Curating the Tradition

Abstract

This chapter steps a little away from the city itself to look at some of the processes of education, repertoire formation, and dissemination that underpin the transmission of klezmer and Yiddish music within Germany, including how these processes link to the wider transnational scene. It begins with a discussion of the nature of “tradition” in this context, especially pertinent considering the postwar development of this particular tradition in Germany (and its revitalization around much of the world) and klezmer’s continual problematic dialogue with nostalgia and cliché. The chapter then critiques the German workshop hegemony of the 1990s that underpins the current scene, including the perceived split between the universalist tendencies of Argentinian-Israeli clarinetist Giora Feidman and the historically rooted work of American musicians such as Alan Bern. The second half of the chapter is a lively case study of the German scene’s (and Europe’s) most important transmission hub, Yiddish Summer Weimar. This influential and well-established annual series is analyzed through several theoretical filters—filters that unite musical and social principles through the praxis of the Weimar workshops themselves. Once again, these theoretical frameworks are both supported and made accessible through a sustained emphasis on first-person ethnographic detail, drawn in this instance from the author’s attendance at the advanced instrumental workshop week in 2014 and from interviews with participants in subsequent years. This ethnography is also strongly supported by deeply articulate and provocative interview material with Yiddish Summer Weimar’s artistic director, Alan Bern.