Cherry Orchard music

[Denis Crnkovic]

Bob (and co.) , many thanks for the comments. Obviously, Chekhov was not suggesting that the "famous Jewish orchestra" would play "klezmer music" at the estate ball. The stage directions for Act III clearly indicate that the music is that of the dances popular in the 1870s and 1880s. Our bigger challenge is deciding what type of music the company hear from offstage in Act II. I think it  possible that this is either "Jewish" music or "Russian" music, although I agree that if it is the Jewish music of the "klezmorim" it wouldn't be exactly what we currently think of as klezmer music. If I understand correctly from some of my resources, the Jewish instrumental groups in Russia played a wide repertoire of music for sundry occasions and often hired themselves out to "Russian" functions, sometimes with mixed success. I imagine that any tension between players and audience would have come from differing interpretations, especially of the ornamentation. In any case, Chekhov's ultimate point is that the Ranevsky estate has been "reduced" to hiring outside musicians. If we are to believe the old servant Firs, the balls were once as elegant as the produce from the orchard and - probably - the music was played by the estate's own (serf) orchestra. 


DC
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previous message:

       Although Chekhov did specify "evreiskii orkestr," it's highly 
unlikely that they played Jewish music for a Russian ball. Chekhov was 
not describing a Jewish wedding, so what we nowadays call klezmer music 
would not be appropriate. And on the other hand the standard Kammen 
music folios that were used by Jewish musicians in the United States 
included numerous Russian and Ukrainian melodies (including 
"Korobushka,", ""Svetit mesiats," "Chubchik," "Na sopkakh Mandzhurii," 
"Toska po rodine," 'I shumyt', i hude," "Stoit' hora vysokaia" etc.).

Bob Rothstein

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