Re: Assistance required please

[Joe Kurland <ganeydn...>]

At 2:49 PM -0500 4/23/98, Berlin Moshe wrote:
>>
>> speaking of which, I wonder if someone could please tell me or point me
>> to a list of all the tunes that a Klezmer band should definitely have in
>> their repetoire for different occasions, aside from Hava Nagila.
>> thank you


I would say, rather, what functions should the music in a klezmer band's
repertoire serve.  Yes there are some songs or prayers that are
particularly appropriate or touching, but tunes?  Let's not all be carbon
copies of each other.

OK, OK, we play Khosn Kale Mazeltov (Congratulations/good luck to the bride
and groom) when the glass is broken at a wedding.  We play the well known
broyges tants melody (the dance of anger and reconciliation) when it is to
be danced.  Aside from that, we play some things that other bands play
because they speak to us, and we play the old tunes we've searched out on
78's that we like, and we play things we've written ourselves.  We'll play
Miserlu, too, because its as much a tradition to dance it at a Jewish
wedding as to dance to Hava Nagila at  a Greek wedding.

But tunes?  There are hundreds of melodies to which you can dance a sher.
There are loads of terkishers, freylekhs, bulgars.  The bride and groom can
choose the pace that they would like for being escorted to the khupe
(canopy) and there are loads of tunes to choose from.  A Roumanian Hora is
good for when the bride circles the groom 7 times (and/or vice versa
depending on minhag hamokom--local custom).

As for songs--the only songs traditionally performed by the klezmorim (not
counting if the chazn is one of the klezmorim) at simkhes are
badkhones--rhymed chanting that the wedding jester (badkhan) writes about
the people at the party.

Now as for concerts,  I really don't want to go to a klezmer concert and
have more than about 20% of the repertoire be something I'll hear when I
listen to another band.

So please, everyone, let's not have a list of melodies everyone should play.

Yosl (Joe) Kurland
The Wholesale Klezmer Band
Colrain, MA 01340
voice/fax: 413-624-3204
http://www.crocker.com/~ganeydn