Re: ¿origins of klezmer tonality?

[Solidarity Foundation <svzandt...>]

>>> Also, your concept of using the lowered seventh as a "dominant" is OK,
>>>but the chord would be in Major; to use your above example of D Freygish,
>>>the "dominant" would be C Major, not c minor.  Isador Freed wrote a book
>>>many years ago called "Harmonizing the Jewish Modes" which deals with
>>>the very difficult task of harmonizing Ahava Rabba.
>>>
>>
>>I'm not a cantor and I'm not familiar with Isador Freed's book, but I
>>think if you listen to just about any klezmer in D Freygish that uses
>>the lowered seventh as a dominant, you will hear a c minor, not a C Major.
>>This is true in just about every case I can think of, and should not be
>>surprising given that starting a Freygish scale on the minor seventh gives
>>you a Mi Sheberach scale, which is, as Cantor Schwartz correctly noted
>>elsewhere in his posting, minor.

>Maybe this is a difference between Hazzanut and Klezmor.
                                                          Cantor Schwartz

Maybe it is. I think it's great we're even having this discussion.

W.H. Phillips observation that "starting a Freygish scale on the minor
seventh gives you a Mi Sheberach scale" points to another beautiful
modal relationship found in klezmer music.

Itzik-Leyb