Re: Greek/Klezmer connections

[Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>]

Tim Meyen <tim (at) topic(dot)com(dot)au> asked:

> Does anyone on the list know much about the linkages between Klezmer music and
> Greek music? Obviously there are some, even to the extent of melodies common 
> to
> both. For example I note that Dave Tarras recorded the same piece under a 
> Yiddish
> title and a Greek title (presumably to appeal to both immigrant markets). Some
> other tunes, especially hasapikos (I think)  from northern Greece, also have
> features in common with Klezmer tunes.
> Why would this be? Because of a greater population of Jews in northern Greece 
> at
> some time (19th century?)?  Under the Ottomans wouldn't the majority of Jews 
> in
> that area have been Sephardic? I also wonder if these tunes in common are the
> result of Greeks taking up Jewish pieces or vice versa, or both, or is it
> impossible to tell?

It's true----there are examples of Greek (and Turkish/Armenian) 
versions of the same tunes found on old Jewish and Ukrainian 
recordings.  Perhaps there are several explanations.  During the 
Crimean War there were a lot of Jewish refugees from the Ukraine who
settled in Istanbul, and there was another influx in the 1890s 
following pogroms in Romania.  There were communities of Greek and 
Armenian merchants in various cities in Ukraine and Romania, and 
perhaps klezmorim played for their affairs.

I've decided that the Greek santouri must have been introduced by 
Jewish refugees from Constantza or elsewhere in Romania, who settled 
in Smyrna in the 1890s.  The Greek term "kompania" (ensemble) 
probably comes from the Yiddish "kompanye," rather than the Italian 
"compania," as some Greeks have suggested----the Italian meaning is 
more of a dramatic company, rather than a group of musicians.  The 
earliest Smyrnaic recordings feature violin, santouri, and cello----
exactly the instrumentation used by many 19th-century klezmorim.  The 
neckstrap on the santouri, as pictured in the movie "Guns of 
Navarone," is characteristic of Ukrainian, Romanian, and Belarusian 
cymbal players, when used in a wedding procession.  Perhaps this 
group (or groups) of klezmorim resident in Smyrna were so successful 
that their tunes were learned by Greeks.  Martin Schwartz is very 
interested in this connection, but I haven't talked to him for about 
15 years, and don't know what he might think or has learned about 
this possibility.  Joel Rubin said he met a clarinetist in Greece who 
had a manuscript with a "freylachs" in it.  So there you have 
examples of Ashkenazic influence among Greeks.

Incidentally, I don't see many connections between Romanian Gypsy 
music of southeastern Romania with Greek music, although there are 
definitely connections to Jewish music.  The song "I Vlakha," 
(The Romanian Girl) which was recorded in Istanbul in the early 20th 
century, was incorporated by Enesco in one of his Romanian 
Rhapsodies, but otherwise the tune or song is not known today in 
Romania, as far as I've been able to learn.  This might suggest that 
most Ashkenazic/Greek connections were formed in Greece or Turkey.

Paul Gifford