identity in klezmer

[Joel Rubin/Rita Ottens <simontov...>]

Regarding the current discussion, I recommend (for those of you who can
plow through a bit of German) the article "Der Klezmer als ideologischer
Arbeiter. Jiddische Musik in Deutschland" (The Klezmer as ideological
worker. Yiddish music in Germany) by Rita Ottens in the current issue (No.
3, May-June 1998) of Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik (pub. Schott Verlag,
Mainz, Germany). Ottens is currently writing her PhD dissertation on the
history and reception of Yiddish music in Germany. The article discusses
some of the motivations and history behind the current "revival" in
Germany. A longer, English version will appear in the Proceedings of the
2nd International Conference on Jewish 
Music, City University, London (1998; in press, but no publication date
yet).

Similarly, my article "Rumenishe shtiklekh. (Romanian pieces). 
Klezmer music among the Hasidim in contemporary Israel", in: 
Judaism, A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life & Thought (Issue 185, 
Volume 47, Winter 1998), pp. 12-23, discusses some of the differences
between Israeli klezmer/Hasidic instrumental music and its Eastern European
and American variants. 

I would also recommend our CD anthologies Doyres and Shteygers, which cover
the klezmer "revival" ca. 1979-1994 and contain an accompanying essay about
the revival (These are available in the US from Simon at Hatikvah,
klezcorner (at) aol(dot)com).

A longer article, Joel Rubin,"Can't You Play Anything Jewish? Klezmer-Musik
und judische 
Sozialization im Nachkriegs-amerika" (Klezmer Music and Jewish 
Socialization in Post-War America), in the book Jewish - Judische 
Erfahrungen in den Kulturen Grosbritanniens und Nordamerikas nach 
1945 (Jewish Experiences in the Cultures of Great Britain and North 
America since 1945), edited by Beate Neumeier-Hornung and Andrea 
Kinsky-Ehritt, Potsdam University (Depts. of Jewish Studies and 
American Studies), Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, will be
appearing sometime later this year or early 1999. It discusses the decline
of traditional klezmer music in the US and the rise of the klezmer
"revival". 

To summarize, it is important to view the current world-wide interest in
Yiddish and "klezmer", or even Jewish music not as a monolith, but rather
as a series of regional phenomena, which exhibit certain similarities but
also significant differences. This is particularly true of the spheres
North America, Israel, and the German-speaking countries. Obviously, within
each of these areas there is also an entire spectrum of differences, both
regarding the music itself as well as the motivations and
political/social/cultural agendas of the musicians themselves.

Joel Rubin

City University, London
e-mail: simontov (at) compuserve(dot)com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/simontov