2 At the forefront of the language’s contemporary vitality, particularly in the United States and Canada, is Yiddish instrumental music (klezmer) and folk song. The Klezmatics, one of the most prominent bands of the contemporary secular Yiddish movement (often called the klezmer revival), engage with historically-informed expressions of Jewishness, while at the same time adapting their practice to new materials and contexts.
1.————Halpern, Orly. “Language Living: Yiddish, A Story of Transformation.” Studies in American Jewish Literature (1981-) 26 (2007): 123-124.
2. Young, Jennifer. “Down With the ‘Revival’: Yiddish is a Living Language.” YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. https:// yivo.org/down-with-the-revival-yiddish-is-a-living-language (retrieved 7 May 2021)
3. London, Frank. “An Insider’s View: How We Traveled from Obscurity to the Klezmer Establishment in Twenty Years.” American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots, ed. Slobin (Oakland: University of California Press, 2002), 206-208.
Among contemporary klezmorim (klezmer artists), The Klezmatics are particularly notable for
Friedman 1 Max Friedman 2021 Musical Yiddishisms: An Investigation of Cultural and Political Self-Conceptualization through The Klezmatics’ “Der Yokh”
Introduction In the past fifty years, a number of artists, activists, scholars, and members of the general public have renewed popular interest in the study of the Yiddish language and the knowledges, cultures, and memories it encompasses. The mame-loshn (or mother tongue) of many Ashkenazi Jews around the world, Yiddish has shown remarkable resilience in its use and institutional support from a wide spectrum of Jewish society, despite repeated forecasts of its impending demise.1
The Klezmatics, like many of their peer groups, formed in 1986 from young musicians who came to klezmer from training in other folk musics, searching for their own musical roots.3
“Der Yokh,” a song featured on Apikorsim originating outside of the klezmer canon, serves as a useful study for investigating how London’s tautology can help clarify what Yiddish music is and can be. “Der Yokh” features text setting and orchestration practices identifiably characteristic of the Yiddish traditions of klezmer, folk song, and labor song. However, by
4. The Klezmatics. “םיסראָקיפַּא | Apikorsim (Heretics).” The Klezmatics https://www.klezmatics.com/apikorsim (retrieved 2 April 2021).
Friedman 2 engaging in frequent collaborations with other artists in the klezmer scene, as well as across musical cultures and networks. In addition, much of their work is explicitly political, drawing upon left-wing Jewish histories and striking a progressive tone on a variety of contemporary issues. The Klezmatics’ 2016 album, םיסראָקיפַּא | Apikorsim | Heretics, leans into this aspect of their music. They write, “Heretics, rebels, and questioners, Apikorsim are people who challenge orthodox opinions,” reclaiming a derogatory term to celebrate the histories of refugees and laborers in Withinparticular.4thisstatement is an assertion of the radical mindset informing the act of being a klezmer artist (or any other mode of Yiddishist) in the present. The Klezmatics claim tradition as their own to shape, challenging constructions of authenticity imposed upon their practice. Klezmer is inherently malleable and subject to ongoing questioning and collective re-definition. As Klezmatics member Frank London writes:5 “A combination of self-serving commercial interests and basic ignorance has led many … [to] use klezmer as a buzzword that refers to anything that is remotely Jewish-identified or features a clarinet or sounds exotic… Musician’s warning: inclusion of an augmented-second interval may lead to your music being labeled klezmer. Music that functions as klezmer is klezmer.”
5. London, 209.
7. Netsky, Hankus. “American Klezmer: A Brief History.” American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots, 13.
6. Rubin, J.E. The art of the klezmer: improvisation and ornamentation in the commercial recordings of New York clarinettists Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras 1922-1929. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London, 2001): 20-21.
9. Netsky, 14.
combining traditional practices with contemporary repertoire, technologies, and modes of presentation, The Klezmatics have redefined Yiddish musics through an active consciousness of broader issues surrounding the musical, cultural, and political identities of Ashkenazi Jews in the United States. Brief History of American Klezmer Klezmer history follows a winding path of intense joy and trauma inextricably linked to Ashkenazi Jewish experiences. Originally strictly an instrumental dance music tradition, historically, klezmer was defined in terms of the wedding and street entertainers who practiced it, rather than the music itself.6 In fact, the term was originally a pejorative term for the musicians and their lifestyle.7 The music of old world klezmorim was a mix of influences various folk traditions with which they interacted (such as Romani, Greek, Hungarian, and Romanian music), other Jewish musics (such as sacred cantorial music, Hasidic nigunim,8 and secular Yiddish folkslider), and the klezmorim’s own inventions.9 Laughs, sobs, and groans embedded in the instrumental timbres and ornamentations are typically characteristic of klezmer, and largely unique to Jewish musical practices of this time and place. In the late 19th and early 20th century, following mass emigration of Jewish people fleeing poverty, European wars, and antisemitic
Friedman 3
8. Nigunim (singular nigun, Hebrew for “melody”) are slow, wordless Jewish spiritual melodies sung in groups. Either composed or improvised, they are most closely associated with Hasidic prayer and spiritual practices.
violence, Jews in the United States melded their music with various American musical practices.10 New immigration was stemmed by draconian, xenophobic quotas, and the genocide of Jewish Europe uprooted Yiddish tradition at its source. Before long, most Jewish Americans withdrew from klezmer in favor of new musical interests.
Friedman 4
The members of The Klezmatics belong to a generation of Jewish American musicians who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of the band’s members grew up performing the blues, bluegrass, jazz, and various folk musics, and they used this training as a basis for studying and relearning klezmer from historical recordings and veteran artists. In this iteration, klezmer transformed into a catch-all term for a wide spectrum of Ashkenazi Jewish music and modern hybrids. In addition, Yiddish song originating in folk, labor, and spiritual contexts have become fully integrated into the formerly instrumental practice.11 This broadened application of the term has come with visibility across and beyond the Jewish community around the world. This proliferation has only continued with increased infrastructure for Yiddish studies, more nuanced musicological attention, and new generations of klezmer-inspired artists. Analysis of “Der Yokh” “Der Yokh” is notable as a piece that originates outside of both the klezmer canon and the band’s original work. Instead, it is a setting of “L’estaca,” by Catalonian singer, songwriter, novelist, and politician Lluís Llach. “L’estaca” (“The Stake”) was composed in 1968 in protest of 10. Id. 14-19. 11. Wood, Abigail. And we’re all brothers: singing in Yiddish in contemporary North America. (Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013), 83-84.
In steering Llach’s generally antifascist messaging toward a labor metaphor, Vedenyapin suggests an inspiration from Yiddish socialist history and institutions. Around the turn of the 20th century, many Jews in the United States and Europe found a sense of community, pride, and unity through a radical Yiddish subculture that provided Yiddish-speakers an alternative to other prominent Jewish movements of the time, such as Hasidism, the early Zionist movement, and assimilation into modern society.12
Friedman 5 the Franco regime, and it quickly became the unofficial anthem of Spanish antifascist organizing and mass protest. Since its composition, “L’estaca” has been adapted into a number of languages and adopted by protest movements across Europe; the Yiddish translation is the work of Yuri Vedenyapin, written specifically for The Klezmatics’ rendition. Vedenyapin’s text is faithful to Llach’s original lyrics and call for mass mobilization against fascist oppression, with some subtle differences. [See Appendix A for full text and Yiddish transliteration.]
12. Klepfisz, Irina. “Secular Jewish Identity: Yidishkayt in America.” The Tribe of Dina, ed. Kaye/Kantrowitz, Klepfisz. (Boston: Beacon Press 1989), 41. A ferdl farbay un a vogn, Un es hot mir der zeyde gezogt: Tsi zestu af undzere rukns Dem shvern ayzernem yokh, A horse then a wagon passed by And my grandfather said: Do you not see on our back The heavy iron yoke
For instance, the character Siset in the original is simply and customarily called “zeyde” (grandfather) in the Yiddish. In addition, the central organizing symbol – Llach’s rotten, corroded, but impossibly heavy stake – is slightly modified as “Der Yokh,” an iron yoke compared to those worn by beasts of burden (Verse 1).
My grandfather is long gone I hear his voice no more A wind has carried him away And here I remain as before And new young boys pass by I stretch out my hand to them And sing my grandfather’s song for them The one he taught to me.
13.————“Lluis Llach. 1.976, Palau dels esports de Barcelona.” YouTube Video, Santiago Moreno. 16 Nov. 2014. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRqbwHS4Hs
not particular to Jewish histories, this theme resonates with the efforts The Klezmatics and their generation underwent to remember their musical tradition, particularly in combination with their present position as models for younger klezmorim.
Finally, in Verse 3, Vedenyapin amplifies the theme of generational shift central to Llach’s text by placing zeyde’s wisdom in the speaker’s distant past (Llach’s timeline is more ambiguous).While
Friedman 6
Similarly, the music of “Der Yokh” is a Yiddishization of Llach’s original. The Klezmatics maintain the song’s melodic and harmonic material, as well as its basic formal structure: three verses, with choruses interspersed. This core is framed by an instrumental introduction and a repeated recapitulation, both using the music of the chorus. Llach’s performances of “L’estaca” were typically solo (Llach as vocalist and guitarist) or with minimal onstage accompaniment, supported by active audience participation, either clapping or singing along.13 “Der Yokh,” meanwhile, includes the entirety of The Klezmatics’ six-part ensemble, featuring Lorin Sklamberg as lead vocalist and accordionist. (This analysis focuses on The Klezmatics’ studio release, though they have also given many live performances.)
Der zeyde iz shoyn lang avek, Me hert shoyn nisht zayn kol, Es hot im avekgetrogn a vint, Nor ikh shtey do vi a mol. Es geyen naye yinglekh farbay, Shtrek ikh tsu zey di hent Un zing far zey dem zeydns lid, Vos er hot mikh gelernt.
Friedman 7
The use of orchestration in departure from Llach’s original highlights both the collectively-determined composition of the klezmer ensemble and The Klezmatics’ particular sound. [Appendix B follows “Der Yokh’s” orchestration by verse.] For instance, the instruments used for countermelodic passages (Verse 2, Chorus 2, and the recapitulation) are the violin, clarinet, and trumpet, each included in most contemporary and traditional klezmer ensembles
Example 1 Example 2
Friedman 8 (Examples 1 and 2). (The introductory piano solo is less typical.) “Der Yokh” also features the accordion, serving in both its archetypical accompaniment role and as a countermelodic voice in Verse 3 alongside the clarinet (Examples 3 and 4). While an inconsistent element of ensembles active in the early 20th century, the accordion is common in both modern and traditionally minded klezmer bands of the present day.14 14. Horowitz, Joshua. “The Klezmer Accordion: An Outsider among Outsiders.” The Accordion in the Americas: Klezmer, Polka, Tango, Zydeco, and More! ed. Simonett (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012), 192. Example 3 Example 4
Friedman 9
Example 5
“Der Yokh” follows a steady, orchestrated contour from low to high energy, with a withdrawal between Chorus 2 and Verse 3. This identifies a commonality between klezmer performance practice and Llach’s political goals. Whether inherited from wedding entertainers who had to maintain momentum across songs and sets, or a crowd seeking to unite around antioppression symbols and messages, both sources use variation and accumulation as a means of generating continued engagement intended to peak at the end of the song. In the case of “Der Yokh,” the solitary piano in the introduction is slowly but steadily joined by voice, accordion, drums, bass, and the melodic instruments. While the entire band is present by Verse 2, they maintain this energization through the rest of the song by backing off and then restarting the buildup around vocal harmonizations (Example 5). Depending on performance context, they may either be performed live by other members of the band or by Sklamberg himself, using a basic multitracking studio production technique. Sporadic at first (see Recap A in Appendix B), the harmonization transforms into a high vocal countermelody during the final statement of the chorus (see Recap B).
6
Example
In this final statement, six of the eight lines of text are replaced by vocalizations on the syllables “ay day day” [aɪ daɪ daɪ] (Example 6). This is a technique common in The Klezmatics’ vocal music; in fact, they conclude the song preceding “Der Yokh” on Apikorsim in a similar fashion. These types of vocalizations are also characteristic of Jewish spiritual music, such as melismatic cantorial improvisations and wordless nigunim.16 This provides space for listeners who have not learned the text to sing along, encouraged by the harmonizations. The Klezmatics’ use of voice, both performed live and produced with contemporary technology, is diversified beyond its soloistic presentation for much of the song. This furthers their political messaging, serving a similar role to the audience participation in Llach’s performances, while carrying particularly Jewish cultural context.
Friedman 10
My analysis characterizes “Der Yokh” as a significantly Yiddishized interpretation of “L’estaca,” drawing from Yiddish history evoked through translation, klezmer performance practice and ensemble structure, and some elements of Yiddish secular and sacred vocal music. These elements interact symbiotically with the rhetorical strategies of mass movements, the cross-cultural conversation inherent in the Yiddishization of a Catalonian song, and the use of new technologies. However, identification of Jewish-resonant textual and musical objects incompletely characterizes the meaning that this music may have for a Jewish audience. I contend that The Klezmatics’ act of drawing selectively from within and outside of Yiddish musical traditions, while remaining true to their sources, is a means of articulating Jewish pride and seeking empowerment for themselves and their audience. Social and Political Themes in “Der Yokh”: “Der Yokh,” despite its departures from klezmer canon in source and presentation, is not an unusual project for The Klezmatics. The band thrives within the bending of musical type: the core members’ musical backgrounds span jazz, world fusion, and Celtic fiddle, and they have previously collaborated with celebrated artists such as renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, Israeli singer and composer Chava Alberstein, and Hebrew gospel singer Joshua Nelson.16 Their acclaimed 2006 album Wonder Wheel sets lyrics by Woody Guthrie over an eclectic variety of American folk and popular musical styles, and they regularly compose original work. The Klezmatics frame Apikorsim as an unfiltered representation of their artistic vision: both a 15. See 8. 16. Harris, Craig. “The Klezmatics Artist Biography.” allmusic.com https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-klezmaticsmn0000773009/biography (retrieved 6 May 2021).
Friedman 11
The Klezmatics’ “Yiddishizations” of other musical sources beg comparison with their forebears’ “Americanizations” of traditional klezmer practice. While a full examination of this dynamic is beyond the scope of this study, The Klezmatics, like the heretics of Apikorsim, rhetorically dismiss outside pressure to conform. In the case of “Der Yokh,” they amplify aspects of Yiddish tradition and Llach’s music, text, and political messaging on their own terms. This subversion of assimilationist histories – many Jewish immigrants’ response to European and American traumas – is an important feature of the secular Yiddishist movement as a whole, in its aims to develop community pride around the language, culture, and history. Defining the contemporary Yiddishist movement generally, or klezmer more narrowly, as path forward for Diaspora Ashkenazi Jews is limited and Eurocentric. Yiddish studies do not represent all Jews, or even all Ashkenazi Jews. However, Yiddish is a vital piece of a comprehensive, nuanced collective Jewish identity. For instance, Alicia Svigals, a violinist, composer, and co-founder of The Klezmatics, notes the secular Yiddishist movement’s particular resonance among young, left-wing, and Queer Jews.18 The Yiddishist and klezmer world of recent decades functions as a youth counterculture within Diaspora Jewishness; many question their identification with a perceived mainstream reliance on cultural assimilation and 17.————TheKlezmatics. | Apikorsim (Heretics).” The Klezmatics https://www.klezmatics.com/apikorsim (retrieved 2 April 2021).
“םיסראָקיפַּא
18. Alicia Svigals. “Why We Do This Anyway: Klezmer as Jewish Youth Subculture.” American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots, 212-217.
Friedman 12 continuation of their thirty years of work and their first ever album without guests.17 Throughout their pushing of klezmer’s historical boundaries, the band has communicated a vision of their music equally reliant on innovation, cross-cultural sharing, and Yiddish canon.
Israel-centered expressions of identity. It is a way for younger Jews to engage with their identities in spaces of their own design.
Likewise, musical Jewishness does not have to be positioned in the past tense, and it does not have to be defined by musical objects catalogued, too often by outsiders, as “Jewish.” Jewish
Friedman 13
Conclusion I have argued that “Der Yokh” is not only an identifiably Yiddishized setting of Lluis Llach’s “L’estaca,” but is also representative of the sociopolitical consciousness of the secular Yiddishist movement more broadly. Moreover, The Klezmatics’ act of Yiddishizing Llach’s source material, while a journey outside of the klezmer canon, is itself an exercise in klezmer tradition. This song is rich in Jewish resonances, from Yiddish political and artistic histories, to generational shifts and identity-building. However, rather than a one-to-one recomposition of musical objects, it is the historically informed group effort of interpreting “L’estaca” that encapsulates the function of klezmer in this context. This suggests a need for further theorization on a particularly klezmer variation on the practice of group listening, characterized by members leveraging their individuality to build and enhance a larger setting. In addition, the function and the fluidity of klezmer within the secular Yiddishist movement remains a topic deserving of further study.Klezmer reimaginers often view their work as a way of building counterculture: a Yiddish alternative to mainstream American Judaism. Moreover, Yiddishist self-conceptualization is a necessity for finding a living future in an uprooted culture. American Jewishness does not have to be oriented toward religious institutions or Israeli culture (though, of course, it can be).
intentionality is inherently noteworthy and valuable, and visible artists in the secular Yiddishist movement, like The Klezmatics, play a vital role in asserting its existence. They show a way for Jews to look to a broadened knowledge base and cultural memory, building Jewish pride and empowering the next generation to shape their own future.
Friedman 14
Shoyn lange yorn shteyen mir Aropgedrikt fun dem brokh Es minert zikh mayn koyekh, Es vert alts shverer der yokh.
Dem shvern ayzernem yokh, Ken men nisht geyn, nisht flien, Krigt men a bis un a shtokh. Tsuzamen kenen mir aroys, Zol zayn a sho, a tog, a vokh, Er vet shoyn faln, faln, faln, Der tsefoylter alter yokh. Az ikh zol tsien in der mit, Un du zolst tsien in der zayt, Er vet shoyn faln, faln, faln, Demolt vern mir bafrayt.
Friedman 15 Appendix A: Text of “Der Yokh” “Der yokh.” YouTube Video, Lorin Sklamberg. 16 Mar. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLWI1CfRZiw. See comment by Lorin Sklamberg.Yiddish(Llach/Vedenyapin)Transliteration
In but an hour, a day, a week
The heavy iron yoke
Though corroded and rusty It holds us like a pair of tongs
The corroded old yoke
English (Llach/Vedenyapin)Translation
But it saps my strength
The two of us stood together
It hadn’t yet become day
Vayl khotsh tsefoylt un farzhavert, Dokh halt er vi a tsvang, Nor ven ikh halt shoyn bam faln, Her ikh dem zeydns gezang:
When I must hold back from falling I hear my grandfather’s song: My grandfather is long gone I hear his voice no more
It makes the yoke harder to bear
A wind has carried him a way
It will fall, fall, fall
And sing my grandfather’s song for them
As I pull from the middle And you pull from the side It will fall, fall, fall Then we will all be freed.
The one he taught to me.
So we’ve remained through the years
Mir zaynen geshtanen in tsveyen, Es hot nokh nisht getogt, A ferdl farbay un a vogn, Un es hot mir der zeyde gezogt: Tsi zestu af undzere rukns
Der zeyde iz shoyn lang avek, Me hert shoyn nisht zayn kol, Es hot im avekgetrogn a vint, Nor ikh shtey do vi a mol. Es geyen naye yinglekh farbay, Shtrek ikh tsu zey di hent
One can not go, one cannot fly You fight with a bite and a stab
Together we can free ourselves
A horse then a wagon passed by And my grandfather said: Do you not see on our back
Un zing far zey dem zeydns lid, Vos er hot mikh gelernt.
Pulled up from disaster
And here I remain as before And new young boys pass by I stretch out my hand to them
Friedman 16 Appendix B: Orchestration by Phrase in “Der Yokh” Phrase Text Cue Notes Orchestrationon Other Notes Time [ReleaseCueon Apikorsim] Introduction Instrumental Keyboard only Music of Chorus, 1x 0:00 Verse 1 “Mir tsveyen…”geshtanenzaynenin Voice and keyboard 0:28 Chorus 1 “Tsuzamen kenen mir aroys…” Voice, keyboard, and accordion Slight elongation at end 1:01 Verse 2 “Shoyn lange yorn shteyen mir…” Voice, echoclarinet,drums;keyboard,violin,trumpet 1:40 Chorus 2 “Tsuzamen kenen mir aroys…” Voice, echoclarinet,drums;keyboard,violin,trumpet 2:14 Verse 3a “Der zeyde iz shoyn lang avek…” Voice, accordionpiano, 2:53 Verse 3b “Es geyen naye yinglekh farbay…” Voice, accordion,piano,clarinet 3:09 Recap A “Tsuzamen kenen mir aroys…” Voice (harmonized), full band Gradual accelerandocrescendo, 3:26 Recap B “Ay day day day day…” Voice (harmonized), full band Continued accelerandocrescendo, 4:05