Klarinet Archive - Posting 000146.txt from 2004/09

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fbjacobo@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Klezmer info
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 17:43:36 -0400

>
>
>
>Are you saying that, if I had the skills, I could perform "St. Louis
>Blues" or the Mozart concerto in such a way that I could properly call
>my performance "Klezmer"? I agree that performance practice is an
>important part of Klezmer, but appropriate scales and harmony (and
>perhaps instrumentation --- can you perform Klezmer on a bagpipe or
>harpsichord?) are essential also, aren't they?
>
> Ormond,
>
Yes, that is what I'm saying. It certainly helps that the
melodies be coducive to the feel of Jewish Wedding Music but there are
numerous examples of Klezmer bands taking non-Jewish melodies and
"klezmerizing" them. One of the most recent ones is the witty "Klezmer
Nutcracker" by Shirim. It is a Klezmer performance. Don't you agree that
the Ellington arrangements of Classical music are Jazz? Same thing.

>
>If I understood Lelia correctly, she wasn't discussing 'truth in
>advertising'. Rather she was commenting that a demand for authenticity
>can be carried to such an extreme that it becomes a musical prejudice or
>an act of musical discrimination (in the nasty sense of the word) rather
>than only a musical specification.
>
What discrimination???? Who is saying she or anyone else can or
cannot play anything they want? As for judging their efforts to be
adequate or inadequate, that is my prerogative as a trained musician.
Orchestras do it all the time in auditions! Are you suggesting that
"anything goes" is an acceptable state of affairs? If so, why bother
getting good at anything?

Fred J.

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