Sephardic music

Sephardic Music

Sephardic music comprises the songs, mainly ballads, romances (Hispanic narrative ballads) and wedding song lyrics, preserved by communities formed by the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century. Most of the Spanish Jews set up house in Mediterranean countries, primarily in Morocco, Greece, Turkey. These Sephardic communities share many of the same lyrics and poems, but the music itself varies considerably.

Because so many centuries have passed since the exodus, a lot of the original music has been lost. Instead, Sephardic music has adopted the melodies and rhythms of the various countries where the Sephardim settled in. The Greek and Turkish traditions are fairly close. The Moroccan or “western” Sephardic traditions are not that close to the eastern/Greek/Turkish traditions.

some of the popular lyric songs most often heard on recordings of Sephardic music are actually based on 19th century Spanish compositions, others are versions of the old narrative ballads, life and calendar cycle songs, or local compositions based on events or situations. Currently, there are many musicians in Israel, Spain and North America who are researching Sephardic songs, developing new music.

Dr. Judith R. Cohen, from Canada, performs both solo and with her group Gerineldo. In Spain, the Pneuma record label, led by Eduardo Paniagua, has released several recordings inspired by Early Spanish Music, including Medieval Christian, Muslim and Sephardic songs and poems. Other Spanish artists like singer Rosa Zaragoza and Cantigas de Safarad specialize in Sephardic music.

Special thanks to Dr. Judy Cohen for her help in finalizing this article].

Sephardic music sites:

• Sephardic music. Dr. Judith R. Cohen is a performer and ethnomusicologist specializing in Judeo-Spanish ("Ladino") Sephardic songs.

• Cantigas de Sefarad

To read about Sephardic or Sephardic-influenced music artists, click on Sephardic. 

The following articles published at World Music Central contain material related with Sephardic music.

• Ninna Nanna: Children's Lullabies
• The Gerard Edery Sephardic Song Book
• The Heart's Abode, Sephardic Sounds
• The Nightingale Sings, Emil Zrihan
• The Hidden Gate - Jewish Music Around the World
• Nakaira's Mediterranean Travels

Last Updated Friday, April 06 2007 @ 04:47 PM EDT|6,544 Hits