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| Photo: Dani Machlis |
Yiddish Baroque music is not a genre one is likely to come across very
often. It was curiosity that motivated this writer to attend a concert of an
ensemble calling itself “Di Tsaytmashin” (The Time Machine) at Beit Hagat, a
venue well hidden away in the tranquil, narrow streets of Jerusalem’s magical
Ein Kerem village, on March 7th 2018. Beit Hagat (a historic building housing
an old olive press) is an informal venue hosting workshops in various fields,
lectures, regular classes, concerts, theater and performance events, jam
sessions, film showings and more. It provides a space to encourage joint
and independent creation and for cultural and religious dialogue.The event was
the official Israeli launch of Di Tsaytmashin’s CD “Yiddish Baroque Music -
from the Book of the Rejoicing Soul”. Members of the ensemble are Avishai Aleksander Fisz-vocals, Bari Moscovitz-theorbo, lute, Ayela
Seidelman-’cello, Daniel Hoffman-violin, Adi Silberberg-recorders and Oren
Fried-percussion.
“Seyfer Simkhes Haneyfesh” (The Book of the Rejoicing Soul) is an ancient
book of Yiddish songs by Rabbi Elkhanan Kirchen, published in Germany some 300
years ago. Located in Oxford, UK, it has been studied in depth by Aleksander
Fisz, who accompanied the evening with much information as to the songs, their
musical styles, the texts themselves and the work undergone by him and his
fellow musicians to decipher the notation and arrange the music in an
acceptably authentic manner. Fisz is well familiar with the language used -
West Yiddish - the language spoken by Jews in western- and central Europe at
the beginning of the 18th century. He mentioned the various curious forms of
notation found in the book, in his opinion, probably due to the copyist being
more well-meaning than professional. The songs are long, some having 20
or 30 verses, meaning that each is rich in information and they are written in
skillful rhyme; despite the complexity of some of the melodies, they are
morality songs to be sung in the Jewish home.
We heard the Di Tsaytmashin artists performing songs for various festivals.
Woven through the songs’ Baroque-style European melodies were melodic motifs of
Jewish music. A countertenor with access to the tenor and baritone range,
Fisz’s presentation of each song is alive and articulate, also theatrical, and
the arrangements allow for much individual solo expression on the part of each
artist, for duet interaction and improvisation. In the song for Passover, for
example, the text deals with practical details of the festival - the
pre-Passover cleaning and even details regarding the baking of the unleavened
bread and its enemies - mice, humidity, etc. The piece begins with an
embellished recorder solo melody (Silberberg), the melody then taken by the
theorbo (Moscovitz) and followed by a ‘cello solo (Seidelman). The violin duets
with the singer, after which the recorder interacts with Fisz. One of the most
astounding pieces, indeed a whole small theatrical performance, is the song for
New Year/Day of Atonement, a time whose main theme is the torture awaiting
those who have sinned. The players set the scene of the Day of Reckoning with a
‘cello drone, a ghostly “screen” of mixed instrumental sound, a wailing
sopranino recorder and a fateful slow drum beat (Fried). Fisz’s performance
expresses frantic fear. Hoffman’s heart-rending violin solo is imbued with
motifs of Jewish music. The piece’s major ending, however, reflects optimism,
expressing the fact that whoever is devout will be saved. Fisz spoke of the
book’s clumsy notation of the song for Purim. “Allow yourself the freedom to
sing this song in Purim, when already drunk…” we read in the liner notes. The
song’s ungainly notation seems to represent quarter tones in a piece imitating
Turkish music and Fisz gives us a decidedly oriental interpretation of it as
the instrumentalists let their hair down to evoke the jocular atmosphere of the
traditional reading of the Book of Esther. We learn of another interesting
ritual in a song to be sung to a bride as she is having her hair plaited: the
wedding jester aims to make her cry as he tells her of the hardships of wedded
life as a punishment for Eve’s deeds. Fisz gives a colorful rendering of the
text as he enlists his large vocal range.
Avishai Aleksander Fisz is considered a leading authority in the field of
Yiddish folk repertoire. Di Tsaytmashin was established by him in 2012 in order
to perform the pieces from Kirchen’s fascinating and timeless “Book of the
Rejoicing Soul”. The artists’ performance is informed, polished and
entertaining, as it bristles with life and interest. The disc was recorded in
2014 for the Brilliant Classics label.
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