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Re: Klezmer and sephardic music
- From: Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>
- Subject: Re: Klezmer and sephardic music
- Date: Thu 20 Jan 2000 01.26 (GMT)
Joshua Horowitz <horowitz (at) styria(dot)com> wrote:
> The Constantinople connection is the first place I'd look for the pot of
> tunes used by both Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The Moskowitz tune Chasen
> Senem (cymbalom) is none other than the Ladino song Mi demandas, which
> in turn uses a Turkish folk melody. Moskowitz played at a hotel in
> Constantinople for a few years, so its possible that's where he picked
> it up.There are probably a lot of similar tunes like that, having as
> their connecting point Constantinople. Josh
>
That's an interesting connection. He was from Galati, Romania, which
is in southern Moldavia, and around 1900 there probably was a Greek
mercantile community there that might also provide a connection .
Incidentally, my friend Nicolae Feraru's grandfather (who would have
been contemporary with Moskowitz) lived in Galati and played the
clarinet. He may be an example of an early Gypsy clarinetist there,
possibly indicating Jewish-Gypsy interaction. Incidentally, the
Jewish cemetery in Bucharest is half Sephardic, half Ashkenazic. Some
of the Sephardic stones seemed to indicate a lot of family connections
with Salonica.
Josh, do you know anything about the "Matus Gypsy Ensemble" that
Moskowitz played with when he came to America, according to the liner
notes on his Romany 10" LP?
Paul Gifford
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