Looking past Old Testament ethno-centrism, here’s a Happy Purim to everybody.
I learned this lovely Purim tune from Miles Krassen. It’s easy enough but it’s in Dm and does have an Fn, Bb, and 3rd octave D.
Purim tune
Agree, nice tune, Cocus. Got dots?
No dots, sorry. I learned it from the guy who last edited O’Neill’s 1,001 tunes and who also wrote Trip to Sligo (with Tony DeMarco), a tutor for Sligo style fiddle. Krassen learned it at a Hassidic Purim celebration in Borough Park, Brooklyn, NYC, fifty years ago. It’s a very simple traditional tune.
Indeed - I’ll have no trouble transcribing it or learningt it by ear, if I can be bothered - just being lazy!
Miles Krassen: the guy who b*llixed up “O’Neill’s.” Up Sligo!
Rob
Miles Krassen: the guy who b*llixed up “O’Neill’s.”
This is the subject of much debate. Basically Krassen put every tune into a Sligo fiddle style. If you’re fluting there isn’t much sense to the settings. They are fiddle-friendly rather than the pipe-friendly settings found in the “original” O’Neill’s, which, as we all know, “borrows” a great deal from other contemporary collections.
How valid is any transcription of a tune? Either it’s one person’s impression of how somebody played a tune at some point, or it’s a homogenization of several versions. Neither is determinative of how a tune “ought” to be played. Even the person who wrote the tune will play it differently at different times.
Thanks, Cocus, for the tune. Your tone and intonation on the bottom octave are awesome. I assume you used a keyed flute for this; if not, you have the smoothest cross-fingering/half-holing I’ve ever heard.
In the same spirit, I’ve been experiementing playing traditional Jewish melodies in an ‘Irish’ flute style. I found that the song HINAY MA TOV works well as a slow jig because it is, in one of its versions (settings?), in 6/8 time. So to continue the Jewish song fest, I recorded it and put it on my site of clips. I’d be very interested to find out what you think (and others as well of course).
Go to http://www.geocities.com/jpollack2000/JasonClips.html and click on…well you know.
La’Chiam–To Life–Cheers.
Jason
Thanks, Cocus, a nice change of pace.
I think Krassen’s O’Neill’s, no less than the original edition, has to be taken in the context of its time. Back around 1976 when I went looking for written resources for learning ITM, there was very little readily available, at least in the US. Despite its flaws, the Oak edition - clearly typeset, carefully edited and anotated, widely distributed, and reasonably priced - may have done more than any other single publication at the time in giving a leg up to an entire generation of aspiring players.
A good friend of mine spent a few lovely days last week sessioning and sharing tunes with Rabbi Krassen, still a fine fiddler who is both extremely modest and realistic about his O’Neill’s effort. I’ll pass along this thread to him, so that he can share the love. 
jemtheflute looking for the tune dots for the Purim tune in topic Happy Purim Everybody
In the topoc Can we trust tuners?
Groxburgh (Graeme) mentioned a program called Tartini
http://miracle.otago.ac.nz/postgrads/tartini/
1 Play the Cocus “Purim” tune in Amazing Slow Downer (ronimusic.com) at 50% speed
2 Using Tartini function Windows/Musical Score you will see the tune automagically scored!
Cheers
Tom
It’s very interesting the way things happen. Last night, I finished a fantastic book called Three Cups of Tea, about an American mountain climber who fell in love with the region and its people around that part of the world where Purim has its roots. He dedicated his life’s work to building schools for girls at the same time his country was bombing the hell out of everyone over there.
Thanks for sharing Cocusflute.
Michael
Very nice playing, I loved it!
I think I have 2 or 3 printed sheets music of jewish songs but, unfortunately, they use to have accidental notes and I cannot play them easily on my whistle or flute (maybe I need a rcrd*r, lol!).
I can only play “Hatikva” and “Erev Shel Shoshanim”, both two are amazing.