question on sher performance

[r l reid <ro...>]

Some of the people who might best answer this are back in
the old country right now, but let's give it a shot.

Listening to and learning Vinnitser Sher from Veretski
Pass. (By the way - learn more about the Vinnitsa Jewish
community at http://ddickerson.igc.org/podolia-vrjc.html)

I note that, unlike recordings or modern performances of
the "Philadelphia Shers" attributed to Morris Fried, the
band plays the 10 sections in this form:

AABBAABBCCDDCCDDEEFFEEFFGGHHGGHHIIJJ

In other words, each pair is repeated almost as it it were
a single AABBAABB song, then on to the next.  Except the
last pair.

Is this a "typical" form?  A choice made by these
performers?  Or does it all have to do with how energetic
your dancers are?

In the Fried/Phila shers, most sections repeat once and
move on forever, as I've heard it (Svigals, Feldman,
Schwartz, Strauss/Warschuaer).  There is one section that
does not repeat at all, which is fairly vanilla
harmonically, that then drives hard into a harmonic
contrast.  I bet that a "WHEE" moment for dancers - the
expectation of the repetition is broken, and the harmony
moves way out.

I'd love to see some of our New England or NorthWest folks
who are also involved in contra and set dancing get the
shers out into the American folk dance community.


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