Think Piece: Summary
Klezmer Music
Sapoznik explores the development of Klezmer, a Jewish musical genre, through the life and career of Dave Tarras. Born into a musical family, Tarras played various musical instruments from a tender age. His move to America allowed him to bring Klezmer to the new country by playing at weddings. Years later, Tarras landed a recording deal through the Yiddish musical society. The singer’s rise to fame popularized Klezmer in the United States and promoted Jewish culture in the region.
However, Sapoznik references periods that challenged the music genre due to political and social challenges surrounding Jewish identity. The Holocaust caused a substantial decline in the music’s popularity. The Nazi regime’s impact on Jewish culture affected the development of Klezmer leading to its decline for some decades (Sapoznik, 164). Fortunately, the genre re-emerged and gained popularity in the 1970’s. The author credits Dave Tarras for his significant contributions in promoting a musical genre that faced resistance from new audiences in the United States.
Irish Music in New York
Rebecca Miller explores New York as the American capital of Irish traditional music for centuries. The music genre made it to the United States in the 17th Century when Irish immigrants came to assist in the colonization of the new lands. Later on, more Irish people migrated to the United States following the Irish potato blight (Miller, 102). Traditional Irish music gained popularity in New York as various theatres staged performances from different musicians. However, the industry influenced the evolution of Irish music because it applauded songs by some musicians and rejected pieces from other singers. Eventually, a new version of Irish music gained popularity in the first half of the 20th century. Nonetheless, singers in the 1970s revived traditional Irish music. Rebecca’s evaluation shows that the Irish influenced American culture through beautiful music.
Works Cited
Miller, R., “Our own Little Isle: Irish Traditional Music in New York”, New York Folk Lore, Vol 14(3) pp 101-114. 1988
Sapoznik, H., Klezmer Music: The First One Thousand years, Music of Multicultural America. Pp 49-70. …
