 The Ethnic Clarinet
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Author: Mike
Date: 2000-12-07 18:55
In the "Welcome" post, I saw the following terms: doina, freylekh,krekhtsn, dreydlekh, Chassidic. Howzabout helping out with the pronunciation? I can guess, but I'd rather not.
msj
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2000-12-07 20:18
Well, I'm no Yiddish maven:), but here goes:
Doina, the "oi" is prounounced as in "join" or oily"
Freylekh, the "kh" has a sound similar to the German "ch", as in "ach" (back of the tongue scrapes the roof of the mouth), so pronounce as "fray - lach"
Dreydlekh, pronounce as "dray'd - lach"
Chassidic, prounounce as "chass - id - ic", with the accent on the "id"
The accents in the other words are on the first syllable.
I believe a doina is a long wailing solo. A freylekh is a happy dance tune. I don't know what a dreydlekh is, but to "drey" is to fool around and a dreydl (dray - dle) is a spinning top. Chassids are a group (actually several groups) of Orthodox religious Jews who are not only deeply religiously observant, but adhere to dress and customs of 17th century Eastern Europe from whence they originate (although they have modern appliances, cars, medicine, etc). Many klezmer tunes originated from Chassidic prayer melodies.
Hope this helps.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2000-12-08 03:03
Oh, I left out krekhtsn: Pronounce using the rules above. Means "to cry". These are the laugh - cry sounds emitted by the clarinet or sax. I once did it accidentally, have not been able to duplicate it since.
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Author: Mike
Date: 2000-12-08 13:36
Thanks so much, Steve.
I have very little exposure to Klezmer music, but it is quite seductive. I was finally hooked last year about this time when National Public Radio broadcast a program of people's spoken memories of Chanukkah's past. Interleaved between stories was the most beautiful soulful music. The clarinetist and the music were, alas, uncredited.
My teacher, in addition to her vast classical performance experience, plays Klezmer music now and then (the usual - "weddings and bar mitzvahs"). I finally pried a copy of "Mayn shtetl Yas" out our her well-guarded stash of music. Of course, I'm lousy at playing it, but, hey, you gotta start somewhere.
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Author: peter jaques
Date: 2001-01-15 03:53
"dreydlekh" is the plural of "dreydl". a doina could be described as a "long wailing solo", but more specifically, it is an unmetered improvisation, usually over chord changes. the timing of the changes is determined by the soloist in the moment. it often comes before a piece in rhythm, usually in the same key, but sometimes you'll have a doina by itself.
a good source for general klezmer knowledge is the book "The Compleat Klezmer", by Henry Sapoznik, published by Tara Publications. starts with a description of various klez tune types, basic modes & styling, then has a nice selection of "standard" tunes. you can also get it with a recording with old recordings of all the tunes, which is really useful.
peter
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2001-03-18 00:39
Steve, dreydlekh, or dreydl, in this case literally means "turn". This is similar to a turn in Irish fiddle music. It is a bit different than a normal trill in classical music, as it usually consists of a few different notes. If it were to be written out on paper, this ornament would probably be best written as a cluster of grace notes. -- Nate Zeien
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2001-03-18 06:16
Hmm, I'm not disagreeing with you, Nate, but I always thought a dreydlakh was form of dance tune, not an ornament. I stand (or spin -) corrected, if you are sure about this.
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Author: Lorele
Date: 2001-03-21 19:58
For more about Dreydlekh, check the archives of jewishmusic@shamash.org. It is an ornament.
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