rom classical to klezmer.
The music you choose
for your wedding ceremony
as personal as your vows or your dress

Can you imagine getting
married in a wedding dress
that someone else had cho-
sen for you? Probably not,
which is why you take the time
to search for just the right dress, the one that
reflects your taste and personality. Then why,
when you walk down the aisle in that dress,
would you do it to music that is somebody
else's choice? You don't have to. More and
more Jewish couples are putting personal
stamps on their weddings by selecting from
the wealth of Jewish music available.
At Temple Beth El engaged couples meet
with Cantor Gail Hirschenfang to discuss the
music at their wedding. "We talk about all the
musical options. We often talk about Israeli
music and classical music. Then, we try to ac-
comodate their wishes and make the cere-
mony beautiful and special," says Cantor
Hirschenfang.
'What's really happening is people are more
enthusiastic and interested in tradition," says
Aaron Bussey, who conducts a klezmer or-
chestra at Baltimore Hebrew University and
also teaches a course on traditional Jewish
music. "In the 1950s it was considered em-
barrassing to have Jewish music at your wed-
ding when everyone was worried about
assimilating. But after the 1967 war, Jewish
identification became O.K. again."
However, two pieces commonly played at

American ceremonies Wagner's 'Wedding
March" from the opera "Lohengrin," and
Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March" from "A
Midsummer Night's Dream" — are not only
passe, they have offensive connotations. Wag-
ner was openly anti-Semitic, and Mendelssohn
was an apostate Jew; many temples forbid play-
ing their music.

raditional Jewish music based
on Israeli or Chasidic folk
tunes is familiar to most lis-
teners, and an undeniably pop-
ular choice for weddings. But
the music of other traditions
(Yiddish, Yemenite, Sephardic, etc.) is an op-
tion for those who want to draw on their fam-
ilies' heritage for their wedding music. As
interest in non-Israeli Jewish traditions has in-
creased, there has been a corresponding rise
in recordings available to the general public,
making it all the more easy to make a personal,
meaningful choice of ceremonial music.
You might consider Sephardic music. Sung
in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language, these
songs date from before the expulsion of the
Sephardic Jews from Spain. A good example
of this early music can be heard on "Songs of
the Sephardim" (Dorian Discovery), by the
Washington, D. C.-based group, La Rondinel-
la . More recordings of Ladino/Sephardic mu-
sic are available from Global Village Music

.

(212) 695 6024, a recording company in New
York that prides itself as 'the most consistently
important catalogue of Jewish music." The
"Nico Castel Ladino Song Book" from Tara
Publications (516) 295 2290 is another re-
source.
Eastern European processional music of-
fers a more uptempo beat. But Bussey notes
that many couples stay away from fast-paced
music because they do not feel it is dignified
enough for a wedding. 'We're so used to the
Western, Gentile processional where people
walk down two by two to very somber music,"
he says, "But a real Jewish procession is em-
barrassingly rowdy. It's a very happy occasion;
we should sing and have a wonderful time."
In traditional Eastern European weddings,
he continues, the orchestra would play as they
escorted the entire wedding party, carrying
the chuppah, from their homes to the syna-
gogue. The guests would follow, and a crowd
of revelers would gather outside. The band
would march the wedding party home after
the wedding ended, sometimes days later.
Klezmer music, which is deeply rooted in
Eastern European Jewish culture, is particu-
larly associated with weddings. Klezmorim
were village musicians who, from as early as
the Middle Ages, played at festive occasions
such as weddings and circumcision feasts.
Klezmorim began to emigrate to America
in the late 1800s. Following World War II, the

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BY MELINDA GREENBERG AND LISA MILLER

64 • JAN JARY/ FE 1-Itt JARY I 04 .34 • Sel Y

