Klezmeriana

The instrumental music of the Yiddish-speaking Jews, especially those of Eastern Europe, is known as klezmer. This terminology was originally used in Jewish cultural life as the name of a musician who played at weddings. At Jewish weddings, which usually last several days, klezmer musicians played not only dance music but also ceremonial music – for example during the wedding ceremony, and also music that was listened to during the wedding feast. Originally, there was no special term for this style of music. It was simply referred to as ‘Jewish wedding music’. In the 1970s, the music – which is actually a fusion of different influences – enjoyed a resurgence in popularityand came to be known as klezmer. This music contains not only the sounds of the Balkans, but also influences of oriental and gypsy music too. Jan de Haan used no original klezmer melodies for Klezmeriana, but composed a series of sound-alike in an instrumentation for woodwind ensemble and optional percussion.