Klezmer (Yiddish: כּלי־זמר or קלעזמער, romanized: klezmer) is a type of music played with instruments by Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. This tradition includes dance songs, religious melodies, and skilled improvisations played for listening. These songs were often performed at weddings and other social events. Klezmer music combined elements from many other styles, such as Ottoman music (especially from Greece and Romania), Baroque music, German and Slavic folk dances, and religious Jewish music. When Klezmer music arrived in the United States, it lost some of its traditional religious aspects and began to include elements from American big band and popular music. European-born musicians like Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein helped spread the genre in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Later, American-born musicians such as Max Epstein, Sid Beckerman, and Ray Musiker also played a role in popularizing Klezmer.

After the destruction of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust and a decline in Klezmer's popularity in the United States, the music was revived in the late 1970s. This period is known as the Klezmer Revival. In the 1980s and beyond, musicians experimented with both traditional and new forms of Klezmer, creating albums that blended the genre with jazz, punk, and other styles. By the 1980s and 1990s, the revival in the United States influenced Europe, leading to renewed interest in Klezmer in countries like Germany, France, Poland, and Russia. At the same time, a similar tradition continued in Israel, with musicians such as Moussa Berlin contributing to its preservation.

Etymology and usage

The word "klezmer" comes from the Yiddish language and has its roots in Hebrew. It combines "klei," meaning "tools, utensils, or instruments of," and "zemer," meaning "melody," forming "k'lei zemer," which translates to "musical instruments." Over time, the term "klezmer" in Yiddish began to describe musicians rather than their instruments. This change first happened in Bohemia during the second half of the 16th century and later in Poland, possibly because musicians were forming professional groups at that time. Before this, musicians were sometimes called "lets" or other terms. After "klezmer" became the common word for professional musicians in Yiddish-speaking Eastern Europe, other musicians were often called "muziker" or "muzikant." In the 20th century, some Russian scholars used the term "klezmer," but not all, such as Ivan Lipaev, while others like Moisei Beregovsky used it when writing in Yiddish or Ukrainian.

The term "klezmer" became widely known in English during the late 20th century. At that time, it came to describe not only the musicians but also the type of music they played, a meaning it did not have in Yiddish. Earlier, in the early 20th century, records and writings referred to the music as Hebrew, Jewish, or Yiddish dance music, or sometimes as "Freilech music," which means "Cheerful music" in Yiddish. The use of "klezmer" to describe a music genre became popular in the late 1970s, promoted by revival bands. Walter Zev Feldman, who released an LP in 1979 with Andy Statman, is credited with helping shift the term's meaning to refer to the music style.

Musical elements

Klezmer music has a unique style that includes how it sounds, the way it ends, and special musical details. Although it came from Jewish music traditions in Eastern Europe, like religious singing and later Yiddish theater music, it also borrowed sounds from nearby folk music and European styles. This mix of influences helped create a style that includes elements from many different types of music.

Before the late 1800s, most klezmer musicians did not have formal training in music schools. Instead, they learned through practice and passed down traditions from older musicians. Each musician had their own way of understanding how to play the music "correctly." The special sounds used in klezmer music were not random; ideas about taste, self-expression, and how much to change the music were important in how it was played.

Klezmer musicians use the style of the music on different instruments. They take the vocal melodies from Jewish religious practices, like the singing of a Hazzan (a Jewish prayer leader), and turn them into instrument music. Some musical features in klezmer music are similar to those in Jewish religious singing, such as sounds that imitate sighing or laughing. These sounds have Yiddish names like "krekhts" (a groan), "kneytsh" (a fold), and "kvetsh" (a pressure). Other special sounds include trills, quick notes, bent notes, string harmonics, and specific ending patterns. These elements help make klezmer music easily recognizable. In some cases, the word "dreydlekh" is used only for trills, while in others, it refers to all special sounds. Unlike in classical music, vibrato is used only sometimes and is treated as another type of special sound.

The way music is played changes based on the instruments used and the situation. It can range from simple octaves without harmony to more complex arrangements with brass bands in the 20th century.

Klezmer music covers a wide range of songs tied to specific events and dances, especially weddings. These songs might have come from non-Jewish traditions or been created by klezmer musicians, but they are rarely linked to a specific person. Klezmer music can be divided into two main types: music for dancing and music for listening (like during meals or ceremonies).

Because Jewish weddings happened in many places and times, the dances in klezmer music show a mix of traditions:

• A "Freylekhs" is a simple and common dance played in 4 beats, used for group circle dances. It has been called by other names in different areas.
• A "bulgar" is a circle dance from Moldavia with a special rhythm in 4 beats. It became very popular in the U.S. in the early 1900s.
• A "sher" is a dance for four couples moving together, often sounding like a Freylekhs but with more sections. Some believe it came from an older German dance.
• "Kosher-tants" or "mitsve-tants" are ritual dances with themes of purity and commitment, often using rhythms from polonaises or gavottes. A related dance, "Broygez-tants," includes acting out anger and reconciliation.
• "Khosidl" is a more formal dance in 4 beats, sometimes with ironic or self-mocking elements.
• "Hora" is a circle dance in 8 beats, borrowed from Romanian and Moldavian music. It became a main dance type in the U.S. after the "bulgar."
• "Kolomeike" is a fast dance in 4 beats from Ukraine.
• "Skotshne" is a more complex version of a Freylekhs, used for both dancing and listening.
• "Nigun" is a broad term for music that can be listened to, sung, or danced to, usually in 4 beats.
• "Waltzes" were popular, including classical, Russian, or Polish styles.
• "Mazurka" and "polka" were dances from Poland and the Czech Republic, played for both Jewish and non-Jewish people.
• "Kozak" is a Ukrainian dance in 4 beats.
• "Sirba" is a Romanian dance in 2 or 4 beats, with hopping steps and quick movements.

Klezmer musicians also played music for rituals and listening, which could be rhythmic or freeform. These pieces often borrowed from Jewish or non-Jewish folk music and religious songs.

• Some listening music was freeform and not strictly timed, like the "Doyne" borrowed from Romanian music. Other types include "Volekhl," "Taksim," and "Fantasia," where musicians created variations on simple themes.
• Music tied to weddings, like "Kale-bazetsn" (seating the bride) or "Kale-bazingn" (singing to the bride), allowed musicians to improvise freely.
• Other listening pieces used rhythms from Hasidic music, like "Tish-nign" (table tunes) played during meals or "Moralish" (spiritual songs) performed at Hasidic gatherings.
• "Vals" (waltzes) in 4 beats were slower and used for listening during seated wedding events.
• "Processional" music, used to lead groups like wedding parties, could include many styles or borrow non-Jewish melodies. Examples include "Gas-nigunim" (street tunes) and "Tsum tish" (to the table) used to guide wedding groups through neighborhoods or homes.

History

The Bible describes orchestras and Levites playing music, but after the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, many rabbis discouraged the use of musical instruments. While Jewish musicians existed in different times and places after this, the term "Klezmer" musician became widely recognized much later. The earliest written record of the word "Klezmer" was found in a Jewish council meeting in Kraków in 1595, according to Isaac Rivkind. Earlier references may exist in Prague, with mentions dating back to 1511 and 1533. In the 1600s, Jewish musicians in Poland gained rights to form Guilds (Khevre), allowing them to set fees, hire others, and develop new musical traditions. Over time, this led to the growth of Klezmer music across Eastern European Jewish communities. The rise of Hasidic Judaism in the late 1700s also influenced Klezmer music, as it emphasized dancing and wordless melodies in Jewish practice.

In the 1800s, Klezmer violinists combined techniques from classical and folk traditions, creating music that spread widely. Notable figures included Aron-Moyshe Kholodenko, Yosef Drucker, Alter Goyzman, and Josef Gusikov. In Europe, fewer Klezmer recordings existed compared to the United States. Most European Jewish music recordings focused on Cantorial music or Yiddish theater, with only a few dozen Klezmer pieces known. These included works by violinists like Oscar Zehngut, Jacob Gegna, and Josef Solinski, as well as flute pieces and ensemble recordings by groups such as Belf's Romanian Orchestra.

In the Russian Empire, as restrictions on Jews eased, scholars began studying Klezmer music using modern methods. Abraham Zevi Idelsohn searched for ancient Middle Eastern origins of Jewish music, while Joel Engel collected folk melodies in Berdyansk in 1900. Susman Kiselgof later collected large amounts of Klezmer music between 1907 and 1915, followed by scholars like Moisei Beregovsky and Sofia Magid. Most of these collected materials are now held in the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine.

Beregovsky noted in the 1930s that little was known about the playing techniques and social roles of Klezmer musicians from earlier eras, except for those who could be studied through elderly musicians. In the Soviet Union, Klezmer music faced periods of support and censorship. In the 1920s, Jewish music was often based on traditional themes, but by the 1930s, it shifted toward Russian-style works adapted to Yiddish contexts. After 1948, Jewish music was banned, and scholars like Beregovsky were arrested. Some performances returned in the 1950s, but Klezmer music remained tied to community events rather than academic or concert settings.

The first Klezmer musicians to arrive in the United States came with waves of Eastern European Jewish immigrants after 1880, settling in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Many worked in restaurants, dance halls, and weddings, with income often coming from Simchas (celebrations). Early generations of Klezmers are less documented than those of the 1910s and 1920s, though some families, like the Lemish klezmer family of Iași, Romania, are remembered through community history.

In the 1910s, growing interest in Jewish music in the U.S. led to more Klezmer musicians arriving and recording their work. Record companies like Edison, Okeh, and Victor hired bandleaders to record 78 rpm discs. Abe Elenkrig, a Ukrainian-born musician, recorded "Fon der Choope (From the Wedding)" in 1913, which is now preserved by the Library of Congress. Other European-born musicians who recorded during this time included Dave Tarras, Shloimke Beckerman, and Naftule Brandwein.

In the 1920s, Klezmer "big bands" became popular, and some clarinet players, like Brandwein, Tarras, and Beckerman, gained fame. However, the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Great Depression in the 1930s led to a decline in Klezmer recordings and the viability of large orchestras.

In the 1970s, interest in Klezmer music revived in the United States, with figures like Giora Feidman and groups such as The Klezmorim and Walter Zev contributing to its revival.

Popular culture

Traditional performances have decreased over time, but many Jewish composers who became famous, such as Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, still used musical styles from klezmer music they heard as children, just like Gustav Mahler. George Gershwin knew klezmer music, and the opening sound of the clarinet in his piece "Rhapsody in Blue" shows this influence, even though he did not write klezmer music directly. Some musical techniques used by swing jazz musicians Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, as well as the "freilach swing" style of other Jewish artists like trumpeter Ziggy Elman, may have been inspired by klezmer music.

At the same time, non-Jewish composers also used klezmer music for creative ideas. Dmitri Shostakovich especially admired klezmer music for showing both happiness and sadness in life. He included some klezmer melodies in his famous works, such as his Piano Quintet in G minor (1940), Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor (1944), and String Quartet No. 8 in C minor (1960).

Israeli composer Ofer Ben-Amots includes klezmer music in his compositions, especially in his 2006 piece called Klezmer Concerto. This piece is written for a klezmer clarinet (played by Jewish musician David Krakauer), string orchestra, harp, and percussion.

The image of the klezmer, as a symbol of Jewish life in the 1800s, appeared in the artwork of many Jewish artists in the 1900s, such as Anatoly Kaplan, Issachar Ber Ryback, Marc Chagall, and Chaim Goldberg. Kaplan, who lived in the Soviet Union, was inspired by romantic descriptions of klezmers in literature, especially in Sholem Aleichem’s Stempenyu, and painted them in great detail.

Films and documentaries about klezmer music include:
• Yidl Mitn Fidl (1936), directed by Joseph Green
• Fiddler on the Roof (1971), directed by Norman Jewison
• Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973), directed by Gérard Oury
• Jewish Soul Music: The Art of Giora Feidman (1980), directed by Uri Barbash
• A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden (1988), directed by Michal Goldman
• Fiddlers on the Hoof (1989), directed by Simon Broughton
• The Last Klezmer: Leopold Kozlowski: His Life and Music (1994), directed by Yale Strom
• Beyond Silence (1996), about a klezmer clarinetist, directed by Charlotte Link
• A Tickle in the Heart (1996), directed by Stefan Schwietert
• Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House (1996), aired on Great Performances (PBS/WNET)
• L'homme est une femme comme les autres (1998), directed by Jean-Jacques Zilbermann with music by Giora Feidman
• Dummy (2002), directed by Greg Pritikin
• Klezmer on Fish Street (2003), directed by Yale Strom
• Le Tango des Rashevski (2003), directed by Sam Garbarski
• Klezmer in Germany (2007), directed by Kryzstof Zanussi and C. Goldie
• A Great Day on Eldridge Street (2008), directed by Yale Strom
• The "Socalled" Movie (2010), directed by Garry Beitel
• The Klezmer Project, 2023 Argentine documentary

In Jewish literature, klezmers were often shown as romantic but sometimes dishonest characters. However, in 1800s works by writers like Mendele Mocher Sforim and Sholem Aleichem, klezmers were also described as skilled musicians who brought joy to people. Klezmers also appeared in non-Jewish Eastern European stories, such as in the poem Pan Tadeusz, which included a character named Jankiel Cymbalist, or in the stories of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. In George Eliot’s novel Daniel Deronda (1876), a German Jewish music teacher is named Herr Julius Klesmer. The novel was later turned into a Yiddish musical called Ben Ami (1908) by Avram Goldfaden.