RE: Reyzl's klez go classical

[Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2...>]

Reyzl,

There are obviously some very adamant and incompatible opinions here about
what constitutes worthwhile Jewish music. Of course, that's no surprise.
It's just as true in the worlds of non-Jewish music. Fortunately, people are
free to listen to whatever they want. Time will tell what survives.

As it happens, my personal taste in Yiddish music tends to be closer to
yours than to the "fusionizers". But I'd like to comment on your reasoning:

<<...mothers keep on baking the same meatloaf for generations or people
continue listening to the same classical musical repertory>>

With respect to the western classical music tradition, this is the first
century in which repertoire of the past has played such an important role,
or been repeated for so long. In previous centuries, people were mostly
interested in hearing contemporary music. I remember Christopher Hogwood
once mentioning that there was an "Academy of Ancient Music" before his (I
forget when, possibly 19th century); this orchestra played music that was
from 30 years before, i.e. 30 years old was considered ancient. In his
lifetime, J.S. Bach's works were already considered old-fashioned.

Even in this century, tastes in performance style have changed considerably.
It is instructive to listen to recordings of, say, a Brahms violin sonata
from early in this century (e.g. by Kreisler or Ysaye) and compare it to a
modern one. The earlier ones have a lot more portamento (audible slides
between hand positions) and more variable tempos, which add up to a
schmaltzier sound. I wonder sometimes, if the european klezmer scene had not
been disrupted by WWII, might it have experienced a similar evolution? i.e.
away from the schmaltz that we have come to associate with it.

Possibly because of this disruption, we have come to think of the klezmer
repertoire in a somewhat frozen way, i.e. what has been preserved on old
78's, notated by Beregovski etc. Here's a quote from Andy Statman:

"...the style has been constantly changing and evolving. Dave (Tarras) told
me when he was growing up in the Ukraine...the older players, who probably
grew up around the time of our Civil War or a little bit later, they said
'No one is playing real Jewish music anymore, the music is changing'. The
music evolved and was incorporating different influences..."

There's always going to be evolution. That doesn't preclude "respecting" and
"cherishing" the genre as you have known it (your words). Perhaps it is the
extent of the diversity that is readily available today and the ease with
which it can collide with and change what you cherish that bothers you.
Fortunately, as I said before, you have a choice what you listen to.

Matt

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