the klezmer drummer/poiker

[Itzik Gottesman <itzik...>]

>
>Do you have any documents about the status of poiker or bass players,
>Itzik, or did you know about that through the descriptions of your
>grandmother? Josh
>
There is a Yiddish proverb, "Er hot a deye, vi der poiker bay di klezmer".
He has about as much influence as the drummer among the klezmer." (in the
short story, "Klezmer" by Hershl Polianker in the journal Farmest, no.9,
kiev 1937.p.70. The author quotes it as a proverb and defines it equal to
the idiom, "a finfter rod tsum vogn" - the fifth wheel of a wagon,
something that is not needed, of little importance, or even a bother.

I was basing my observation on the status of klezmer drumming more on
Yiddish poetry and illustrations, paintings than memoirs. I will see what I
can document for you. Give me time. My grandmother was a great source of
folksinging and its social context (Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett recorded
her for 40 hours on this subject in 1972) but she  did not talk much about
klezmer. If I remember correctly, Hescheles said that the drummer and the
bassist received the smallest cut in the kapelye. It doesn't sound like it
had to do with talent necessarily - Hescheles speaks fondly of their
abilities.- Itzik



-----------------------------------
Dr. Itzik Nakhmen Gottesman
Assistant Professor, Yiddish Language and Culture
Department of Germanic Studies
University of Texas at Austin
EPS 3.102
Austin, TX 78704-1190
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(512)444-3990 home

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