Types
of tunes were considered Jewish or adopted/adapted by Jews, and there were specific
ritual events where particular types of tunes were played by klezmorim for Jewish
audiences in Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
At the beginning
of the 20th century, klezmorim knew traditional and newer tunes which were specific
to Jewish life and ritual, but also a broad selection of other tunes which corresponded
to Jewish and non-Jewish popular taste where they lived, including kolomeyke,
kozachok, lancer, polka, polonaise, quadrille, waltz. Certain genres of tune and/or
dances which have non-Jewish origins were considered and/or made Jewish, including
the doina, hora, hopke, and serba.
This is a survey of some of the most
common tunes played by klezmorim, as found in tune books and on recordings from
the first three decades of the 20th century. An attempt has been made below to
distinguish purely instrumental genres and the types of tunes played for dancing.
Wedding
tunes and dances
Broyges Tants (dance):
traditional
dance with particular tune. Dance of anger and reconciliation between in-laws
(mekhutonim). In the US, 32 bars of stalking and threatening gestures followed
by a jolly freylekhs.
Bulgar/bulgarisch (dance):
in duple metre, but characterized by syncopation and characteristic syncopated
accompaniment with a 3,3,2 beat. Not a vocal genre - lots of notes! Possibly derived
from Romanian bulgareasca. A favourite form for the Jewish community in the U.S.,
where many bulgars were written. Often played up-tempo. Have been called 'Jewish
serbas'.
Dobranoc:
tune to greet the
guests arriving for the banquet at the home of the bride's parents. Klezmorim
played solemn, large works for more honoured guests and smaller pieces for the
rest. Afterwards they played a freylekhs.Not to be confused with Dobranoc (gute
nacht), according to Beregovski.
Dobranoc (see gute nacht,
mazel tov):
played for departure of guests after a feast,
while they parted with the hosts.
Dobriden (also mazel tov
- Beregovski):
literally 'good morning'. Used to greet wedding
guests, performed for individual guests at the table, and for reception the morning
after the wedding. Often triple time, moderate tempo. Singable tunes.
Doina
/ vulekhl:
Jewish improvisational genre based on a Moldavian
vocal/instrumental style of shepherd's song. Very ornamental with variable number
of phrases in elastic rhythm in two or three sections, accompanied by held chords
which change in response to the melody. Followed by a nokhshpil/tsushpil (afterword),
often one or more tunes, e.g. a hora and then a freylekhs.
Forshpil:
tune that comes before something else, improvisational in
nature - often reflects the form or melodic outline of the tune which follows.
Also used to describe a tune played at the khosn mol, the meal at the bride's
house. On Thursday night (traditionally the eve of a wedding), the groom was led
to the synagogue, where sweet dishes were served. Then the company proceeded with
music to a meal. After the meal a forshpil was played, and the klezmorim would
accompany the groom to his home.
Freylekh(s) (dance):
in duple metre. Title denotes mood, rather than speed (cheerful/happy/gay).
Usually in two or three sections. Was slower in older times. Has been said that
the traditional klezmer pattern is to begin with the B section. Certain versions
of the dance are known as hopke (hopping dance), gopak, redl, dredl, khorovod,
kayekhiks, rikudl, khosidl. One type of tune played when bride and fathers led
from the khuppe (wedding canopy). Freylekhs tunes were also played for dancing
shers (see sher).
Fun der khuppe:
tune
played to accompany the bridal couple from the wedding canopy.Gas/Gasn Nign:
usually
in triple metre. Literally 'street tune'. To accompany the groom and bride as
they are led to and from the wedding canopy, or to accompany the guests to the
wedding through the streets, or for festive processions before the wedding day.
For example the tune 'Firen de Mekhutonim Aheym' (taking the in-laws home).
Gute
Morgn / Es Togt Shoyn:
literally 'the day dawns'. Played
in the early hours of the morning, at the end of a wedding, to remind the guests
to go home!
Gute Nacht/Dobranoc/mazel tov:
last things played at a wedding. Might be slow ones followed by a fast one
to get the guests going!
Honga / hangl / hongu/ange:
originally Bessarabian/Moldavian chain dance in duple metre. Usually characterized
by short note values. Standard form has been described as AABCA in bar form 4,2,6,4,4,
but recordings show other formats were used. Short motifs (miniature phrases)
decorated to produce further phrases.
Hora / zhok / volakh
/ landre / olyandre (dance):
in triple time. From Moldavian/Romanian
folklore, which was song with a circle dance. Klezmorim had tunes with associated
dance - melodies with a singable feel. Has a 5-beat aspect (limping), with accompaniment
on official first and third beats only.
Kale Badekn:
veiling of the bride. Klezmorim took part. Bride sat in a special chair and
the badkhn (master of ceremonies) would declaim admonitory and encouraging texts
in verse. Klezmorim improvised interludes and responses. Fiddle would interweave
with the voice.
Kale Baveynen:
weeping
of the bride. See above and below.
Kale Bazetzn:
seating of the bride. Vocal tradition led by the badkhn (see kale badekn).
Khosid
/ khosidl (dance):
in duple metre. Danced by khasidim, or
in parody of khasidim. Some suggest that khosidls should be a slower tempo than
freylekhs, although the two descriptions are sometimes used interchangeably. Ben
Bazyler (old-time Klezmer from Warsaw) talked about khosidl as pameylecher (slow)
freylekhs. Quite vocal in nature. Would often speed up as they progressed.
Khuppe
Nign:
tune played from when then the groom arrives at wedding
canopy to the end of the bride's seven circuits around him. Also used to accompany
the couple's fathers.
Kolomeyke (Ukrainian dance):
duple metre. Lots of 4-bar phrases. Can go on for hours!
Kosher
Tants / Mitsve Tentsl / Tants mit der kale (dance):
dance
with the bride. Unusually, involves dancing between a man and a woman. Opposite
sex partners hold the corners of a handkerchief between them.
Mazel
tov:
last thing played at a wedding. Instrumental dance tunes.
Also on the eve of the wedding. Fathers sat in a circle with the guests. Whoever
wanted to could congratulate them, then go into the centre of the circle and dance
to a mazel tov nign, directing the greeting to a host. Also figured in the betrothal
ceremony: women danced it after the badkhn. Used on the morning of the wedding
at the home of the bride's parents (opshil far di mekhutonim). Both sets of parents
were welcomed at the wedding with a mazel tov.
Nign:
song without words, tune. Usually contemplative in nature, singable.
Serba
(dance):
Very fast tempo Romanian dance. Vocal-type melodies.
Klezmorim would switch between several tunes. AB or ABC format. Duple with 6/8
feeling, characterised by triplets. Similar to bulgars (which are derived from
serba, according to Z. Feldman).
Sher / šer (dance):
in duple metre. 8-bar phrases. According to Beregovski, klezmorim
took great care to play special melodies for this dance. Short tunes (generally
2-part) were played as medleys; tunes used as freylekhs in one region were often
sher tunes in another. Described by some as 'ancient, original Jewish dance independent
of foreign sources both in terms of music and dance'. Originally a circle dance,
now more widely known as a square dance with 8 couples.
Shver
un Shviger Tants (dance):
dance for the mother-in-law and
father-in-law.
Skocne / Shotshne:
not
a special dance among Jews. Skocne is a freylekhs more technically developed and
played for listening, not for dancing; a fast, virtuosic freylekhs. The term is
also applied to textless tunes and is sometimes used interchangeably with freylekhs.
Taksim:
early form superseded by doina, originally Turkish-Arabic.
Free and florid decorations on a theme.
Tish Nign:
literally 'table tune'. Tune played or sung for a meal. Usually not too fast,
and associated with song or prayer. Highly developed art form.
Zhok
/ jok / zhog / volakh (dance):
slowish tunes in triple metre
from Romania (joc=dance). Became 'klezmerised' in 20th century. Sometimes used
for street melodies. Often in 2 parts, one slow and one fast. Slow time is triple
and faster is duple. The dance often involved jumps. Triple time and pulse means
often conflated with hora.
This summary is assembled from a variety of different
sources. See the 'Written Resources'
page.
