Philip Sparke: A Little Klezmer Suite: Concert Band

A Little Klezmer Suite was commissioned by Rushton Park High School to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their band programme. They gave the premiere in a virtual online concert in October 2020. Klezmer music originated in the ‘shtetl’ (villages) and the ghettos of Eastern Europe, where itinerant Jewish troubadours, known as ‘klezmorim’, had performed at celebrations, particularly weddings, since the early Middle Ages. 'Klezmer' is a Yiddish term combining the Hebrew words ‘kley’ (instrument) and ‘zemer’ (song). The roots of the style are found in secular melodies, popular dances, Jewish ‘hazanut’ (cantorial music) and also the ‘nigunim’, the wordless melodies intoned by the ‘Hasidim’ (orthodox Jews). The melodies used in the four movements of A Little Klezmer Suite have traditionally been used in Jewish wedding ceremonies and celebrations.