RP252 Music of Laughter and Weeping

 RP252 Music of Laughter and Weeping

The collision of cultures in Eastern Europe—Jewish, Roman, Russian, Greek, Slavic, to name a few—combined to create a unique kind of music. It's called klezmer, a musical style with its oldest roots in Jewish wedding songs.

Music has always been important at Jewish weddings. Wedding music often combined popular dances with religious vocals, like chanting. The musicians who played were called klezmorim. As cultures in Eastern Europe moved closer and closer together and musicians traveled from one performance to another, this wedding music began to be influenced by other traditions. On the road or near their homes, musicians heard Romanian folk dances, Roma(gypsy) music, Russian folk songs, and even jazz. In the 19th century, these wide-ranging influences all came together to create one unified musical style called klezmer.

Even the instruments used in klezmer were influenced by culture and history. Early performers were banned from making loud music, so the instruments they chose were quieter ones: violins and xylophones. When the ban on loud music was lifted, the clarinet and accordion were used more often. In times of war, klezmorim used traditionally military instruments like drums and horns.

The sound of klezmer music is stirring and unique. It reflects klezmer's earliest influences: the vocal music used in Jewish ceremonies. Klezmer is instrumental music that aims to sound like the human voice. Horns, string instruments, accordions, and xylophones laugh, cry, whisper, and shout. Klezmer is a very human, very emotional type of music.

Klezmer was almost lost during the Holocaust, along with many other Eastern European Jewish traditions. Many immigrants leaving Europe decided to abandon old traditions and start new ones. In the 1970s, however, klezmer was rediscovered. It had another surge of popularity in the 1990s when some new, young klezmer bands were formed. It has influenced jazz and ska music in the U.S. While its popularity may ebb and flow, this music of feelings seems like it will stick around for a long while yet.