Re: Popular Chassidic Music

[Kober, Gary <Gkober...>]

Yoel Epstein wrote:

>Has anyone ever done a musicological study of this music? I mean the popular
music >played in Israel on the religious radio stations, like "Arutz 7"
and "Radio Kol Hai".  This >music has the following characteristics:

>1.  The words are always from the psalms, the liturgy, or other religious
sources.

>2.  The songs are always in Hebrew, but with a heavy "milre" accent, the
accent associated >with ashkenazic ultra-orthodox Jewry ("s" instead of
"t", "oy" instead of "o", and so on).

>3.  The singers are always men or children, never women.

>4.  The style - and this is the most interesting thing - is European Rock,
the style that you >hear on "Eurovision".  Orchestration is usually
electric guitars and drums, or big band.  >Occasionally, the style is
Greek, with Bouzuki accompaniment and typically Greek rhythms >and
tunes.  None of the stylistic elements normally associated with
European Jewish music >- klezmer instrumentation (violin, clarinet,
accordion, and so on), breaking ornamentation, >melodic minor key,
Lydian mode - appear in this music.

>What is so striking about this music is its total divorce from the Ashkenazic
orthodox >musical heritage.  I would expect these radio stations to
play Klezmer, even some Yiddish >songs (Yiddish is still spoken in some
of the communities where these radio stations have >listeners).  But
never.

>Is this a reflection of a cultural change in the Israeli orthodox community?
Is this some form >of denial - similar to the denial of the Israeli
secular community - of diaspora roots?

>I wish I could provide the names of the performers on these radio stations,
but they never >announce the names of the performers.  Perhaps some of
the list members can shed light >on this subject.

This "popular Chassidic music" (a real misnomer, it has virtually
nothing in common with Chassidic music at all) bothers me too. I don't
think it has been discussed on this list. It is of particular interest
to me as a ba'al teshuvah (in modern parlance, a secularly-raised Jew
who has become Torah-observant) and a musician (although I rarely
perform professionally any longer).

If Yoel is talking about the same genre that I'm thinking of (and I've
heard it refered to as "simcha music"), then it's not only the orthodox
community in Israel that listens to this stuff. Just about every
"black-hat" community that I'm aware of in North America, including the
one I live in, has bought into the music as if it had been handed down
on Har Sinai along with the two tablets. Some of the performers on the
American scene include Mordechai Ben David and Avraham Fried. As
vocalists, they are all quite talented; however, the genre is truly
annoying - overbearing, relentless, and with about the same emotional
depth as Celine Dion or Yanni (who, incidentally, is one of the few
contemporary secular musicians that's considered acceptable in the
Ashkenazi "frum" world - you get the picture). For anyone on the list
that doesn't know what this music sounds like (and stylistically, Yoel
has described it really well in point 4) just go into any religious
Judaica shop and you'll hear it playing non-stop, or get yourself
invited to a "frum", Ashkenazi wedding. See if you can last more than 15
minutes.

What I'm interested in finding out from any of the mavens on this list,
and hopefully this might answer some of Yoel's concerns, is the
following  (please bear in mind that I know very little about the
history of klezmer and therefore, some of the assumptions underlying my
questions may be way off):

How is that the klezmer tradition, which, if I understand correctly,
served purely religious functions initially, there being no concept of
popular entertainment in the traditional Jewish world until the latter
part of the 18th century,  was abandoned by the Torah-observant
communities in eastern Europe and later on in America? I understand that
the emergence of the Haskalah and other movements in eastern Europe
opened things up for these musicians, allowing them to play in radically
new environments that must have been considered treif and totally
unacceptable. But did the European Rabbis actually impose some kind of
ban on the MUSIC itself? And in America, did klezmer simply go out of
style in both the religious and secular Jewish communities, or did the
Rabbis here object to it as well? Either way, what did the observant
communities do  for music at their simchas before the rise of this
"popular Chassidic music" , which is only about 20 years old at most?

Personally, I can think of several reasons why klezmer should have been
kept alive in the "frum" world and why it should really go over well
today amongst the observant, at least at chasanas.  Although I don't
live in a Chassidic neighbourhood, I have been to a number of "Rebbe's
tishes" (lively celebrations in honour of the arrival of a well-known
Chassidic leader) during which I have heard the most moving, soulful
Chassidic nigguns being sung, often duets between father and son. I have
also heard and hummed along with many melodies at  "shalom zachors"
(Shabbos-night celebrations of the recent birth of a baby boy) and other
religious events (Simchas Torah in particular). When I started to listen
to early klezmer recordings, in part because of interest generated by
discussions on this list, I was amazed at the number of melodies that
were immediately recognizable to me - either in whole, or in part,
almost identical to what I'd been hearing in a religious context since
becoming "frum". There seems to be an instant connection here.

Secondly, the variety of styles within klezmer, the rhythmic nuances,
the conviviality and even humour in the music (at least to my ears)
would seem much better suited "than popular Chassidic music" to the
purpose for which people are supposed to go to chasanas, i.e. to
entertain the bride & groom with lively dancing and  antics
(nonetheless, you do see a lot of talented dancing at these affairs,
despite the overall banality of the music).

The noise level of "popular Chassidic music", since it's amplified,
makes it a turn-off for a lot of older people, especially when played
live, so often they have to leave these chasanas (and other affairs
where there's music, bar mitzvahs, engagements, etc) early. Klezmer,
being mostly acoustic, could probably be much more easily modulated for
the benefit of, and as a sign of respect for, the older crowd.

Anyway, just my two kopeks.

Although our questions are a bit different, I think Yoel and I are
bothered by the same things. If someone can help answer some of these
questions, I might feel a little better. You see,  I'm going to a
chasana tonight.

Gary