Yiddish Dances , originally for wind orchestra, was written in 1997 as a 60th birthday present for Timothy Reynish, and is very much a party piece.
Klezmer - the folk music of the Yiddish speaking people - has long been a passion of mine and has found its way into several of my works. By making this version I could indulge another of my enthusiasms, the piano duet, which has historically brought so many fine works within the reach of non-orchestral performers to play for themselves, a distinguished tradition embraced by such composers as Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Debussy, and countless others; not bad company! I also wanted to make it real keyboard music, not just a straight transcription. That said, it would make an ideal rehearsal score for dance companies choreographing the piece for performance with the original orchestration, though it should hopefully work well in its own right.
The five sections are all based on Klezmer dances:
Khosidl medium tempo 2/4 in which the music moves freely through satire, sentimentality and pathos.
Terkishe an up tempo Jewish tango.
Doina a free recitative
Hora slow 3/8 time with a characteristic rocking rhythm
Freylachs very fast 2/4 time in which themes from the previous movements are recalled, ending in a riotous 'booze-up' for all concerned.
Le Chaim! (To Life!)
email: adam@adamgorb.co.uk web: www.adamgorb.co.uk