recorders and Jewish instruments

[Judith R. Cohen <judithc...>]

Hope writes,

> Unfortunately, it seems to have become a thread devoted to
> recorder-bashing. 
> 
Bashing? Who bashed?? Whether or not one agrees with its suitability for
modern klezmer is mostly a matter of taste (for example, personally I
tend to dislike saxophones and pianos), but my collection of different
sizes of medieval, Renaissance and baroque recorders are my  beloved
instrument companions of decades, I play them both in concerts and
workshops and for myself regularly, and I've spent years trying to
convince educators that's it's not a toy, and not a kind of cute thing
that kids do a bit of before going on to "serious", "real" instruments,
of which it is one, but a challenging, rewarding instrument which should
be taught properly and not used as a classroom prop.... 

But anyway, someone else writes that the "viol"was "also" a Jewish
instrument. So, the old question: if Jews sing it or Jews play it is it
a Jewish song or is it a Jewish instrument? If the concert master of a
symphony is Jewish, does that make the violin a Jewish instrument per
se? A piano? An oboe? Wouldn't that be seen as a little, um,
appropriative by all the other groups who play the same instrument? I
think that unless it's a clear case, like the tsimbl, an instrument
becomes "Jewish" when played as part of Jewish life (Ashkenazi or
otherwise), when it acquires, in that context, a style which
distinguishes it from other styles. Klezmer violin is Jewish. Concert
violin, I would sugggest, is not, even if many high-profile
professionals have been/are  Jews.  I would imagine that when the viol
was played by Jewish musicians in Renaissance ensembles it was no more
Jewish than the music composed for it. If they took their viols to, say
a wedding, then I imagine the viols became viols played 16th century
local Jewish style. Sounds nit-picky but I think we shouldn't be too
glib about identifying this and that as "Jewish".

Re Ovadiah: Thanks, Judah. I thought it was 12th century and was going
to go check when you kindly did it!
Cheers, Judith

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