WEDDINGS AND BAR MITZVAHS (1994) 5'

Subito Music Corp
solo violin
Prem: 5/28/94; The Ringve Museum, Trondheim, Norway
Rec: 1995; GEGA

Musicians are traditionally called upon to entertain at important functions, the most common being weddings, familiar to all cultures, and Bar Mitzvahs, the Jewish coming of age celebration. The ambiguity of these occasions prompted the choice of a Yiddish folk song Hat ein Man eine Weibele (A man has a little wife), which extols a wife's virtues, but advises a man to treat her roughly if she disobeys him and to swing her around his head by the neck like a chicken! Such sentiments are expressed in the melody, simple and hauntingly beautiful, but never quite sure if it is supposed to be cheerful.