Title of Piece: A Rumenisher Doyne
Performers: Klezmer Conservatory Band
Culture of Origin: Israeli/Jewish
Instrumentation: Winds, Percussion, Strings, Clarinet solo
The structure of this piece is divided into four sections. The first section showcases the improvisational solo on the clarinet. The clarinet soloist uses various techniques within his/her playing, including using the use sliding pitch in the opening. The use of semi-tone intervals are also a key characteristic of klezmer music. The second section, is a moderate tempo dance like theme. Listening to this theme, I thought of the Carmen selection from the Wade text because it reminded me of the habanera rhythm from Latin America. Oddly enough, they are noted to be similar, but stem from different origins. The third section is the return of the opening melody. The fourth section is another dance section, but is different material from the second theme. This ending theme is one of the most familiar styles of klezmer music. Within the fourth section, the phrases are eight beats long and there are two different themes. Each theme is presented once and then the cymbal crashes signify the return of the A theme, followed again by the B theme. The ending of this piece is standard to a klezmer dance, with the clarinet playing the scale and the band playing unison notes to end.
When discussing music, the context is very important, especially the cultural context. It has been noted that much of the Israeli music comes from traditional Jewish and non-Jewish traditions that were then infused together to create a distinct musical culture in Israel. The specific cultural context for klezmer music is for dancing, primary found at weddings and other social events and gathering within the Jewish community. I was also drawn to this particular selection because of the discussion around improvisation in world music. Wade (2013) states "there are two misconceptions about improvisation that we in ethnomusicology have to counter regularly" (pg. 133). Wade explains that the first misconception is that of "free" improvisation, where the music is thought to be 'composed' or 'created' during the performance is not based upon anything else. The second is that improvisation is not composition and that the process of creating music during performance is vastly different from the process of creating music before a performance. While I think that these concerns around the idea of improvisation are valid, I think that there is a signification contribution that improvisation contributes to the field of music. Listening to this piece several times over the course of the week, I think that the first misconception is very much false. While the opening clarinet music may have been derived on the spot, it fits in with what the other members of the klezmer ensemble is playing and challenges the soloist to play pitches both inside and outside the designated mode.
Wade, B. (2013). Thinking musically: Experiencing music, expressing culture. New York, New York. Oxford University Press.
What a cool piece! The clarinet sounds especially impressive in my opinion and the fact that it is improvised amazes me even more. I was very classically-trained in college and do no have much experience with improvising but of course still believe that it is an important aspect of any music program. I agree that Wade's first misconception about improvisation is very much accurate; music never just comes out of thin air. Even when people create music on their own at home, they are thinking about what the music should sound like and playing around some kind of tonal center even if these are subconscious processes. When playing in an ensemble such as with this Klezmer ensemble, musicians must be even more structured with their improvisations so that they sound aesthetically pleasing and logical not just on their own, but in the larger scheme of the group sound.
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