Klezmer is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.

The word klezmer comes from the combination of the Hebrew words kley, “vehicle, (musical) instrument” and zemer, “song, melody”, leading to K'lei Zemer meaning “musical instruments”. Although performers have always been called klezmorim, it was only in the late 20th century that the word “klezmer” was adopted to describe their musical style.

Essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies and virtuoso improvisations played at weddings. It incorporates elements of many other musical genres, including Ottoman music (particularly Greek and Romanian), Baroque music, German and Slavic folk dances and Jewish religious music. Finally, when the music arrived in the United States, it lost some of its traditional ritual elements and assimilated new ones from American popular music and jazz.

The first Jewish musicians to arrive in the United States followed the great waves of immigration from Eastern Europe that began after 1880, settling mainly in major cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Around the time of the First World War, the American recording industry turned its attention to ethnic music, and a number of groups were hired by firms such as Edison Records, Emerson Records, Okeh Records and the Victor Recording Company. Their recordings (notably those by clarinetists Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras) have become classics and have made a powerful contribution to the international recognition of the klezmer musical style, extending beyond the Jewish community to become, like jazz, a musical genre in its own right.

Bright Night does not feature a traditional theme but is an original lullaby in keeping with this tradition and the klezmer revival movement.

Frédéric Cellier

Encouraged by Jean Françaix, who praised him as an “excellent musician and tireless arranger,” Frédéric Cellier is the founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions.

He is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

A concert clarinetist and certified teacher at the National Conservatories of Nice, Marseille, and Avignon, Frédéric Cellier is a laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.