Klezmer Music: Duration

Another key feature of Klezmer music includes the tempo, metre and rhythm; after all, it is these three aspects that help to drive the music.

Klezmer music is often performed at festivals and ceremonies that involve dancing. Thus, the tempo of a piece is set by the Klezmorim upon perceiving how the dancers and people are reacting to the music. Faster dance pieces involve a strident beat, and the performers aim to be on the edge of the beat to drive the music forwards. As the music is often improvised, the tempo can evolve to be rather jerky and bouncy. The following video is a montage of various dances performed to Klezmer music (only listen to a snippet of it): 

Various time signatures are used throughout Klezmer music. The type of dance that accompanies the music heavily influences the time signature that is used.

For example:

Freyekhs: is a Romanian dance piece that utilises the ahava-rabboh mode. This piece is written in 8/8 and is felt as 3+3+2. It is a very popular piece to accompany various dances with. Briefly listen to part of this recording and gain a feel of the asymmetrical metre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeTXqFy5oUY

Sher: is a Yiddish word meaning “tailor” and is named after the style of folk dance that accompanies it. This particular dance music is in a simple duple meter of 2/4, and the dynamic feel can be heard if you listen to part of this recording:

The Hora: is another example of a folk dance accompanied by Klezmer music. This particular dance is felt in a strident 3/8 with emphasis placed on the 1^st and 3^rd beats, as felt in the following recording:

A common theme across all Klezmer music is the repetition of certain sections so that they are faster and louder than previously presented. In order to give the dancers notice of the change in tempo, a common motif is used. The motif includes strong accents on the beat in the current tempo, before subdividing to create a faster feel: 

It is possible to elaborate on the rhythms, tempos and metres used in Klezmer music for paragraphs, however, this brief overview should suffice.