RE: Rhapsody in Blue, Does it have Klezmer Origins?

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

Klezmer music arose in Yiddish-speaking territory.  I don't know of it 
in non-Yiddish speaking territory, but then I also never heard of wedding
music in Sefardic-speaking territory.  Just about everyone spoke Yiddish 
in Eastern Europe till at least the first World War when the concept of 
assimilating and/or being a world citizen (via socialism and communism) 
was introduced.  It was a tiny exception that didn't.  

Does anyone know what Jewish wedding music sounded like in Sefardic Italy 
and Greece?   How about Ashkenzic communities in Italy?


Reyzl  


----------
From:  Ernie Gruner / Cathy Dowden[SMTP:erniegru (at) mira(dot)net]
Sent:  Thursday, March 12, 1998 3:55 AM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant.
Subject:  Re:  Rhapsody in Blue, Does it have Klezmer Origins?

Please could someone explain to me the relationship between klezmer and
yiddish?

Are they / Were they always linked ?

Were there klezmer musicians in Europe who did not speak yiddish? where?

My understanding is that klezmer was jewish eastern european instrumental
music, and that yiddish is a language which happens to be spoken in most if
not all of the areas where klezmer was played. Is my confusion based on
time and geographical changes and definitions?

I suspect this may be a can of worms. However I keep hearing or reading
different bits of evidence and hope that this forum may provide more
information and perhaps a resolution.

thankyou
Ernie

At 10:51 9/03/98 -0500, you wrote:
>As I show in my forthcoming book "Klezmer! A History of Yiddish Music in
>America" The famous opening of "Rhapsody in Blue" with its characteristic
>"klezmer" glissando, was not of Gershwin's making. The original Gershwin idea
>(and the music on the stands played by the Whiteman orchestra) had not, the
>famous "cry" 
>
>
Ernie Gruner
KALEIDOSCOPE MUSIC
Phone: 03 9386 7108   Fax: 03 9386 0947     Mobile: 0418 549 631
2 Cole Crescent, East Coburg 3058, Victoria,  AUSTRALIA   (Melbourne)
E-mail: erniegru (at) mira(dot)net
INTERNATIONAL: Phone 61 3 9386 7108   Fax 61 3 9386 0947

Performing with and/or Managing:
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 & various jazz, celtic, folk, classical ensembles.    Solo
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