RE: questions

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <yiddish...>]

Judith,

They say that this is how Yitshak Perlman played klezmer on the second CD 
with the klezmer bands.  Despite all the hoopla of the film, concert 
series, and first extraordinarily successful CD, Perlman never really 
learned how to play klezmer music.  So he asked a "trustworthy, talented 
musician" like Hankus to transcribe every note for him to play.

>Would that be enough for the hypothetical Yiddish song/klezmer melodies
>repertoire in question, or if it were at all possible to hear the music
>in addition to having the transcriptions and background notes, would
>that be preferable?

Enough for what?  Learning the style or just learning how to improvise?

Obviously despite:
1) being the greatest living fiddler in the world,
2) having heard the music
3) having a lifelong familiarity with the "repertoire of Yiddish song
   and/or of klezmer music"
4) having much background in the (Jewish) tradition
5) having heard commercial and non-commercial recordings
6) having the ability to speak Yiddish since childhood and
7) being familiar with the tunes and the style

may still not be enough to being able to play klezmer music. 
 Transcriptions were preferable for Perlman.  The fact is that musicians 
play from transcriptions so much more often than anyone imagines - today, 
in the old days, and throughout the klezmer revival.  The quality of the 
music then reflects the skillfulness of the transcriber more than the 
talent of the musician, including, in some cases I have seen, the 
transcriber's clout/insistence that the musician play the music exactly "as 
it is written".  The revival was built on a "trustworthy, talented 
musician" writing out the transcriptions.

This is also why Secunda, the composer/music director rejected the then 
20-year old Gershwin from playing in his Yiddish theater orchestra. 
 Secunda couldn't believe that someone could be brilliant enough of a 
musician to play the music well "enough" if he couldn't read music, the 
moral equivalent of a "transcription".  Yes, in the case of Gershwin, a 
rare talent can do that.  Pavarotti can still not read music.

Or was the problem in Perlman's case that playing classical music with 
orchestras his whole life, ruined his ability to improvise?   Who knows.

Uh oh, did I just tell some big secrets?   Tse, tse, tse.


Reyzl




----------
From:  Judith R Cohen [SMTP:judithc (at) YorkU(dot)CA]
Sent:  Friday, January 18, 2002 6:02 AM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant
Subject:  questions

while I'm at it, no one actually answered the horns-vald(not valid art
qustion Josh asked, but no one answered or commented on mine, about how
people would feel about a complex, beautiful, rather archaic and not
really heard any more, repertoire of Yiddish song and/or of klezmer
music being learned by people with very little or no background in the
tradition, exclusively from some excellent transcriptions - they've
never heard any but commercial recordings of a few pieces from a
different part of the tradition, they don't speak Yiddish, aren't
familiar with the tunes or their style - but they're good transcriptions
by trustworthy, talented musicians who themselves have worked with this
tradition.
Would that be enough for the hypothetical Yiddish song/klezmer melodies
repertoire in question, or if it were at all possible to hear the music
in addition to having the transcriptions and background notes, would
that be preferable?
Again, some of the wildest changes in Yiddish song and klezmer, and the
most successfull  have been made by people like Michael Alpert who know
the tradition so well they know how to work with it and stretch/add
to/change it, give it new dimensions.

In terms of contradictory reactions to change, for me a major example
has been BOW's "Mayn Feter Elye". I learned it from Michael when he
presented it way back in '88 or '89 at KlezKamp, fell in love with the
song (you know how you can fall instantly in love with a song!), learned
it, practiced it along with the tape from Michael's class, recorded it
myself (it's on my "Primavera en Salonica" cd) - and when I opened the
BOW CD with it , settled down happily to hear Michael singing it with
the group. And I was SO disappointed. I really just don't like what they
did. BUT - hey, if anyone knows that song and the tradition well - it's
Michael. So while I don't LIKE the interpretation, I listen to it,
respect it and do appreciate the artistry, the knowledge, the thought -
and the musical risk-taking which went into it, as opposed to simply
dismissing it . KNowing that these musicians do know the tradition makes
me listen carefully and end up learning from what they do with it,
rather than dismissing it . "Authentic" has nothing to do with it, it's
the knowledge base of departure which counts for me, I guess.
Judith (I didn't sign last time 'cause the sent button was already doing
its work)


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