Veretski Pass sher, to answer sher performance question

[cookfidl <cookfidl...>]

Hi Roger,

Veretski Pass is in Germany now with Steve who, yes will dance to the Vinnitser 
sher. The form was done to accomodate many of the sher type dances that can be 
done to this tempo and square form (meaning 8 bar phrases in succession). This 
sher is a compilation of many tunes (some from field recordings) that we 
arranged in this form. It was done for musical reasons, with an eye on the fact 
that we want it to be danceable, but not so specific. Basically, we knew it 
could be as repetitious as necessary to accomodate longer or shorter shers, and 
many times we cut some of the repeats, or add some.

In this CD, many of the tunes are actually compilations of sections of 
selections that we felt musically go well together. Such is the Kolomeyke, the 
Kozak, Bullets at the Wedding (waltz), and is some cases we composed 
sections(like in the Raca in the viola suite where I wrote one of the sections 
as well as in the whole Ukranian suite). This is why most of this material is 
"new". Some is a remix of old. The old, "old dog in a new tux" trick.

Now off to see if Air France has found Josh's tsimbl, and my suitcase.

Cookie on the western front


> 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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