Re: Germans and Klezmer

[Monika Feil <monika.feil...>]

Joshua Horowitz wrote:

> The first question I want to ask is: Do we want dialogue on this list
> with this particular theme?
>
> We had the embryo of a dialogue happening with some of the German
> members of this list a few days ago. Yet, when the discussion got hot,
> they became silent, which I can totally understand, given the nature of
> the anger which was expressed. This is a delicate situation. I would not
> like to change ANYTHING in its contents, except to invite the Germans to
> give their side. Even if this ellicits a furious response from some on
> the list, we could learn an incredible amount if we could let the
> confrontation run its course.
>

Dear list members,

I think this dialogue is most important. I just want to tell you that I didn´t 
stop
writing for the reason that I felt attacked. I didn´t feel scared off. I´s 
really a
time problem for me:
-> My English is at a level that I need much help from my dictionary to 
understand
the subtleties of all your statements which requires much time considering the
amount of your statements.
-> Because of the same reason it takes even more time to express my thoughts in
English. It took half a night to translate the part of the article and to add 
some
thoughts in the last letter that I have sent.
-> I have a one year old son with teething troubles - if you can imagine what 
that
means.

I am trying to follow the discussion and I am listening with great interest and
respect for the different positions. I think this dialogue is most important 
since
there is not one "right postion" or "solution".

I think Josh is mostly right in his descriptions of the motivational background 
of
the first Klezmer musicians (or more exactly: Yiddish singers, I think Klezmer 
came
later) in Germany in the 70s and 80s. Since then there has been a 
diversification
in the motivs. There is still a group that wants to solve problems of the past 
by
playing Klezmer music. My impression is that these are often people who come 
from
an explicit christian or an explicit political left position (My experiance is 
that
today they are more numerous under the organizers of Klezmer concerts than under
the musicians). But the more Klezmer has become an accepted music genre in 
Germany
musicians are discovering it as a music they like and they want to play. And the
less they don´t care about the Jewish background - language, culture, history,
spirituality, musical stylistics ... And the less they don´t care about their
motivation. Or the feelings of Jewish listeners. The world music market is like 
a
supermarket where everybody can take a little bit of everything. This isn´t a
German phenomen only. The mixture mustn´t be bad, but it is the question if it
still deserves the label "Klezmer" (or whatever). And in the result you hardly 
find
anything of "Yidishkeyt". If you can find something of it when non-Jewish 
Germans
do their best in understanding the musical and cultural roots? I am not the 
right
one to give an answer to this question.

I must admit that I think a lot about Leopold´s statements. I really can 
understand
his position. It touches me and makes me again reflecting my own motivations.

Let me add one point: You hardly can make your parnose by only playing 
traditional
Klezmer music in Germany. Ask Josh.

Monika



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