those cultures 
themselves. This is due to the cultural repression of the communist 
governments, which after their so-called dissolution (I prefer to call it 
veiling) unleashed the expressive energy of these cultures, who had 
sometimes preserved their ethnicity underground, but in many cases have 
had to go through a process of revival, fueled by intense, novice feelings of 
ethnic identity. One of the results of this has been an unwitting promiscuity 
with other cultures´ expressions, which some ethnic groups have claimed as 
their own. I don´t know what´s behind the use of a melody like Havenu 
Shalom Alaykhem, because there´s a case of a melody which is, to my 
knowledge, known by everyone as a Jewish hymn.  

While anti-semitism is still a freighteningly strong force  (temporarily 
dormant or otherwise) in eastern Europe, there is the phenomenon of Jewish 
Music forming a symbol among the youth against their parents and 
established faschist tendencies. This is especially true in Poland. Certainly 
Germany shows this tendency also, though the dynamics of its culture are 
quite different than eastern Europe. It would be fascinating to find out how 
the athletes and administrators of the sports groups using Jewish Music in 
the olympics view themselves. Any suggestions as to how go about 
something like that? Joshua Horowitz