Klezmer
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Klezmer is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisat
Jewish musicians of Rohatyn (west Ukraine)
Portrait of Pedotser (A. M. Kholodenko), nineteenth-century klezmer virtuoso
Max Leibowitz orchestra from 1921
Elane Hoffman Watts, klezmer drummer, in 2007
Cimbalom
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The cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef S
Klezmer
…string instruments. Another common configuration in that era was similar to Hungarian bands today, typically a lead violinist, second violin, cello, and cimbalom. In the mid-nineteenth century, the clarinet started to appear in those small Klezmer ensembles as well. In Ukraine, by the last decades of the century…
Top view and playing area of a modern concert cimbalom
Concert cimbalom with a range of C to e′′′ made by Vencel József Schunda.
Modern concert cimbalom with a range of AA to a′′′ made by Kovács Balázs.