The result is a highly entertaining record that, without wanting to sound trite, is truly fun for the entire family. The music is delightful to listen to by itself and is a fun adaptation of tchaikovskys nutcracker into the klezmer style. Music and lyrics by george gershwin and ira gershwin additional lyrics from porgy and bess by dubose heyward created and written by joseph vass. Klezmer fiddle player ilana cravitz offers klezmer bands in london and across the uk, including dance leaderscallers. These treble clef tunes are suitable for fiddle, flute, trumpet, clarinet, or any other treble solo instrument.
The word klezmer is derived from the hebrew words klee instrument and zemer song. During the 1970s and 80s, martin gathered together musicians who shared their passion for the music of the kings of klezmer, to learn from the old recordings and foster a burgeoning nationwide revival of the genre. Yiddish yiddish the father of the khasid reb yehoshua yakov from makov was a simple jew who made a living playing at weddings. The literal translation of the word klezmer is vessels of. Dec 09, 2008 a pure klezmer band has no vocalist on the contrary, klezmer music is intended itself to replicate the human voice, including sounds of crying, wailing and laughing. The cambridge companion to jewish music edited by joshua s. Also klezmer cds, sheet music online and other resources. A klezmer tale features the shirim klezmer orchestra and narratorauthor maurice sendak, best known for his childrens book where the wild things are, performing a yiddish interpretation of peter and the wolf, with music based on sergei prokofievs classic orchestral piece. Born in the middle ages, it came of age in the shtetl the eastern european jewish country town, where a wedding without klezmer is worse than a funeral without tears.
Each summer in israel there is a three day klezmer festival in safed, where some of the best klezmer bands in the world come to entertain and to enjoy playing their music. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim in ensembles known as kapelye, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display. Klezmer sheet music and music books at sheet music plus. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile. The widest selection of klezmer sheet music, songbooks, and music books. Dec 23, 2017 shirim a klezmer rhapsody piet swerts duration. Youll find your klezmer sheet music at sheet music plus. A rhapsody in music is a onemovement work that is episodic yet integrated, freeflowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour, and tonality. Shirim, a klezmer rhapsody, a song by piet swerts, nubilaria clarinet ensemble on spotify. I no sooner finished kvelling over shirim s most recent klezmer album, mayse, when what should arrive in my mailbox, but pincus and the pig, a klezmer reworking of prokofievs familiar peter and the wolf.
Born in the middle ages, it came of age in the shtetl the eastern european jewish country town, where a wedding without klezmer is worse than a. The bostonbased shirim klezmer orchestra made a name for themselves with their inventive take on tchaikovskys nutcracker, which at long last gave jewish youngsters and their parents an alternative to christmas pageants. The narrator tells a childrens story, while the orchestra illustrates it. Jan 01, 2003 listen to your favorite songs from mayse tales by shirim klezmer orchestra now. An advanced student with any prior background in klezmer will be frustrated by the modest tempos of the fast tunes, but this book and cd are perfect for younger players.
Klezmer presents a lively and detailed overview of the folk musical tradition as practiced in philadelphias twentiethcentury jewish community. This book is a major roller coaster ride that will have you cheering, holding your breath, panting, moaning and saying omg a lot. Shirim s first album is one of the best klezmer revival. Swordplay, scandal, and sexwelcome to the world of tremontaine, a glittering new entry in ellen kushner s classic riverside series.
Shirim, a klezmer rhapsody, a song by piet swerts, nubilaria clarinet ensemble on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. Yiddish book centers wexler oral history project interview with velvel pasternak velvel pasternak was interviewed by hankus netsky on august 15, 2011 at his home in new york. In rhapsody, lillian and tristan continue their struggles to not only make their new relationship work, but to also bring down a drug dealer, his sadistic son and their followers. Shirim klezmer orchestra klezmer nutcracker newport classic, lc 8554, 1998 11 willow st newport, ri 02468 4018482442. If you have two jews in the room, youll get three definitions of klezmer. Here are a few sources for klezmer sheet music ive used before.
Velvel pasternak, musicologist and major publisher of jewish music, talks about jewish music. A four star rating, rather than five, because i feel that more variety in the registers would be welcome. But most klezmer bands these days alternate vocals with musical interludes. Salomone rossi sinfonia sesta from 3rd book of instrumental pieces il. In iconic works such as his schelomo rhapsody for cello and orchestra.
These 15 neotrad tunes, composed by gregor schaefer, have all been performed and recorded by the klezmer bands that he. Transcriptions in odessyas tish nigun freylachs in d yiddish theater medley belzvus du vilst skrip klezmer. The album became the basis for a december 2008 production by ellen kushner, titled the klezmer nutcracker and staged off broadway in new york city. The influence of klezmer on twentiethcentury solo and. This is the st episode in the fifth season of tremontaine, a episode serial from serial box publishing. Skocne by shirim klezmer orchestra on amazon music.
All members of the band are also well known for their work as naftules dream, with which they perform original music influenced by jewish traditions. Formed in new yorks east village in 1986, the band plays an updated form of the music, mixing it with other musical traditions, singing in english and yiddish. The band also takes the classical strains of mahler, brahms, and tchaikovsky, and gives them a unique klezmer treatment. Part of the appeal, beyond the exuberant klezmer rhythms, was the cheeky yiddish appropriation of this traditionally gentile material the dance of the sugar plum.
Klezmer and jewish music world since 1995 as a performer, arranger and composer for the shirim klezmer orchestra, and naftules dream, more, recently with klezwoods and the yaeko miranda quintet. Check out skocne by shirim klezmer orchestra on amazon music. Klezmer is a type of secular music cultivated by the eastern european jews. Be aware that most of the pieces feature quite high notes, so there is no point in buying this book if the clarinet player is reluctant to venture above high d. Shirim klezmer orchestra, nutcracker entertainment. The klezmer version is a real childs delight, imagination run amok from the night kitchen to a shtetl somewhere, sometime, long ago, where cossacks are lousy hunters compared to peter, and all comes out well as the pig is led off to the nonkosher butcher. The klezmatics are an american klezmer band based in new york city. Periods, places, and genres of jewish music composition part. Through interviews, archival research, and recordings, hankus netsky constructs an ethnographic portrait of philadelphias jewish musicians, the environment they worked in, and the repertoire they performed at local jewish lifestyle and communal.
The melodies are still familiar, but the mood is much more bolshoi than ballet. Fishpond australia, welcome to bordertown by ellen kushner edited holly black edited buy. These are super klezmer pieces, with that wonderful oriental sound in the scales. The shirim klezmer orchestra released a klezmer version, titled klezmer nutcracker, in 1998 on the newport label. Bat chaim, ora, rhapsody for klezmer, giora feidman, clarinet, verlin symphony. Most of the repertoire was associated with a functional dance or ritual tradition. Today, klezmer is a very popular type of music with people in both america and israel requesting it for the family events, jewish gettogethers and more. The shirim klezmer orchestra offers listeners a distinctive genrecrossing experience. On the second half of this album, shirim takes other famous compositions to task, turning mahlers first symphony into the chairlifting gustavs wedding and brahms hungarian rhapsody into hungarian ghoulash literally and figuratively.
Pincus and the pig, shirim s interpretation of peter and the wolf, may not hold the same instant recognition for kids, but the story, narrated by childrens book author maurice sendak, is a pleasing addition to the ferment of radical jewish culture as promoted by the record label, tzadik, run by avantgarde trumpeter john zorn. Improvisation shri hashirim jalda rebling, voice raum klangrk 9901. Their music has been used on woody allens soundtrack for d. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. Listen to it whenever mere klezmer will do, and only classical klezmer will do. Around the 15th century, a tradition of secular nonliturgical jewish music was. Performances have included the helsinki klezmer festival, the berlin jazz festival, the texaco jazz festival in nyc and the ashkenaz new jewish.
Featured are sams shpiel, almost a klezmer symphony unto itself, and a klezmer orchestra version of the famous romanian rhapsody. Sams shpiel is a klezmer suite which shows the awesome breadth of expression of klezmer music, from the wailing clarinet on the majestic opening doina, to the ecstatic joy of the closing dance. As celebratory music, klezmer was performed at weddings and other festivities conducted outside the religious service. Mikhl the klezmer and his students yiddish mikhl the klezmer performed for the russian aristocracy and members of the czars court in 1914. Klezmer is yiddish music, the music of the jews of europe and america, a music of laughter and tears, of weddings and festivals, of dancing and prayer. The only mention of gershwins jewish heritage are references to klezmer music e. Klezmer is a yiddish word that comes from the hebrew words klei and zemer, meaning, basically, musical instruments.
Welcome to bordertown, ellen kushner edited holly black. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim in ensembles known as kapelye, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations. Unfortunately, most of them are in concert pitch, so i hope youre comfortable with transposing. Suppose you are bostons if not the worlds most amazing traditional klezmer band, and youve already released excellent, essential albums in the genre and moved on. The musical journey of an american klezmer celebrates the jewish connection in the music of george gershwin. Klezmer music originated in the shtetl villages and the ghettos of eastern europe, where itinerant jewish troubadours, known as klezmorim, performed at joyful events simkhes, particularly weddings, since the early middle age till the nazi and stalinian prosecutions. Shirim klezmer orchestra pincus and the pig tzadik tz7195, 2004.
Music and lyrics by george gershwin and ira gershwin. Mayse tales by shirim klezmer orchestra on amazon music. Musicians who played klezmer music were called klezmorim. The band has toured extensively in north america and their music was used in woody allens movie, deconstructing harry.
May 21, 1995 cape may music festival the shirim klezmer orchestra, today at 8. It is prokofievs most frequently performed work and one of. Featured are sams shpiel, almost a klezmer symphony unto itself, and a klezmerorchestra version of the famous romanian rhapsody. The other cd has the addition of the lovely story by ellen kushner and is enjoyable on another level altogether. Shirim, a klezmer rhapsody, a song by piet swerts, nubilaria. Klezmer music is the traditional instrumental music of the yiddish speaking jews from eastern europe the ukraine, byelorussia, lithuania, moldavia, poland, romania, hungary and slovakia. Like celtic tunes, klezmer music is really intended to be passed along aurally. Perhaps the best known example is the opening of gershwins rhapsody in blue 1924, with that rising clarinet glissando evoking the soulful. Simon broughton on klezmer music world news the guardian. Shirim has been performing traditional and original klezmer music since 1982. Listen to your favorite songs from mayse tales by shirim klezmer orchestra now. Any notated klezmer tune is only an approximation towards the end result. Klezmer is the contraction of two hebrew words meaning instrument of song. Jahrhunderts wird klezmer gewohnlich erlernt nach fakebooks.
A little bit polish, a little russian, and a little near eastern, the shirim klezmer orchestra plays the music of the eastern european jews. Kolomeyka, yontov, lebedig naftule bulgar, grandfather and grandmother odessa bulgarish, skocne, biography. Klezmer music, whether in europe or in america, at the turn of the 20th century or the 21st or the 18th, has done what jewish music has done since it was born in the middle east at the beginning of recorded time. Klezmorim create a motion and feel that doesnt fit easily into 44 time. An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation make it freer in form than a set of variations the word rhapsody is derived from the greek. The family kapelye included his daughter and some nonrelatives. Aug 20, 2017 klezmer is the contraction of two hebrew words meaning instrument of song. Shirim a klezmer rhapsody piet swerts shirim a klezmer rhapsody. The ensemble gives classic klezmer a twist, updating the traditional music with modern jumping beats. Jul 02, 2009 klezmer even enjoyed mainstream success in the us.
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