RE: Old World vs. Sousa

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

I have no idea how much response this idea got on this list, but I am sure 
that these traditions/customs effected Yiddish music and recordings in 
America.

Very useful insight.


Reyzl




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From:  Paul M. Gifford [SMTP:PGIFFORD (at) flint(dot)umich(dot)edu]
Sent:  Wednesday, October 27, 1999 12:56 PM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant
Subject:  Re: Old World vs. Sousa

Joshua Horowitz <horowitz (at) styria(dot)com> wrote:

> The local orchestra might have five
> > pieces, and, if so, they'd only use those parts. I've got parts of
> > standard dance music published in the 1850s and 1880s, also like
> > that, though the instrumentation was less varied (no piano, flute,
> > drums, etc.; only one clarinet and one cornet; the second violin plays
> > double stops). A common series used in this area (Michigan) was "Gems
> > of the Ballroom," which Sears & Roebuck sold, but mostly they used
> > just the violin and piano parts.
>
> Where do you suppose the standardized orchestra comes from?

I haven't really investigated this, but it seems that the American
published arrangements start by the 1850s. Around 1850, I've found
advertisements by professional musicians (really contractors or
leaders, in modern terminology), who offered from one to ten
musicians, depending on the engagement. It would seem that these
arrangements were intended for such musicians.

Since U.S. dance styles like the polka, waltz, quadrille,
schottische, etc., were introduced from Paris and London by dancing
masters like Allen Dodworth of NYC and other entrepreneurs, it is
logical that standard arrangements developed in those places, but I
really don't know.  Popular orchestrations are hard to come by.

One thing that I'd really like to know is how the second violin part
(which used only rhythmic double stops) developed. This appears in the
U.S. by the 1820s-1830s. It could relate to the Jewish second violin
or kontra in some way.

This may seem tangential to klezmer music history, but published
stock arrangements, using standard conventions (1st violin playing
melody, 2nd violin double stops, flute doing obligatos, clarinet
supporting melody with extra flourishes, trumpet also supporting,
etc.) which would resemble how ear players might figure out their
parts, existed by 1880 in the U.S., and changed some to absorb newer
instruments (piano, drums) in the next few decades. It would be
interesting to know how immigrant klezmorim adapted to the U.S.
customs of the professional contractor and to the conventions of
stock arrangements. Does anybody know if Yiddish music publishers
published arrangements in scores and parts (not piano arrangements)?
Here's something that might be interesting to  look at.

Paul Gifford




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