Re: question on sher performance

[Jennifer Wollock <jennifer...>]

Tayere Itzikl,

Here's part of a thread about performing
shers.

Love,
Jen

---------- Original Message ------------------------------
----
From: "r l reid" <ro (at) panix(dot)com>
Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
Date:  Wed, 14 Apr 2004 20:18:53 -0400 (EDT)

>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:
>
>
AABBAABBCCDDCCDDEEFFEEFFGGHHGGH
HIIJJ
>
>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.
>
>
>---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org 
---------------------+
>