Klezmer style Palm Sunday
  • JahazaJahaza
    Posts: 468
    As a window on how Catholics and non-Catholics view our Church music, there's an interesting discussion over at AskMetafilter.com in response to a question from a Catholic church choir member who's uncomfortable with the overtly Jewish sounding melodies of a piece his choir is doing for Palm Sunday:
    Our prelude for Palm Sunday is a piece called "Hosanna, Hosanna". It's pretty upbeat and the lyrics are about the people of Jerusalem welcoming Jesus. The harmony and musical accompaniment, though, is VERY evocative of Jewish klezmer music. (The publisher's catalog describes it as follows: "Begin your Palm Sunday service in a distinctive Jewish flair with this joyous celebration of Jesus' arrival into Jerusalem.")

    The more I think about it, I'm starting to believe that the message being communicated by this particular piece has a subtle anti-Semitic undertone -- especially given the historic context of Palm Sunday pogroms. I have a nagging feeling like I am beanplating [local forum jargon for "overthinking"] this but I am wondering there's really something to it. Hive Mind, what say you?
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    I don't have a problem with this as long as they announce that Maundy Thursday Mass will be scratched this year and replaced with Pesach Seder.

    (it's a joke, people...but I am sure it has been done)

    This is just an example of a publisher and parish musician who has no interest in preserving the tradition and great music of the church.
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    Is Klezmer "Jewish"? Isn't it more accurately related to the Yiddish language and Ashkenazy Jews?

    In poor taste, yes, but I'm not sure I follow...
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    I don't have a problem with the phrygian dominant scale in moderation... it's just a modified mode IV (or vice versa...), people! But writing a whole piece in that scale, which hammers the E over and over and over... it gets tiresome!

    I once heard the premiere of a work by a 23 year old Polish symphonic composer... a concerto for klezmer clarinet! It was rather harsh on the ears after 30 minutes, but it combined klezmer, the Polish symphonic tradition, funk, electronica, and jazz. Terribly neat work!
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    It's a weird sort of anachronism.
    If you were into this sort of thing, an Israeli folk song style would be the way to go, or potentially something related to Cantorial cantillation.

    But Klezmer is.... not exactly contemporaneous with the culture of the people who actually were there with the Palms and such.



    Anti-semitic? Hardly. Anti-sensical, though, for sure.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,046
    It's no better or worse than a polka mass. If it's clearly evocative of a secular dance music style, it's not appropriate, and Jewishness has nothing to do with it. But if you're down with "alleluia ch- ch-" but have a problem with this, then you have a problem, and it's probably with God's Chosen People.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    Here's the piece.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    That's actually a really neat piece of music.
    But it's neither Klezmer nor Israeli folk, nor appropriate for Catholic liturgy.

    That is straight-up Broadway. Great music in another setting. At a Mass, I'd probably just giggle.
  • JahazaJahaza
    Posts: 468
    That is straight-up Broadway. Great music in another setting. At a Mass, I'd probably just giggle.

    I wonder if the increased presence of this kind of thing in the liturgy is a reflection of a kitchen sink approach to the Mass as we've lost Passion plays, devotional (non-liturgical) processions, etc. as oportunities for music that is religious but not liturgical.
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