Re: Doinas & taksim

[Sherry Mayrent <oyfpro...>]

At 02:07 PM 7/19/99 -0400, Peter Rushefsky wrote:
>I'm a bit skeptical of Wolf's statements about the use of doinas by E.
European
>klezmorim.  It is clear that doinas were part of the European klezmer
repertoire
>(there are a number of early recorded examples of klezmer doinas from
Europe and
>the US).  From all the good CD liner notes Josh Horowitz and others have put
>together, I understand that doinas are a recent entry into the repertoire
>(probably over the last 100 years) & that they replaced the earlier taksim
form. <snip> I
>thought that both taksim and later doinas were played at simkhes as part of a
>"tish nign" (dinner table tunes) repertoire, often as the introduction of a
>medley:  doina/hora/khosedl.  

To what Pete has said I would also add that Wolf seemed to be assuming that
klezmer=simkhe music=dance music, and that equation is incorrect in another
way.  If indeed klezmer as we know it and as it existed in the old country
was "wedding music" specifically, then there was quite a bit of it that
wasn't dance music at all.  For a start, there was the gasn nign -- we
refer to them as zhoks or horas nowadays -- which were tunes for escorting
various guests from site to site and thus, while rhythmic, not exactly
dance music.  There were also all the bits and pieces of wedding
"business", most of which were orchestrated by the badkhen or master of
ceremonies -- these would include kale bazetsns (seating the bride) and
baveynen (making the bride cry at the thought of her life to be), both of
which are slow, rubato, non-dance forms as well.  

Another addition to what Pete said is that according to the various
old-timers who have been at Klez Kamp over the years, the doina was the one
time during a wedding when the musicians (at least the clarinetist or
fiddler) would get to show off a little and shine.  It was a way of making
a pitch for tips as well as a way of getting the dining crowds attention
back to the business of the day.  That seems pretty "authentic" to me!

 
-- Sherry

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