Klezmer: what is it? ... a short historical overview

Klezmer (hebrew) means musical instrument and respectivley musician. Klezmorim were musicians, who travelled from shtetl to shtetl to play at weddings and celebrations - both jewish and nonjewish - to provide good mood and vibes there.

Since the middle ages we hear of travelling klezmorim and also professional jewish court musicians. As a result of many local laws and restrictions - and even heavy taxes - it wasn't always easy to travel and make music. Prague had a large Jewish guild of klezmorim since the 16th century and klezmorim were well known and well situated. Klezmer-women also existed and made music, sometimes with their fathers or husbands. About the turn of the 20th century klezmorim worked as musicians at the theatre, sometimes in restaurants and in summer resorts!

Klezmermusic consists of jewish and eastern european music, it is a melting pot of music from different traditions and influences: waltz, polka, mazurka, moldavian and ukranian tunes, music of the synagoge, shabbat songs, folksongs, music from the theatre. Klezmermusic is dance music (sher, freilekhs, hora,...) as well as music for certain wedding ceremonies (basetsn di kale, tsum tish,..).

Literature:

• Idelsohn, A. Z.: Jewish Music - Its Historical Development. New York 1992
• Ottens, Rita u. Rubin, Joel: Klezmer-Musik. München 1999
• Salmen, Walter: '...denn die Fiedel macht das Fest' - Jüdische Musikanten und Tänzer vom 13. bis 20. Jahrhundert. Innsbruck 1991
• Stoljar, Zinovij: A Yiddishe Doyne. Jüdische Volksmusik in Osteuropa. Wien 2000