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Flutes and Hebrew Music

© Karen Stafford

Chanukah (Hanukah), also known as The Festival of Lights is one of several Jewish holidays celebrated throughout the year. What might be available out there that ties in Hebrew modes, folk songs, and songs of celebration with flute? In working on this article, I enlisted the help of the Flutelist and Flutenet list. Thanks to those who contributed!

Stephanie M. Farina has highly recommended Eugenia Zuckerman's recording Incantation. There are eight Eastern Jewish folk tunes arranged by klezmer players under the title "Klezmeriana." (More on Klezmer later...)This recording is available from Fluteworld.

I received some wonderful information from Yitzchok Gurevitz concerning the Sukkot holiday. Sukkot is one of the major Jewish holidays and is celebrated for eight days in the first of the Jewish (lunar) months, which works out to be sometime in October. It is called the "Season of our Rejoicing," during which time a celebration occurs honoring God surrounding the Jewish People with "Clouds of Glory" while they traveled for forty years in the desert. During the Sukkot holiday, there would be a special ceremony for the "water libations," which was a very happy event and was celebrated with a "flute playing for them." The term used in the Mishna is "chalil", which is hebrew for flute. (The Mishna is the foundation, or earlier predecessor to the Talmud.)

OK, so earlier I promised you a definition of "Klezmer"? Like a good teacher, I'm making you look it up yourself. This link leads you to a much better explanation than I could ever tackle. The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band comes highly recommended by Rachel Fischer, not only because they just sound great, but because they are one of the few Klezmer bands that include flute. Many of the parts from these bands that the flute plays are arrangements from violin parts. Rachel also recommends "Hebrew Song" by Moussorgsky for Alto flute or C flute, which is available through Little Piper Press.

In reality, however, if you get an opportunity to play for Jewish ceremonies, most of your music will be arrangements from other instruments. Some suggested materials to get you started:
Jewish Holidays in Song, compiled,edited, and arranged by Vevet Pasternak,and published by Tara Publications. (PO Box 707, Owings Mills,MD, 21117).This book has the melodies, chords above that, and also both English and Jewish words. Melodies Hebraiques for harp and flute, published by Billaudot, 1992. The tunes are traditional melodies from the Jewish prayer book for Sabbath and holidays.

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