Critical Review - Svigals (2002)

What struck me most about Svigals' essay on Klezmer music was the way she rejected the traditional view of authenticity. Rather than put Klezmer music on a historical pedestal, viewing it solely as a relic of the past, she emphasizes the need to recognize Klezmer as a dynamic musical genre of the present. For her, at least, Klezmer is a way to interpret the past in terms of the present--not to merely "revive" the past by following outdated traditions and rules, but to reinterpret these rules and traditions in the context of modern life. Too often, it seems, we fall into the trap of following tradition for tradition's sake, and do not think enough about the "why" of a tradition (or at least, the question of why we are still doing it) or about how it relates to us (besides being a tradition). Similar to Svigals point regarding false notions of the "authentic" in Klezmer music, too often we consider "authentic" only those traditions that we believe were created hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Yet traditions are rarely static entities, preserved in their pure or "authentic" form--they are constantly being modified and molded to fit modern needs, although we are loath to admit it. The same is true with Klezmer music--why should we relegate it to the status of a historical artifact when in reality, it is as much a modern creation as the "traditions" we choose to follow and in our own ways reinvent. Although there are elements of klezmer music that have remained constant over time, including elements of style like ornamentation and melodic modes, it remains true that "every musical idiom constantly changes and interacts with other musics." If no one time period is any more "authentic" than another (rather, they are just different), then the only way to play "authentically" (Svigals argues) is by being true to oneself. She writes, "My hope is that now that we're becoming fluent in our language, we can go beyond simply reciting a received text to speak spontaneously in our own voices." (p. 219).

My question is: how likely (or feasible) is it that klezmer music will become "the identity music of Jewish American youth", as Svigals hopes? What might have to happen in the overlapping worlds of Jewish, American, youth, and music for this to occur?