An experimental, semi improvised composition about eye contact. Written over lockdown. One of my first attempts at using Ableton for composition

Eyes Speak

Recorded using effects pedals. An improvisation on a shabbes prayer: Ka Ekhsof.

Ka Ekhsof

5 Note Lullaby

During the 19th Century, “a sociological phenomenon unique to the Polish Jewish experience” emerged whereby “Polish landowners, as part of an evening’s entertainment, would summon “their Jews” to their estate and command a performance of majufes”. 
The name Majufes (Polish-Yiddish spelling) derives from the opening words of a shabbes song, whose melody became “the arch-stereotype of Jewish music, the anthem of the Jew as an object of ridicule.” These performances forced Jews to make a mockery of themselves, adopting grossly exaggerated caricatures of their traditions and cultural signifiers.

The Klezmer tune this piece is based on is known as both Tanz Tanz Yidelkh (Dance Dance Little Jew) or Ma Yofus (How Beautiful). The tune is thought to have been widely requested during these humiliating ordeals although there is no concrete evidence for this.

I chose to work with this tune both because of its links to this specific Polish-Yiddish phenomena but also as a comment on the use of the tune today.

In the contemporary Klezmer scene, this tune has become ubiquitous. It is often one of the first tunes someone might hear or learn when embarking on learning the style. However, its a tune that  is also widely disliked.

In this piece, I aim to tell a bit of each of these stories. I begin by presenting the tune as it might have been played - based on my wider knowledge of the Klezmer style in general and the study of source recordings of this particular melody. I then deconstruct it through a stylised improvisation (Doina). 



Citations: Majufes: A Vestige of Jewish Traditional Song in Polish Popular Entertainments
by Bret Werb 
https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/publications/polish-music-journal/vol6no1/majufes/

Anna Lowenstein

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