Re: Jewish and Gypsy musicians

[Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>]

Jonathan, you have to define Gypsies, by country, occupation, etc. I 
think you would have to look at those groups where the men are 
professional musicians. This means in most cases sedentary Gypsies in 
Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania, and, for purposes of comparison
(because they are outside the area of Ashkenazim) excludes those in 
Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, etc., as well as Spain. There are 
also Gypsy musicians in Poland. In Russia they are singers, so they 
can be excluded too.

It's a matter of specializing in an occupation that the general 
population looks down on. Clearly Hungarian Gypsy music, which 
developed in the 18th century (with a violin primas, violin/viola 
kontras, cimbalom, and bass) had its origins in a style of music 
first popularized in the 17th century by Jewish musicians in Bohemia 
(and which spread also to Germany, where it was played by Germans). 
This style of music today is played mostly in restaurants. 

There was also some mixing in Moldavia, with Jews introducing the 
tzambal and bass (or cello) (and maybe clarinet) to the lautari in 
the 19th century and some joint playing (see the article by I. Kara 
on Ari Davidow's website) in the 1850s. 

The key is that these musicians regarded themselves as professionals, 
the profession being handed down from father to son, and the groups 
often consisting of family members. Playing music for weddings was 
an occupational specialization for just one group of Jews, who looked 
down on the group, but for Gypsies, it was a social step upwards. 
This had to be true, since from the 18th century, sedentary Hungarian 
Gypsy males specialized in playing music at taverns and for other 
occasions.

Jews continued to play Hungarian Gypsy music into the 20th century, 
sometimes with Gypsies, sometimes with other Jews. But the Hungarian 
Jews had assimilated into a Hungarian identity, so I don't know what 
Jewish repertoire they may have had. I know, for example, that a 
Jewish clarinetist, Gabor Ziegenlaub, used to play with a Gypsy 
orchestra at Kovacs' Bar in Detroit in the 1950s. Also that Aladar 
Sio and his Gypsy orchestra, active in New York City in the 1910s and 
1920s, were Jewish. Julius Klein played the cimbalom in Hollywood. 
These were all musically literate people who were commercial 
musicians. 

Paul Gifford

Paul Gifford

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