Ashkenazi and the Klezmer

``Ashkenazi'' refers to Jews who in the 9.th century started to settle on the banks of the Rhine.

Today the term ``Ashkenazi'' designate most of the European and Western Jews.

Besides the Hebrew, Yiddish^2.1is commonly used in speech and songs.

The traditional Ashkenazi music originated in Eastern Europe and moved to all directions from there and also to North America. It includes the famous Klezmer music. Klezmer means ``instruments of song'', from the Hebrew word klei zemer^2.2. The word come to designate the musician himself and it is not unlike the European troubadour.

Klezmer is a very popular genre which can be seen in Hasidic^2.3and Ashkenazic Judaism it is however deeply connected with the Ashkenazi tradition.

Around the 15th century, a tradition of secular Jewish music was developed by musicians called kleyzmorim or kleyzmerim. They draw on devotional traditions extending back into Biblical times, and their musical legacy of klezmer continues to evolve today. The repertoire is largely dance songs for weddings and other celebrations. Due to the Ashkenazi lineage of this music, the lyrics, terminology and song titles are typically in Yiddish.

Originally naming the musicians themselves in mid-20th Century the word started to identify a musical genre, it is also sometimes referred to as ``Yiddish'' music.