Around the 15th century, a tradition of secular (non-liturgical) Jewish music was developed by musicians in the Russian Pale of Settlement and Poland by musicians called klezmorim or kleyzmurim, drawing on devotional traditions extending back to Biblical times. Klezmer is a musical tradition which parallels Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism and was probably brought to Sub-Carpathia by initerant bands of musicians where the tradition was adopted.

Today, the musical legacy of Klezmer continues to evolve, largely for dance songs at weddings and other celebrations.

Due to the Ashkenazic lineage of this music, the song titles, lyrics and terminology are typically in Yiddish.

Klezmer (klez'mer) n. 1 pl. klez'mor im' (-mo reem') a) [Historical] an itinerant musician who performed at Jewish weddings and holiday celebrations in Eastern Europe b) a musician who performs instrumental Jewish folk music derived from Eastern European folk songs, Hebrew melodies, etc. 2 this instrumental folk music Klezmer (from Webster's NewWorld Dictionary) Klezmer in Yiddish is kley for instrument and zemer for song; etymologically from Hebrew k'li zemer, a "musical instrument."

For your listening enjoyment, below is a player with a selection of typical Klezmer songs. Click the first song and the rest of the songs play in succession. You can also click on individual title in the list to skip to the next song. Click the play button to pause/stop all play and you can adjust the volume at the "blue slider" bar.

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