Music and Dances
The “Klezmer” is a common music genre in Germany. Since my main focus is Germany and it is my own culture I wanted to introduce a unique type of music and one that barely anyone has heard of before. Personally I don’t really prefer this type of music because it is a bit older and uses clarinets and accordions (the olden day instruments). In addition, the music’s theme is a bit complicated to understand since it is in “Yiddish”- a Jewish type of language.
The term Klezmer originally came from two Hebrew words referring to musical instruments. Over time it came to signify the musicians themselves, and in current usage it also refers to the musical genre - secular Jewish music - which dates back at least as far as the 16th century.
In summary, mostly the Jews, the Israelites listen to this type of music and commonly the elderly ones (50-80). Some people also tend to listen to it in Vienna and in parts of Germany.
Klezmer was formerly designed to facilitate dancing and that is when it occurs today. All types of elderly celebrations in the above stated areas are commonly accompanied by this historic music genre. Since Jewish weddings often take several days, Klezmer is used to entertain the wedding guests.
There are many Klezmer musicians but a few examples include: Alan Bern, Joel Rubin, Abe Schwartz, Alicia Svigals, Michael Alpert… Karsten Troyke was one of the most famous German Klezmer musicians in the early eightees. In the early eighties, East Berlin-based singer Karsten Troyke started to perform Yiddish songs. Through sources in the West, Troyke gained access to the music performed by Jewish singers, from cabaret to Israeli songs. He learned the repertoire and actually started to study Yiddish with a teacher in East Berlin, a very rare opportunity, given the small size of the East Berlin Jewish community. Troyke was probably the first one outside official culture to study Yiddish songs seriously; of course there were students who sang Joan Baez versions of Yiddish songs, or Yiddish song versions of Zupfgeigenhansel, a folk music duo from West Germany which had a huge influence. Troyke, who was in his twenties at the time, didn't try to sing copies of copies; he wanted to do his own versions, and he was smart enough to realize that he first had to know a lot about the culture, and that this included learning Yiddish.
Similarly, there is also a Klezmer dance which is currently being modified to the “shetl” versions. However there are also types of Klezmer dances for example the Sher which is a 2/4 dance which features hopping and short bursts of running.
Lastly, some of the Klezmer musical instruments include violin, clarinet, piano, cimbalom, accordion, trombone, acoustic guitar, bass, trumpet and a poyk.
The term Klezmer originally came from two Hebrew words referring to musical instruments. Over time it came to signify the musicians themselves, and in current usage it also refers to the musical genre - secular Jewish music - which dates back at least as far as the 16th century.
In summary, mostly the Jews, the Israelites listen to this type of music and commonly the elderly ones (50-80). Some people also tend to listen to it in Vienna and in parts of Germany.
Klezmer was formerly designed to facilitate dancing and that is when it occurs today. All types of elderly celebrations in the above stated areas are commonly accompanied by this historic music genre. Since Jewish weddings often take several days, Klezmer is used to entertain the wedding guests.
There are many Klezmer musicians but a few examples include: Alan Bern, Joel Rubin, Abe Schwartz, Alicia Svigals, Michael Alpert… Karsten Troyke was one of the most famous German Klezmer musicians in the early eightees. In the early eighties, East Berlin-based singer Karsten Troyke started to perform Yiddish songs. Through sources in the West, Troyke gained access to the music performed by Jewish singers, from cabaret to Israeli songs. He learned the repertoire and actually started to study Yiddish with a teacher in East Berlin, a very rare opportunity, given the small size of the East Berlin Jewish community. Troyke was probably the first one outside official culture to study Yiddish songs seriously; of course there were students who sang Joan Baez versions of Yiddish songs, or Yiddish song versions of Zupfgeigenhansel, a folk music duo from West Germany which had a huge influence. Troyke, who was in his twenties at the time, didn't try to sing copies of copies; he wanted to do his own versions, and he was smart enough to realize that he first had to know a lot about the culture, and that this included learning Yiddish.
Similarly, there is also a Klezmer dance which is currently being modified to the “shetl” versions. However there are also types of Klezmer dances for example the Sher which is a 2/4 dance which features hopping and short bursts of running.
Lastly, some of the Klezmer musical instruments include violin, clarinet, piano, cimbalom, accordion, trombone, acoustic guitar, bass, trumpet and a poyk.
