Klezmer Klassica

Where Klezmer meets Classical

From Shostakovich's exploration of "sad Jewish melodies with [a] lively rhythm", to Prokofiev's overture based on klezmer material for the Zimro ensemble, to the Society for Jewish Folk Music founded in 1908 at the St Petersburg Conservatory, to the use of the same folk song material for Smetana's symphonic poem "Vltava" and the Israeli national anthem
The list of connections between the worlds of Western classical music and Jewish folk musics is diverse and extensive. It's a rich seam of musical works; some by Jewish composers, others by composers attracted to Jewish material; some based on Jewish themes, others based on new material inspired by a sense of Jewish music.
It is this rich seam which the Klezmer Klassica project explores. Conceived and produced by Richard Fay, with Musical Direction from his clarinet seat by Daniel Mawson, with arrangements by Sophie Sully, Lucy Hibberd, and others, and as recorded and filmed by Sam Gee.

Richard's Vision

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I wanted to explore the interfaces between klezmer (and Jewish musics more generally) and the 'classical' musical world (broadly understood). For the Vessels of Song concert, we explored this idea through two pieces - Dmitri's Tants (a re-klezmerisation of part of a Shostakovich piano trio which has a Jewish element in its creation) and Sergei's Forshpil (a similarly re-imagined klezmer version of Prokofiev's overture on a Jewish/Hebrew theme). As we develop the project further, we will explore: re-klezmerised classics; Jewish classical pieces; new compositions 'inspired' in some way by klezmer; and new 'classically-flavoured' arrangements of the Jewish/klezmer repertoire.
In April 2022, as filmed by Sam Gee at Manchester Jewish Museum, the Klezmer Klassica project was extended with a new recording for clarinet and string quartet. Alexander Krein (1883-1951) - son of a well-known klezmer fiddler, student of the Moscow Conservatory, and member of the Society for Jewish folk Music - melded Hebraic melodies into chamber music.
A case in point is his three-movement op. 12 "Jewish Sketches" which forms a pair with op. 13 published in the same year (1914). These compositions were outcomes of Joel Engel's encouragement to Krein to explore the Jewish musical material in which he was immersed growing up.

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