Klezmer Music: Pitch, Texture and Expressive Techniques.

The style of Jewish music and Klezmer music in particular, is often characterised and defined by the analysis of its pitch. This includes the melody, harmony, tonality and range/register of the music played.

Tonality

Firstly, the tonality of the music has already been discussed as modal. This means that the behaviour of the music is neither major nor minor; instead, it is fusion of both whilst incorporating various other intervals to stimulate moods and effects.


Melody and Expressive Techniques

The melodies of Klezmer music are intended to imitate the human voice and include various attempts to emulate cries, laughter and weeping. This is achieved by using ornamentation such as glissandi, grace notes, chirps, squeaks and other techniques. These embellishments give character to the melodies and add life to the music. Many of the Klezmer melodies are disjunct and contain a range of leaps, arpeggiated passages, scalic motifs, stepwise contours and chromatic leads into cadence points. However, the contour is not nearly as important as the shape given by the use of ornamentation.

The performer decides the ornamentation that he/she will use given the melody, and hence there is no founding law that dictates the use of specific techniques. However, there are several that are common to the style of Klezmer music. For example, long held notes are generally bent and shaped by the performer and trills are added. Glissandi are commonly used by violinists to add a sweeping effect; and vibrato is used for emotional effect. Overall, the melodies are shaped and sculpted by the use of ornamentation. The contour of the melody itself is not of great significance, but rather, the animation and energy that shapes it is of upmost worth. The melody itself is decided upon by the mode, as each mode possesses three forms, one of which is a motif. Therefore, it is up to the performer to give the modal motif its shape and character.  Listen to the first 45 seconds of this clip and recognise the laughing sound on the clarinet, which is a common technique used in Klezmer music.

Harmony and Texture:

The harmonies of Klezmer music are determined by the modal transitions and progressions. First of all, it is important to understand the alternating texture of this genre of Jewish Music. Klezmer oscillates between heterophonic, polyphonic, antiphonic and homophonic textures.

When the music is homophonic, the harmonies are carried by the accompanying line and are determined by the mode used. These harmonies can include chordal progressions and/or repetition of the same chord that is the founding note of the mode. Dissonance is generated between the friction of the melody that is carried over the accompanying line. 

When the music is heterophonic, tension is established as the same melody is performed, however, across different instruments with different ranges. In addition, each performer shapes the melody with different ornamentation, and it is expected that the melody will be diminished and augmented by various instruments. This all generates a dense harmony and dissonant sound, which adds tension and excitement to the music.

Over the course of each section of Klezmer music, the lead instrument is expected to utilise a large range in order to provoke emotion by filling and expanding the depth of the melody. As Klezmer music varies in tempo, it is important to include fast melodies bursting with notes to achieve the desired effect of exhilaration and excitement; this is then contrasted with slower movements that include less movement across the instrument to release the tension and pressure that were built up in the explosive, fast-paced sections.

Overall, the notes of the harmony and melody are important, however, the shape of the melody is determined by the use of ornamentation and this is deemed more significant.