Im Fregyish is a new string quartet, inspired by the idea that traditions and objects, and in the case of music, scales and melodic forms are passed between the generations and travel with the diaspora across the world. As a secular Jewish composer, I have found Klezmer a vital cultural link to understanding my own Jewish heritage. Klezmer evolved from many sources, one of which is the ancient music of the synagogue, and the term ‘fregyish’ also refers to an ancient cantorial mode. It is also known under several other titles, including the Ahava Rabboh mode, the Mode of Supplication, and the Altered Phrygian mode. Ahava Rabboh, meaning, “abounding love” refers to the words of prayer in the Shabbat Shacharit, or morning, service. This scale, which some say has come to us from the time of King David, is the basis for klezmer all over the world. The Freygish mode has a beautiful sonority: a kaleidoscope of minor and major with semitic colourings and a gypsy resonance. Its special qualities are partly due to it having nine notes, rather than the normal seven, which throws a shot of dissonance into the mix. When performed in the service, the cantor’s song is derived from a network of short phrases and melodic forms emanating from the scale, which eventually found their way into Klezmer and other forms of secular music, as Norman Lebrecht explains:

“On New York’s Lower East Side, sons of Russian pogrom refugees and former plantation slaves turned a common tendency to sing “blue” notes in minor keys into an industry of popular music. George Gershwin, a genius of fusion, named some of his themes as “freygish” — the interrogative melody of Talmud study” 

In a similar spirit, I have taken this beautiful irregular scale and filtered them through my own musical sensibilities, which are mainly rooted in the classical tradition and the innovations of the 20th century, to create a new musical journey, which, nevertheless, remains Jewish.