Re: Interesting comment

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

Sounds like a good one, Yosl.
Lorele

Joe Kurland wrote:

> At 5:15 PM -0500 1/7/02, Lori Cahan-Simon wrote:
> >I was having a discussion with a non-Jewish friend of mine, who is a
> >violinist just beginning a study of klezmer music, about why she is
> >attracted to klezmer and Yiddish music...........
> >
> >Why is the [Yiddish] singing so compelling to me? I think because of the
> >intensity of the culture........ there is an intensity that comes
> >from tight family ties and that lends itself to (later) passionate
> >tension release (in music, in humor, etc.) Anyway, the result in this
> >klezmer music seems to be singing that is full of both pain and joy
> >(sometimes at the same time) that goes off the scale of much of the
> >music you hear otherwise. .......
>
> Yes, I've got this theory that laughing with tears (lakhn mit trern)
> is part of dos pintele yid (the essence of being Jewish).  In fact,
> I've been developing a workshop on that topic which I describe below.
>
> WORKSHOP: LAKHN MIT TRERN  (LAUGHING WITH TEARS)
>
> A look at how laughing with tears is fundamental to the Jewish
> outlook on life using Yiddish song and story, and the traditional
> music of prayer for examples.
>
> An example:  Ashrei is a prayer whose opening three lines are about
> happiness.  Ordinarily Ashrei is chanted with the nusakh of the time
> of day and week.  At the opening of Neileh near the end of Yom
> Kippur, Ashrei is sung with a nusakh sad enough to break your heart.
> The irony of pairing a happy prayer with a sad melody is typical of
> the Jewish outlook on life.  We are commanded to rejoice even if we
> have reason to be sad (v'samakhto b'khagekho) and we recall the
> brokenness of the world at the most joyous of occasions, symbolized
> by breaking a glass at a wedding.
>
> It is said that the deepest emotions come from the meeting of
> opposites.  For this workshop we will examine Jewish melodies,
> prayers, songs and customs that demonstrate the Jewish marriage of
> laughter with tears.
>
> Zayt gezunt (be healthy),
>
> Yosl (Joe) Kurland
> The Wholesale Klezmer Band
> Colrain, MA 01340
> voice/fax: 413-624-3204
> http://www.WholesaleKlezmer.com
>

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