Re: Jewish and Gypsy musicians

[Sofia V. Shneider <soph...>]

"Paul M. Gifford" wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
Maritza, an operette by Imre Kalman, a Jew... I remember how Georg Ots,
an estonian singer, was singing - "Play, Gipsy, Sing, Gipsy..."
Tassilo's Chardash.

Sophia,
Russia

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+