Farewell to the Homeland Poyln & FleytMusik in Kontsert

2 CDs by American klezmer flautist Adrianne Greebaum

In July 2023, American flutist Adrianne Greenbaum presented the IEMJ with two of her CDs – Farewell to the Homeland Poyln and FleytMusik in Kontsert – which testify to the importance of the flute in small traditional klezmer ensembles.

Adrianne Greenbaum is professor of flute at the Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts – USA). She plays both modern and ancient flutes, which has enabled her to tackle a wide repertoire from Baroque to klezmer music. Regularly invited to perform and animate klezKamp in many countries, she has published four CDs and two music scores dedicated to the klezmer flute repertoire.

According to Adrianne Greenbaum, “Prior to the existence of the larger klezmer ensemble or kapelye that included brass and clarinets, the flute was part of the smaller klezmer band. Early photos of larger bands show one or more flutes. These flutes were made of wood and generally of the multi-keyed variety.” ^[1] https://klezmerflute.com/klezmer-flute

Farewell to the Homeland Poyln

The performers on this CD, released in 2016, are internationally renowned klezmer musicians. Adrianne Greenbaum (ancient wooden flute, piccolo), Michael Alpert (badkhn, violin, percussion), Pete Rushefsky (cymbalum), Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), Brian Glassman (double bass) have come together to revive the musical repertoire of the Frand family, who played in a klezmer orchestra in Dubiecko, Poland, in the 1930s. A member of this family – Michel Dovid (later Milton Frant) – emigrated to the USA and recorded some fifty tunes from this klezmer ensemble. In 2009, his daughter Sharon Frant Brooks found the musical manuscript in which these tunes were recorded, and decided to call on today’s klezmer musicians to revive this repertoire. The Frand family klezmer orchestra consisted of string instruments and a flute. So Adrianne Greenbaum answered the call and, with her FleytMusik ensemble, gave a mini-concert in New Jersey (US), followed a little later by another concert at the Dubiecko cemetery in Poland.

The Frand family klezmer band played regularly at weddings, parties, circuses and Pourim Shpil in Dubiecko, Dynow and other surrounding villages. When they heard of a wedding taking place on the rynek, the market square, they would turn up and play, then share the money they were given. They also performed at the Krásnick estate and, most importantly, they played for the Rebbe when he came to town and then escorted him back to Dynów. Their repertoire shows us that much of the music they played and must have known was not Jewish, which explains the eclectic nature of the tunes selected for this disc (waltz, polka, quadrille, Polish air, Hasidic…).

FleytMusik in Kontsert

This CD was recorded live and released in 2008. Adrianne Greenbaum (ancient and modern flute), surrounded by Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), Pete Rushefsky (cymbalum), Brian Glassman (double bass) and Max Yassky (bass drum), perform a varied repertoire (klezmer dances, Yiddish theater tunes, prayer melodies and niggunim…) from various origins. It includes traditional tunes notated by Moshe Beregovski, as well as Ukrainian, Russian and Bessarabian tunes, including two by German Goldenshteyn. The disc ends with a series of comments by Adrianne Greenbaum on the album’s conception and content.