ABSTRACT Dissertation: SEPHARDIC ART SONG: A MUSICAL ...€¦ · Dissertation directed by:...

ABSTRACT

Title of Dissertation: SEPHARDIC ART SONG: A MUSICAL

LEGACY OF THE SEPHARDIC DIASPORA

Lori Şen, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2019

Dissertation directed by: Professor Linda Mabbs, School of Music

Professor Martha Randall, School of Music

This dissertation explores the rich Sephardic Art Song repertoire. It comprises

a geographical and historical overview of the Sephardim; an introduction of the

Ladino (Judeo-Espagnol) language; a musical overview of traditional Sephardic

songs; and the development of the genre from its emergence to the present, including

a list of all the 20th- and 21st-century composers that have contributed to the

Sephardic Art Song genre and a catalog of their works; a discussion on performance

practice, including a diction guide for Ladino; and three recital performances of a

selection of works from this repertoire. The recordings of these live performances are

available for view.

The Sephardim are a diasporic population of Jewish people, whose ancestry

can be traced back to the Iberian Peninsula, specifically to the Jews that were

expelled from Spain in 1492 as a result of the Spanish Inquisition. As they migrated

all over the world, the Sephardim carried with them their culture, traditions, Judeo-

Espagnol language, and oral literature. Traditional Sephardic songs constitute a large

portion of this literature and have been preserved to this day through oral

transmission from generation to generation. The 20th century witnessed an emergence

of a Sephardic song repertoire in the form of classical art song, as Western classical

composers, such as Alberto Hemsi, showed interest in collecting and transcribing

these folksongs, and in arranging them in the Western classical tradition for voice and

various instruments, in various degrees of complexity. As of today, there are over

forty-five 20th- and 21st-century Western classical composers that have made

significant contributions to the Sephardic Art Song genre with their arrangements of

over a hundred and ninety Sephardic folksongs, as well as their original compositions.

The composers discussed and the selection of 20th- and 21st-century works

performed in this dissertation are the following: Yehezkel Braun, Seven Sephardic

Romances; Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Three Sephardic Songs; José Antonio de

Donostia, Canciones Sefardíes; Frederic Hand, Sephardic Songs; Alberto Hemsi,

Coplas Sefardies; William Kenlon, Two Sephardic Songs; Manuel García Morante,

40 Canciones Sefardies; Joaquín Nin-Culmell, Six Chansons Populaires

Séphardiques; Lorenzo Palomo, Cinco Canciones Sefardíes; Sid Robinovitch, Rodas

Recordada; Joaquín Rodrigo, Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes; Wolf Simoni, Cuatro

Cánticas Sefardíes; Manuel Valls, Canciones Sefarditas; Andrew Zohn, 8 Sephardic

Songs.

SEPHARDIC ART SONG: A MUSICAL LEGACY OF THE SEPHARDIC

DIASPORA

by

Lori Şen

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the

University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

2019

Advisory Committee:

Professor Linda Mabbs, Chair

Professor Martha Randall, Co-chair

Professor Carmen Balthrop

Professor Jessica Roda

Professor Rita Sloan

Professor Juan Uriagereka

© Copyright by

Lori Şen

2019

ii

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my heartfelt love and gratitude to Professor Martha

Randall and Professor Linda Mabbs for their mentorship and guidance throughout my

dissertation, but also for being intellectual inspirations and role models for me during

my studies at the University of Maryland. I would also like to thank my dissertation

committee members, Professor Rita Sloan, Professor Carmen Balthrop, and Professor

Juan Uriagereka, and Professor Jessica Roda, a late but exceedingly welcome

addition to my committee. Thank you all for your enthusiasm and full support

throughout my research and performances.

My dissertation journey has been fulfilling in many respects, but I have

especially found great joy in meeting and learning from friends and colleagues, who

have shared with me their passion, talent, and knowledge along the way without

reservation. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Dr. Patricia Caicedo,

Manuel García Morante, Dr. Jessica Roda, and Linet Şaul, for inspiring me and for

generously sharing their knowledge and work with me. Very special thanks to Dr.

William Kenlon and Dr. Brian T. Field, who eagerly contributed to my Sephardic Art

Song project with their original compositions. Many thanks to Sofiya Schug, who

introduced me to Rodrigo’s Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes; the work that triggered this

whole project. I would also like to thank Alex Chan, Jeremy Lyons, Emily Robinson,

Meghan Shanley, Shawn Alger, Carol Anne Bosco, Caroline Rohm, Juliana Franco,

and William Kenlon, with whom I had the pleasure of creating beautiful music on

stage. I am grateful that our paths crossed and I look forward to many collaborations

in the future.

iii

I would like to thank the Ethnomusicology division at the University of

Maryland for welcoming me so warmly in their department over the past two years.

My special thanks go to Dr. Laura Schnitker and fellow TAs, who have widened my

perspective with their knowledge and encouraged me to look at my own research

through different lenses. I cherish our many meaningful conversations.

Some special words of gratitude go to my friends near and far, who have been

an immense support system during this exciting but challenging time in my life;

particularly, Beni Çukurel, Noam Auslander, Yonatan Saadon, Shoshana Kohen

Çikurel, Aydın Cem Keser, Gökçe Başar, Tania M. Jenkins, Professor Jeanette

Thompson, Juliana Franco, Sequina DuBose, Alex Chan, Maxwell Yamane, and

Víctor Hernández-Sang—I am grateful for our friendship.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family for their support and

encouragement over the years. None of what I have accomplished thus far would

have been possible without your love and support; I owe you an immeasurable debt of

gratitude for helping me become the Lori I am today.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1: THE SEPHARDIM ............................................................................ 13

1.1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ........................................................................... 13 1.2. THE LADINO LANGUAGE .......................................................................... 15 1.3. SEPHARDIM TODAY ................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 2: TRADITIONAL SEPHARDIC SONGS ............................................ 20

2.1. CATEGORIES ................................................................................................. 20 2.1.1. Romances .................................................................................................. 20

2.1.2. Coplas ....................................................................................................... 21 2.1.3. Cantigas..................................................................................................... 22

2.2. TEXTS ............................................................................................................. 22 2.3. THE MUSIC .................................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 3: SEPHARDIC SONGS IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES ........ 27

CHAPTER 4: THE SEPHARDIC ART SONG CATALOG .................................... 30 4.1. LIST OF COMPOSERS AND WORKS ......................................................... 30

4.2. LIST OF WORKS CATEGORIZED BY INSTRUMENTATION ................. 32 4.3. LIST OF SONGS ............................................................................................. 34

CHAPTER 5: PERFORMANCE PRACTICE .......................................................... 44

5.1. PERFORMANCE ............................................................................................ 44

5.2. DICTION ......................................................................................................... 48 5.3. MUSIC ............................................................................................................. 53 5.4. AUDIENCE ..................................................................................................... 56

CHAPTER 6: PERFORMANCES ............................................................................ 61 6.1. RECITAL 1 – PROGRAM NOTES ................................................................ 61

6.1.1. Lorenzo Palomo, Cinco Canciones Sefardíes (2006) ............................... 62 6.1.2. Manuel Valls, Canciones Sefarditas (1975) ............................................. 63

6.1.3. Andrew Zohn, 8 Sephardic Songs (2011) ..................................................... 64 6.2. RECITAL 2 – PROGRAM NOTES ................................................................ 65

6.2.1. José Antonio (Aita) de Donostia, Canciones Sefardíes (1941) ................ 66 6.2.2. Joaquín Nin-Culmell, Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques (1982) .... 67 6.2.3. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Three Sephardic Songs (1959) .................. 68

6.2.4. Manuel García Morante, 40 Canciones Sefardies (1983) ......................... 70 6.2.5. Alberto Hemsi, Coplas Sefardies (1933-1973) ......................................... 72

6.3. RECITAL 3 – PROGRAM NOTES ................................................................ 73 6.3.1. Joaquín Rodrigo, Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965) ............................. 75 6.3.2. Yehezkel Braun, Seven Sephardic Romances (1968) ............................... 78 6.3.3. Frederic Hand, Sephardic Songs (1996) ................................................... 80 6.3.4. Wolf Simoni, Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes (1935/36)................................. 82 6.3.5. William Kenlon, Two Sephardic Songs (2018) ........................................ 83

v

6.3.6. Sid Robinovitch, Rodas Recordada (2005) .............................................. 86

Appendix A: RECITAL DVD TRACK LISTINGS .................................................. 89 Appendix B: TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS ......................................................... 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 112

vi

List of Tables

Table 1: List of Composers in Chronological Order and Their Works ..................... 30

Table 2: List of Works Categorized By Instrumentation ........................................... 32 Table 3: List of Songs in Alphabetical Order ............................................................ 34

Table 4: Vowel Sounds in Ladino ............................................................................. 51 Table 5: Consonant Sounds in Ladino ....................................................................... 52

vii

List of Abbreviations

acc Accordion

alt Alto (voice)

bar Baritone (voice)

bcl Bass clarinet

bn Bassoon

cl Clarinet

db Double bass

fl Flute

gtr Guitar

hn Horn

hp Harp

mez Mezzo-soprano (voice)

ob Oboe

org Organ

perc Percussion

pf Piano

picc Piccolo

sop Soprano (voice)

str String instruments

tam Tambourine

ten Tenor (voice)

timp Timpani

tbn Trombone

tpt Trumpet

v Voice (solo)

va Viola

vc Cello

vn Violin

1

INTRODUCTION

In the 21st century, the Western classical art song genre has secured its place

among the undergraduate and graduate voice performance curricula in schools as an

outcome of the growing interest in performing this repertoire in concert halls

throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Around the mid-19th century, classical singers

began to include art songs in their recital and concert repertoire, which was

considered to be an innovative approach at the time. The conventional19th century

concert hall repertoire mainly consisted of arias, as the art song belonged to soirées in

more intimate spaces, such as the “music salons of the cultivated bourgeoisie” or

homes of the elite.1 By early to mid-20th century, it had already become quite

common for classical singers to juxtapose operatic repertoire not only with works

from the pioneers of the art song genre, the German Lied and French Mélodie, but

also the vocal literature of the United States and the British Isles. The performances

included both the operatic and the popular, ranging from duets from La Bohème to

Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet, from film music to ballads and folk songs.2 In his article

on voice recitals in smaller cities in the United States, James F. Richardson mentions

Pavarotti’s first recital in New York in 1973 as follows:

“Luciano Pavarotti has never strayed from his Italian arias and songs. The

Times likened his programming to that of John McCormack “with the

English-Irish side of the song literature. As McCormack did, so Mr. Pavarotti

1 Kravitt, Edward F. “The Lied in 19th-Century Concert Life.” Journal of the American Musicological

Society Vol. 18, No. 2, 1965, p. 208. 2 Richardson, James F. “Vocal Recitals in Smaller Cities: Changes in Supply, Demand and Content

Since the 1920’s.” Journal of Cultural Economics, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1981, pp. 21-35.

2

does, this kind of semi-pop concert with style and vocal beauty. No

intellectual records are broken, but everybody has a marvelous time.” The

clear implication is that if you have that kind of voice you can get away with

that kind of program.”3

In a similar manner, Spanish soprano Victoria de los Angeles was applauded for her

performances of works in German, French, and her native Spanish, in the United

States in 1950s.4 There are many more examples of classical singers’ incorporation of

vocal repertoire from their homelands and culture into their recital programs

throughout the 20th century. This way, audiences, as well as singers, became exposed

to repertoire and languages outside the canon and developed an appreciation for

works that represented different cultures and genres.

In her book Los sonidos de las naciones imaginadas: La canción artística

latinoamericana en el context del nacionalismo musical, Colombian soprano,

musicologist, and Iberian and Latin American art song expert Patricia Caicedo draws

attention to the lack of publications, recordings, and performances of the Latin

American art song literature, and its exclusion from curricula in schools outside Latin

America.5 Consequently, the limited access to any repertoire, as well as absence of

resources, result in a lack of interest among classical singers in performing them;

however, this is about to change. Today, classical singers and teachers have a vast

repertoire to choose from, although most students and professional singers may not be

fully aware of that. The recent developments in publishing, recording, and internet

3 Ibid., p. 26. 4 Ibid. 5 Caicedo, Patricia. Los sonidos de las naciones imaginadas: La canción artística latinoamericana en

el contexto del nacionalismo musical. Barcelona: Mundo Arts and Fundación Autor, 2018, pp. 195-

196.

3

streaming, allow musicians and scholars to have access to the Western classical vocal

literature of Iberia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, the Middle

East, but also the vocal works inspired by melodies and folk literature of native and

indigenous peoples, diasporic populations, and some other ethnic and minority

groups. There seems to be a growing interest and effort in making repertoire outside

the canon more available and accessible, which perhaps is a positive outcome of the

globalization the world is experiencing today. For example, thanks to Caicedo, we

now have access to more resources on the Latin American vocal repertoire. She

continuously shares her scholarly work with the world through her published books,

academic articles, and compilations of music scores, but also with the annual

Barcelona Festival of Song she founded in Spain, in 2005, which is a festival and

summer program dedicated to the Iberian and Latin American art song repertoire.

Presumably, the classical music world will gradually witness more of such

contributions in different art song genres, as more passionate music scholars like

Caicedo will emerge, either for personal reasons or in reaction to the increasing

appreciation of diversity in vocal literature.

My personal interest in the field of psychology offered me another perspective

in looking at this expanding diversity in vocal literature. In his article on Psychology

Today, psychologist Gregg Henriques explores the concept of identity, which he

claims to be one of the most central concepts in clinical-personality psychology.6 Our

identities are a combination of many subcategories (such as national identity, class

identity, cultural identity, religious identity, regional identity, political identity, sexual

6 Henriques, Gregg. "Jordan Peterson: Part One of a Five Part Blog Series." Psychology Today. August

7, 2018. Accessed November 10, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-

knowledge/201808/jordan-peterson-part-one-five-part-blog-series.

4

identity, and more), some of which we are born into, while some are developed over

the course of a lifetime through our experiences that shape our perspectives (or more

scientifically speaking, through the plasticity of our brains). Many other psychologists

take this identity discussion one step further and suggest that however different our

identities may be, there is a universal existential issue pertaining to who we are.

Today, we are exposed to different cultures, identities, perspectives, and ideas more

than ever before; however, the outcome of such exposure (and/or globalization) is not

uniformity across populations, but rather, a stronger appreciation of diversity. In his

book, Globalisation and the Complexity of Self: The Relevance of Psychotherapy, Les

Todres wonders what “the future of psychotherapy in an increasingly plural and

global culture”7 might be. One could ask the same question for music. The reason I

am raising this question is simply because as classical singers, our performances are

only meaningful and successful, if we are able to connect and communicate with the

audience. How can we develop new strategies in communicating with audiences that

reflect and appreciate such diversity?

My desire to come up with my own answer to this question became further

intensified through my experiences as a teaching assistant for the general education

course MUSC215 World Popular Musics and Identity, offered by the

Ethnomusicology division at the University of Maryland School of Music. This

course introduces students to different popular music genres from all around the

world through lenses of various identity categories listed in the previous paragraph.

Throughout the semester, students are expected to develop critical thinking skills

7 Todres, Les. “Globalisation and the Complexity of Self: The Relevance of Psychotherapy.” In:

Embodied Enquiry. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007, p. 103.

5

through lectures and discussions about K-pop and gender, ska and Jamaican national

identity, heavy metal and globalization, hip hop and racial identities, and more. The

significance of assessing these popular genres from a perspective that can be

summarized as “Why is this music meaningful and to whom?” is strongly emphasized

many times over the semester, while students are discouraged from branding a piece

of music simply as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on their own taste. Regardless of the genre

or identity category at hand, these discussions have frequently culminated in a

conversation about authenticity. The Oxford English Dictionary defines authenticity

as follows: “The fact or quality of being real; actuality, reality,” “The quality or fact

of accurately reflecting a model or exemplar, or of being traditionally produced or

presented,” “The quality of truthful correspondence between inner feelings and their

outward expression; unaffectedness, sincerity.”8 The students’ comments on authentic

artists resonated with these definitions. Whether they enjoyed an artist (or a genre or

performance) or not, they expressed an evident appreciation for those that they

thought were authentic. In other words, as long as an artist exhibited the

characteristics, behaviors, and identities associated with a certain musical genre

accurately and sincerely, their work was worthy of attention and appreciation.

Striving for authenticity is hardly a new concept for Western classical

musicians. In the case of classical singers, it is one of our main goals to perform a

piece of music in the most authentic manner possible. Classical singers perform their

best in order to achieve this goal through extensive research on the work: the

historical and musical background and context, the composer, the poet, stylistic

8 "authenticity, n." OED Online. July 2018. Oxford University Press.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/13325?redirectedFrom=authenticity (accessed November 10, 2018).

6

elements of the genre and the era, instrumentation, the text, language, diction, and

performance practice. Resources for such research are in abundance; however, this is

only true for the vocal repertoire that is considered to be among the canon, such as

frequently performed operas, the German Lied, French Mèlodie, and American and

British art songs. There seems to be a more recent proliferation of sources on Russian,

Eastern European, and Spanish vocal literature, although not as in depth. However, as

discussed previously, the 21st-century classical vocal repertoire comprises works that

represent more nations, cultures, and ethnic groups, but also Western classical

arrangements of works that belong to different genres, one of which is folk music.

Today, singers embrace the freedom of deciding what work is appropriate to

include in a recital; it is quite common to encounter programs that include folk songs,

musical theater songs, and even popular songs. Being inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s

dual approach to objects as “objects as objects” and “objects as representations,”

Caicedo uses Duchamp as an example in challenging the traditional definition of an

art work. She arrives at the conclusion that the viewer or consumer of a creative

work, in fact completes the creative process by being an active interpreter. Therefore,

she argues, while complying with the musical and stylistic elements, a performer can

decide to categorize a folk song or a popular song as an art song, just as Duchamp as

an artist decided when objects were merely objects and when objects were art.9

When considering the diversity and range of vocal repertoire available to a

classical singer today, in order to achieve authenticity in performances, the singer

must also consider the cultural codes and customs associated with the work to be

9 Caicedo, Patricia. Los sonidos de las naciones imaginadas: La canción artística latinoamericana en

el contexto del nacionalismo musical. Barcelona: Mundo Arts and Fundación Autor, 2018, pp. 180,

191-194.

7

performed, as well as the social environment, geography, and the musical genre the

work is rooted in. I agree with Patricia Caicedo in her statement that in the 21st

century, a musical performance requires an interdisciplinary approach, including

“other disciplines, such as anthropology, history, theater, psychology, music, and

literature.”10 This approach may result in incorporating various vocal styles and

perhaps a wider repertoire of gestures and body language into an art song

performance. The 21st-century classical singer is expected to be more versatile than

ever before. Going back to Pavarotti’s first recital in New York in 1973, just as his

“semi-pop concert” had received high praise by virtue of his impeccable style and

vocal beauty, classical singers today can also easily achieve success with whatever

repertoire they wish to sing, as long as they do it with style, vocal beauty, and

authenticity.

Hopefully, my discussion so far has set the scene for why I think the

Sephardic Art Song repertoire is worth exploring. With my dissertation, I wish to

draw attention to the establishment of Sephardic folk songs in the Western classical

world in the 20th and 21st centuries. To provide a brief definition, Sephardim are a

diasporic population of Jewish people, who can trace their ancestry back to the Jews

that were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. Initially, the

larger population migrated to Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire at the time;

however, the wars and circumstances in the 19th and 20th centuries led to further

displacements, relocating a significant percentage of this population to Israel and

across the ocean to the Americas. Currently, the Sephardic population is spread all

10 Caicedo, Patricia. The Latin American Art Song: the sounds of the imagined nations. Maryland:

Lexington Press, 2019, p. 120.

8

around the world. What is particularly fascinating about the Sephardim is that not

only did they bring with them their traditions, culture, music, and language to

wherever they went, but they also preserved their Sephardic identities in various

degrees throughout centuries. Of course, many Sephardic communities naturally

adopted the identities and languages surrounding them in their new homeland, and

some were almost completely assimilated into a new culture. Still, Sephardic

traditions, Sephardic oral literature, and the Ladino language were able to survive to

this day. The language of Sephardim, Ladino, in and of itself provides a valuable

insight into the history and culture of them. Ladino is essentially 15th-century

Castilian with contributions from many languages the Sephardim were exposed to

throughout their journey in history. Ladino and the Sephardic oral literature,

including Sephardic folk songs, were orally transmitted from generation to generation

during these hundreds of years, which is how they were mainly preserved. Other

contributions in pursuit of understanding and preserving the Sephardic culture have

been made by anthropologists, linguists, musicologists, ethnomusicologists, and

musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. Hence, the existence of Sephardic folk songs

in written form is a fairly recent development.

In the early 20th century, composers, ethnomusicologists, and scholars, such as

Alberto Hemsi, showed great efforts in transcribing, compiling, and arranging

Sephardic folk songs, which were only preserved in oral tradition until then. These

scholars’ works are of crucial importance in terms of preservation of the genre;

although these works did not trigger interest or popularity among larger populations

back then. These songs were still mostly performed in the homes and intimate

9

community spaces of the Sephardim. In her article, “Re-Making Kinship. From

Community to Family: A Sephardic Experience in France,” Jessica Roda draws

attention to the revivalist movement of the 1960s and the development of world music

and world art scenes in the early 1980s, and she elaborates on how Jewish music,

especially Sephardic music, attracted interest as a world music genre at the time.11

Consequently, Jewish music “was gradually showcased for the general public,”12 and

began to be heard in urban public spaces, arts events, and music festivals.

“Beginning at the outset of the 1960s in Europe and North America, this

enthusiasm for “World music” grew in tandem with committed political action

at the local, national and international levels to promote the recognition of

identities other than national ones. In this regard, stagings of musical practices

is sometimes used to forge closer ties among communities. Throughout the

World, public and private funding especially supports artistic events

emphasizing intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. The goal of such events

is to promote peace, deconstruct conflicts and encourage “living together.”13

I would like to suggest that we could transfer this concept to our performances of

Western classical music as well. The increasing diversity in Western classical vocal

literature not only expands and enriches our musical palette, but it also offers us more

tools and resources to better communicate with a diverse audience, to promote peace,

and to encourage living together.

11 Roda, Jessica. "Re-Making Kinship. From Community to Family: A Sephardic Experience in

France." Théologiques vol. 24, no. 2, 2016, pp. 97–120. 12 Roda, Jessica. “Jewish Performance as a Means for Constructing the Society of “Living Together.””

European Journal of Jewish Studies Vol. 8, Issue 1, 2014, p. 105. 13 Ibid.

10

One could argue that, in a way, the Sephardic folk song genre is among the

genres that represent this ideology of living together, as these songs can be traced

back to times in Medieval Spain, when Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in

harmony together for centuries—if one would overlook the peak conflict times during

the Reconquista period. These songs also represent the many cultures the Sephardim

encountered throughout their journey in history. Sephardic folk songs can be rooted

in a Jewish culture; however, they also possess the literature and music of Spain, as

well as the Middle East and Eastern Europe, to name a few. Turkish and Arabic

maqam scales are incorporated into the melodies, as frequently as Balkan rhythms.

Substitution of Christian themes in Sephardic songs can be observed,14 while some of

the songs tell stories of biblical and historical figures. Some of the songs are quite

festive and simple in character, while some address the human condition. In short, the

Sephardic vocal literature encompasses a wide range of themes and musical styles.

In the 20th century, Western classical composers began to show interest in

arranging these Sephardic folk songs in the Western classical tradition. I would like to

propose that perhaps the 20th century witnessed a revival of the Sephardic song

repertoire in the form of classical art song, as Western classical composers, such as

Alberto Hemsi, showed interest in collecting and transcribing these folksongs, and in

arranging them in the Western classical tradition for voice and various instruments, in

various degrees of complexity. As of today, there are over forty-two 20th- and 21st-

century Western classical composers that have made significant contributions to the

14 Seroussi, Edwin. “From Spain to the Eastern Mediterranean and Back: A Song as a Metaphor of

Modern Sephardic Culture.” In: Music in the Jewish Experience. Bar-Ilan University Press, 2012, pp.

41-82.

11

Sephardic Art Song genre with their arrangements of over a hundred and ninety

Sephardic folksongs, as well as their original compositions.

With my dissertation, I wish to highlight what I consider to be a revival of

Sephardic folk songs in the Western classical world in the form of classical art song,

and to share my research findings with musicians, who are interested in exploring this

repertoire. In Chapter I, one may find a historical and cultural overview of the

Sephardim and background information on the Ladino language. Chapter II is

reserved for the traditional Sephardic folk songs; categories, and the elements and

stylistic features of Sephardic music. The development of the Sephardic Art song

genre in the 20th and 21st centuries is briefly discussed on Chapter III, while Chapter

IV presents a catalog of all the Sephardic vocal works created in the Western classical

tradition in these centuries by Western classical composers. The works listed on this

catalog are based on my personal research and findings up until my submission of this

dissertation. My research experiences and growing network in the Sephardic music

world lead me to believe that there are more works out there, all of which will

hopefully make it to my catalog eventually. Greatly inspired by Patricia Caicedo’s

presentation on Iberian and Latin American Art Song performance practice at the 14th

Barcelona Festival of Song in July 2018, I decided to add a chapter on the

performance practice of the Sephardic Art Song repertoire myself. Chapter V presents

suggestions on how to approach to performing a Sephardic piece to achieve a more

authentic performance. This chapter also includes a diction guide for Ladino, as I

noticed that such information is neglected in most of the published music scores.

12

Finally, Chapter VI offers my own program notes on the works I have performed in

my dissertation recitals.

It is my hope that my dissertation will be helpful to those who are interested in

exploring the Sephardic Art Song repertoire and the many unique flavors it offers.

13

CHAPTER 1: THE SEPHARDIM

1.1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Sephardim (singular, Sephardi) are commonly known as the Jews who trace

their ancestry to the Iberian Peninsula, specifically to the Jews that were expelled

from Spain in 1492 as a result of the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition

was established by the Spanish Catholic Monarchs of the time, King Ferdinand II of

Aragon (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504). In their pursuit to

achieve a religious unity in the country, they gave the Muslim Moors and Jews of

Spain only two choices: convert to Catholicism or leave. As a result, some did

convert to Catholicism to avoid persecution. Some of those who converted to

Catholicism continued to practice Judaism in secret; they were given the name

Marranos. About 300,000 Jews from Spain went into exile in different directions:

Portugal (from where they were also expelled); Northern Europe; Eastern Europe;

and the Mediterranean Basin (including the Ottoman Empire, Northern Africa and the

Middle East).15 Thus, the Sephardic culture spread to Greece, Turkey, North Africa,

Palestine, Amsterdam, and Livorno, as the Sephardim migrated to these areas

following the Spanish expulsion. These people, unfortunately, did not get to take

many of their possessions with them as they were forced to leave, but they did carry

with them something that no one could take from them: “the 15th-century Spanish

language, from which would come a vernacular Judeo-Spanish language [which we

15 Ayoun, Richard, Sephiha Haim-Vidal, and Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. The Judeo-Spanish

People: Itineraries of a Community = Los Djudeo-Espanyoles: Los Kaminos De Una Komunidad.

Bilingual ed. Place of publication not identified: Design Graphic France, 2003.

14

will talk about later]…[but they] also carried with them their culture, especially their

oral literature, comprising poems, tales and romansas, or poems turned into songs,

expressing the pain of being exiled and the nostalgia for their former homeland.”16

Now, what exactly is the Sephardic culture? Although the word Sephardim

comes from Sepharad, which means ‘Spain’ in medieval Hebrew,17 the term has a

much broader meaning. As Haim Henry Toledano states in his book The Sephardic

Legacy, Sephardic tradition is a system of values, institutions, ethnic traits and

attitudes that originated in North Africa and the Middle East (especially Baghdad)

and evolved among Jews living within the orbit of the Islamic world in these areas

beginning in the early Middle Ages, before it arrived in the Iberian Peninsula.18

Therefore, it would be wrong to assume that the Sephardic culture is a kind of a

Jewish culture dipped in some Spanish culture. In order to have a better perception of

the Sephardic culture, the term diaspora should be well defined and understood first.

The word ‘diaspora’ comes from Greek, which means scattering and

dispersion. In his article Jewish music and diaspora, Edwin Seroussi states that

diaspora is “referred in Greek Antiquity to a population of a specific geographical

origin that became scattered throughout a wider area […and] in the past half century

diaspora was adopted to describe every possible physical or imagined, voluntary or

forced displacement of individuals or communities from their real or imaginary

16 Ibid. 17 Trivaletto, Francesca. The familiarity of strangers: The Sephardic diaspora, Livorno, and cross-

cultural trade in the early modern period. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009, pp.

ix. 18 Toledano, Haim Henry. The Sephardic Legacy: Unique Features and Achievements. Scranton and

London: University of Scranton Press, 2010, pp. 5-10.

15

homeland for multiple reasons (political, economic, racial, religious, etc.).”19 He later

adds that “diaspora is most effective as an explanatory tool when applied, simply, to

‘the existence of an identified population that feels that it is away from its homeland,

however imagined, however distant in time and space’ and more subtly, that ‘it

involves more than demographics…--some sort of consciousness of separation, a gap,

a disjuncture must be present.’”20

Based on this definition one can conclude that the Jewish populations in

Western Europe, North Africa and the Arab and Persian Near East in the early

medieval period were already diasporic populations. The forced and voluntary

migrations from these locations later on created further displacements, of course. As

Seroussi points out, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and later Portugal, resulted

in a “classic example of a second-stage displacement that sometimes generated an

overemphasized longing for a lost homeland. … [and] music became the field of

cultural expression in which diaspora had one of its strongest showings against its

rhetorical negation.”21

1.2. THE LADINO LANGUAGE

As mentioned in the previous section, the Jews expelled from Spain carried

with them their most precious belonging: the 15th-century Spanish language. This

language of the Sephardim can be referred to as Ladino, Judeo-Espagnol or

19 Seroussi, Edwin. "Jewish Music and Diaspora." In The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music,

edited by Joshua S. Walden. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2015, pp. 27-40. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid.

16

Djudezmo. As discussed by Jeffrey Malka in his book Sephardic Genealogy,

“Ladino is essentially 14th- and 15th-century Castilian, with contributions from

Gallego-Portuguese, Catalan-Valencian, Aragonese, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, and

other languages,”22 such as Greek, French, Italian and Balkan languages.

Surprisingly, there is very little presence of Hebrew in Ladino. In her book The

Manual of Judeo-Spanish, Marie-Christine Varol states that “using a large number of

Hebrew words in Judeo-Spanish identifies the speaker as male, a rabbi or learned

man, quite conservative, even “overly religious,” and this is not generally well

thought of by others….Ladino was an artifice aimed at more easily teaching the

Hebrew of religious texts orally to children who knew Spanish in Spain and Judeo-

Spanish in the Diaspora.”23 However, strong traces of Turkish, French, Italian and

Greek can be found in Judeo-Spanish, as the Sephardim did not live self-sufficiently

in their own state. They may have had quarters in the large towns they settled in, but

they were never the only inhabitants of those towns. “It was at the end of the 19th

century that Castilian Spanish was “discovered” by the Jews and Judeo-Spanish by

the Spaniards. [And of course,] the effects would be felt on both sides.”24

It is crucial to point out that “Judeo-Spanish is not a series of juxtapositions

[of all these languages mentioned]; but it is a complex code one of whose constituent

parts is multilingualism and the play on languages.”25 A certain linguistic creativity is

inherent to Judeo-Spanish, which has even been used as a vehicle for expressing

22 Malka, Jeffrey S. Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World.

New Jersey: Avotaynu, Inc., 2002, pp. 3, 58-67. 23 Varol-Bornes, Marie-Christine. Manual of Judeo-Spanish: Language and Culture. Translated by

Ralph Tarica. Bethesda, MD: University Press of Maryland, 2008, pp. 13-14. 24 Ibid, p. 17. 25 Ibid, p. 18.

17

verbal revenge, through humor, in an oppressive society. The following is an example

from Varol’s book: In the Ladino language, Doctor Maymunidis! is what one calls

someone who poses and claims to be smart. Maimonides (1135-1204), also known as

Rambam, was a 12th-century philosopher from Cordoba, and is considered as one of

the greatest Jewish scholars of all times. Based on this information, one might

conclude that Doctor Maymunidis would be an appropriate name for someone smart;

however, that is hardly the case. In Turkish, maymun means monkey and the Greek

–idis is how the Greeks of the Black Sea area form family names. Therefore, Doctor

Maymunidis is simply a sarcastic comment and a less apparent way of calling

someone a monkey in the Ladino language. I would like to quote Varol here to better

clarify this complex characteristic of the Ladino language:

“Irony, distance, puns, the endless plays on meanings and stylistic nuances

bouncing back and forth, make this language of quotations, double entendres,

discreet jokes that seem undecipherable, of implied or overly-clear meanings,

into an original and eternally renewed linguistic system steeped in a

devastating sense of humor that can only be achieved through a knowledge of

several languages—a knowledge that gives it its strength, its richness and its

freedom.”26

The areas in which Ladino was spoken went beyond the lands of the Ottoman

Empire, where the Sephardim were accepted in great numbers under the ruling of

Sultan Bajazet II around the time of expulsion from Spain. According to Varol,

“There was a Judeo-Spanish community in Bucharest and another in Vienna that saw

a considerable development in the 19th century. Vienna even became one of the

26 Ibid.

18

principal publishing centers of Judeo-Spanish at the beginning of the 20th century.

Finally, France and North and South America became an emigration pole for Spanish

Jews between the two world wars. [After the Second World War] nothing was left of

the prestigious community of Salonika, and the communities of Yugoslavia, Greece,

France, Austria and Romania were decimated. The Bulgarian community managed to

immigrate, mainly to Palestine, and the Turkish community was preserved. Today

Judeo-Spanish is spoken sporadically in large European and American cities, and in a

more consistent way in Turkey (in Istanbul and Izmir) and in Israel.”27 The term

Ladino refers to the more corrupt Judeo-Spanish vernacular spoken mainly by the

Sephardim of the Eastern Mediterranean.

1.3. SEPHARDIM TODAY

The Sephardim had migrated to Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Arab

and Persian Near East after their expulsion from Spain in 1492; however, there has

been further displacements since then—some voluntary, some not. Today Sephardim

are inclusive of “the Ladino-speaking Sephardim of Turkey and other Balkan

countries; the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardim of Amsterdam, London, and New

York and other U.S. cities; the Middle East Sephardim of Egypt, Iraq, and Syria; and

the Sephardim of North Africa,”28 as well as Latin America.

Especially in the 21st century, it is rather challenging to define Sepharadism

from an ethnical, geographical or linguistic point of view. I agree with Haim Henry

27 Varol-Bornes, Marie-Christine. Manual of Judeo-Spanish: Language and Culture, 2008, p. 12. 28 Malka, Jeffrey S. Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World,

2002, pp. 3-7.

19

Toledano in his statement that the only valid definition can be a cultural one. He

defines Sephardim as all Jews who trace their ancestry to any main historical region

of Sephardic culture and tradition mentioned above, “and who share and cherish the

Sephardic tradition and heritage as it was transmitted from one generation to

another.”29 The fascinating fact is that a certain Spanish element in the Sephardic

identity endured long after any connection to Spain did. In her book The Jews of

Spain, Jane Gerber exemplifies this as she writes:

“How strange it seems that Sephardim scattered in Turkey and Bulgaria,

Curaçao and Pernambuco, sang ballads about medieval Spanish knights and

maidens in their Medieval Spanish language, Ladino. Throughout the

Turkish-speaking world, the conversation of Sephardic Jews, especially

women, would be peppered with Spanish proverbs. The classical genres of

Spanish oral literature would be preserved for centuries in the Balkans in

romances as each important life-cycle event was marked by Jewish festivities

rich in Spanish song.”30

29 Toledano, Haim Henry. The Sephardic Legacy: Unique Features and Achievements, 2010, p. 9. 30 Gerber, Jane S. The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. New York: The Free

Press, 1992, p. xv.

20

CHAPTER 2: TRADITIONAL SEPHARDIC SONGS

2.1. CATEGORIES

The traditional Sephardic song repertoire comprises a number of categories

and themes. The secular musico-poetic Sephardic song repertoire can be divided into

three main genres: Romances, Coplas and Cantigas, and the collections of these

songs are named Romancero, Coplas and Cancionero respectively. These genres are

defined based on musical parameters, such as structure, melody and rhythm, and

based on the text and the relationship between the music and text. Their function in a

community also contributes to their categorization. In addition to these secular

categories, most resources also mention two other types of Sephardic songs; which

are Oraciones (meaning prayer songs) and Endechas (or Oinas, meaning dirges).

2.1.1. Romances

Romances are narrative poems with a well-defined textual and musical

structure, similar to the French Ballade. Each line has 16 (or 12) syllables, divided

into two 8 (or 6)-syllable parts with an assonant rhyme scheme. The order of these

verses are, of course, of crucial importance, as there is always a narrative that is

mostly related to the Spanish Middle Ages – involving stories and tales of kings and

queens, knights, prisoners, faithful and unfaithful wives, as well as classical,

historical and biblical themes. As Susana Weich-Shahak states in her articles about

the Sephardic song repertoire, Romances are characterized by being rendered as solo

songs; they usually have no instrumental accompaniment. They are mostly sung by

21

women, who are also responsible for the preservation and transmission of this

repertoire.31

2.1.2. Coplas

Coplas are strophic poems that have definite structures and they are sung with

strophic melodies. Their distinctive characteristic is that their music clearly reflects

the influence of the surrounding musical cultures. These songs are associated with

Jewish tradition and history, values and beliefs, and social and political events. They

can revolve around important community figures, economic hardship, specific

holidays or moral themes. Similar to romances, Coplas have coherent texts; however,

unlike the romances, they are in strophic form. This genre flourished in the 17th and

18th centuries, when they were published in Istanbul, Salonica, Vienna and Livorno –

and therefore, the texts tend to be more modern.32 According to Weich-Shahak, the

Coplas are rendered mostly in group singing, often accompanied by handclapping.

And since many Coplas appear in written sources, they belong to the realm of men,

who would be able to read the Hebrew letters used for writing Ladino in printed texts

at the time.

31 Weich-Shahak, Susana. “The Performance of the Judeo-Spanish Repertoire.” The Performance of

Jewish and Arab Music in Israel Today. Amnon Shiloah, Ed. Musical Performance, Vol. 1, Pt. 3.

Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 1997, pp. 9-26.

Guy Mendilow Ensemble. Tales From the Forgotten Kingdom: Ladino Songs Renewed. [CD].

Mendilusian Music, BMI. Linear notes, 2012. 32 Ibid.

22

2.1.3. Cantigas

Cantigas are similar to coplas in their versatility of texts and music, but more

importantly, in their adoption of the surrounding musical cultures. Some of these

songs are translations or adaptations of Turkish and Balkan songs, and they can

feature dance tunes, such as foxtrot and tango, and can also quote stage works,

including operettas and zarzuelas. Cantigas differ from the other two genres in textual

and musical structure. Cantigas mostly have four stanzas and often a refrain as well.

They are set to strophic melodies with a different tune for the refrain. Unlike

romances and coplas, cantigas do not have a narrative or coherent texts. Their subject

matter is mostly lyric, dealing with love, longing, courting, mourning, and even

drinking.33

2.2. TEXTS

The texts of traditional Sephardic songs are generally anonymous. This is a

very common characteristic of the folk genre, as the texts of folk songs are rarely

written down and are usually orally transmitted. This creates a problem when tracing

back the origins of these texts. Some scholars of Sephardic music were able to

discover the time and origin of a large portion of these songs, although not

necessarily the authors or poets of the texts specifically. The texts of Sephardic songs

are quite straightforward and they rarely require a literary research to reveal any

potential undertones. As mentioned above, Sephardic songs can have a variety of

themes, including the stories and tales from the Spanish Middle Ages, themes

33 Ibid.

23

associated with the Jewish culture and history, and lyrical themes. Although the

majority of these songs have anonymous texts, the origins of more recent additions

throughout the 20th and 21st centuries can be traced back to other popular music

genres that surrounded Sephardic communities during these times. Some of the texts

are simply translations of texts that were adopted from other genres, such as

zarzuelas, tangos, French chansons, and Greek and Turkish songs. Some 20th-century

Sephardic folk song musicians, such as Flory Jagoda (b.1926) and Jack Mayesh

(1899-1969), contributed to the genre with their own original compositions, as well as

adaptations of songs from other genres translating the texts into Ladino.34

2.3. THE MUSIC

To understand and appreciate the complex musical attributes of this repertoire,

it is imperative to consider the influences of diverse cultural contacts experienced by

the Sephardic population since their expulsion from Spain in 1492. As Samuel

Armistead, Joseph Silverman, and Israel Katz emphasize in their book, Judeo-

Spanish Ballads from Oral Tradition, “No society is static and it would be

unreasonable and unrealistic to view the Sephardim and their culture merely as some

sort of living time capsule. Over the centuries, the Sephardic communities have

undergone radical changes and have experienced a rich diversity of cultural contacts.

Their ballad tradition is a mirror of their cultural history. … and it is a dynamic,

eclectic tradition drawn from a great variety of sources, both medieval and modern;

Jewish, Christian, and Islamic; Hispanic, but also Balkan and Near Eastern, and

34 Bass, Howard, Susan Gaeta and Tina Chancey. Trio Sefardi. Personal Interview. 20 November 2018.

24

indeed French and Italian as well. … For all its seeming conservatism, it is essential,

then, to view the Sephardic ballad tradition—like any other—as a vital, dynamic,

creative phenomenon, forever involved in the ongoing process of becoming

something different from what it was before.”35

Since this repertoire represents such a wide range of cultural exchange, the

musical analyses of these songs require a vast musical knowledge, including the

Western classical music of all periods starting from Medieval; Spanish, Moroccan,

Balkan and Greek musical traditions; and Turkish folk and classical forms, including

maqam.36 Maqām (pl. maqamat) is defined as “the main modal unit of Arabic,

Turkish and Persian music, or the Middle Eastern modal practice in general.”37

Maqamat scales are melodic modal scales that do not have a rhythmic component.

This modal system differs greatly from the Western chromatic system, which can also

be referred to as the 12-tone notation system. For example, the Turkish Maqamat

system involves twenty-four pitches that are quarter tone apart from another. Each

Turkish maqam scale is consisted of seven pitches of different interval sequences and

each scale has a different melodic development. The notation of these extra pitches

require some accidentals we are not familiar with in the Western classical notation.

The Arabic Maqamat system has even more pitches, some of which are microtones,

i.e. smaller than quarter tones. There are about seventy-two maqam scales that are

35 Armistead, Samuel G., Joseph H. Silverman and Israel J. Katz. Judeo-Spanish Ballads from Oral

Tradition: Epic Ballads (Vol. 1). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986, pp. 1-2. 36 Cohen, Judith. “Women and Judeo-Spanish Music.” Bridges, vol. 3, no. 2, 1993, pp. 113-119. 37 Apel, Willi. “Maqam,” Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,

1955, p. 486.

25

used in the Middle Eastern art music. Thus, composition and analyses of such music

can be quite complex.38

Sephardic music possesses some Maqam flavor, although not in such

complexity. Some common maqam intervals, such as augmented seconds are

essential to this repertoire, as they are the intervals that give the songs an oriental

flavor. In the 20th and 21st century Sephardic art songs, these intervals are

incorporated in the songs with a tonal compositional approach and the melodies are

both in modal and tonal character.

Another musical characteristic of the Sephardic song repertoire is compound

rhythms used in complex rhythmic patterns. Rhythms such as 5/8, 7/8 or 9/8, for

example, are very unusual in Western music. This is partly a Greek and Balkan

influence, as interesting dance rhythms can be observed in their music.

The Sephardic song repertoire is essentially vocal, although musical

instruments were also used at times, mostly on special occasions. When instruments

were involved in the performances of these songs at family gatherings or at bigger

occasions, the typical instruments used were percussion instruments, such as

tambourine, and mandolin (or oud), which is a string instrument that belongs to the

lute family. Other percussion instruments used included castanets, finger-cymbals,

darbuga (or dumbelek), and baraban. Castanets are consisted of two hollowed-out

shell-shaped pieces of hardwood, ivory, or other substance hinged together by a cord.

38 Saltiel, Aron and Joshua Horowitz. Sephardisches Liederbuch / The Sephardic Songbook. Frankfurt;

New York: C.F. Peters, 2001, p. VII.

Apel, Willi. “Maqam.” Harvard Dictionary of Music, 1955, p. 486.

26

They are usually held in the hand and struck together.39 “Finger-cymbals are two

pairs of tiny cymbals attached to the thumb and middle finger of each hand. Darbuga

or Dumbelek is a cup-shaped drum made of clay or metal, with one skin. Baraban,

which was used by the Bulgarian communities, is a big cylindrical double-skin

drum.”40 At bigger events, such as weddings, musicians of different backgrounds,

who knew the Sephardic repertoire would be hired to play the Sephardic wedding

songs, as well as Turkish dances and European dance music, such as waltz foxtrot and

tango. These musicians could be Greeks, Turkish Romani or Turkish musicians.41

The traditional Sephardic songs, as opposed to their Western classical art song

versions, incorporate a lot of improvisation as well. This is hardly surprising as these

songs were transmitted orally for hundreds of years, and oral transmission encourages

personal improvisation that often consists of lavish ornamentation and relatively free

rhythm.42 Therefore, the melodies of the same Sephardic songs can differ

tremendously from community to community, or generation to generation. It is

important to acknowledge the work of all the Sephardic music scholars, who have

spent significant amounts of time and effort to travel to all Sephardic communities all

around the world, interview the members of these communities, have them sing to

them, transcribe and study all the songs and poems collected, and publish

compilations of these folksongs.

39 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Castanets.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., February 09, 2018. Accessed November 6, 2017,

https://www.britannica.com/art/castanets 40 Weich-Shahak, Susana. “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs, Then and Now.” The

Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music. Joshua S. Walden, Ed. Cambridge, United Kingdom:

Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 104-118. 41 Ibid. 42 Bahat, Avner. “The Musical Traditions of the Oriental Jews: Orient and Occident.” The World

ofMusic vol. 22, no. 2, 1980, p. 48.

27

CHAPTER 3: SEPHARDIC SONGS IN THE 20TH AND 21ST

CENTURIES

The early 20th century Western Classical composers’ interest in collecting and

arranging these Sephardic songs can be traced back to the prevailing nationalist

movement in music in the 19th century. In late 19th century and the first decade of the

20th century Russia, the young Jewish composers of the time were inspired by the

nationalist movement in Russian music exemplified by the Russian Five (or the

Mighty Handful), and they became attracted to “the new universalist aesthetics of

modernist abstraction with a particular commitment to representing Jewish identity in

music.”43 They collected and transcribed perhaps thousands of Yiddish folksongs.

This Jewish national revival inspired some other European Classical composers to

incorporate Jewish musical elements in their compositions as well. A similar interest

was observed in the Sephardic musical realm pioneered by the Turkish-Jewish

composer and ethnomusicologist Alberto Hemsi (1898-1975).44 Perhaps Hemsi was

not the first to collect and transcribe Sephardic folksongs and poems, as there were

other musicologists that had begun similar projects. However, Hemsi not only

contributed to these transcriptions with his own field work, but he also arranged and

harmonized about sixty of these songs with a Western Classical approach. In other

words, Alberto Hemsi can be considered as the Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) or the

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) of Sephardic Art Song.

43 Loeffler, James. “From Biblical Antiquarianism to Revolutionary Modernism: Jewish Art Music,

1850-1925.” The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music. Joshua S. Walden, Ed. Cambridge, United

Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2015, p. 177. 44Loeffler, James. “From Biblical Antiquarianism to Revolutionary Modernism: Jewish Art Music,

1850-1925.” The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music, 2015, pp. 167-186.

28

It is important to point out that the invention of the phonograph by Thomas

Edison in the late 19th century had contributed to the interest in collecting folksongs,

as well as other genres, as it was only after this invention that sound recording and

reproduction became possible. This, of course, facilitated the process of collection of

songs and the circulation of music in general. The scholars interested in exploring the

Sephardic folksong genre, were then able to record these songs in their fieldwork

across the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa regions and Israel.

Hemsi was not the only one that showed interest in arranging these songs in

the Western classical tradition. As of November 2018, there are over forty-two

Western classical composers, who have arranged over a hundred and ninety different

Sephardic songs in a variety of ways. These arrangements are for voice and various

instruments with varying degrees of complexity. While some composers arranged

Sephardic folk songs in the Western classical tradition, some preferred to create

original works inspired by Sephardic melodies and/or texts. The list of Sephardic Art

Song composers, the titles of their works, and the list of all songs arranged or

composed can be found in the next chapter (Chapter 4).

Here are a few definitions that are essential to better understand the distinction

between a folk song and an art song: “Song is a piece of music performed by a single

voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment. Works for several voices are

called duets, trios, and so on; larger ensembles sing choral music. Folk songs are

usually sung unaccompanied or with accompaniment provided by a single

instrument—e.g., a guitar or a dulcimer. They are usually learned by ear and are

infrequently written down; hence, they are susceptible to changes of notes and words

29

through generations of oral transmission. Composers of most folk songs are

unknown.”45 “Art songs, by contrast, are intended for performance by professional

singers (or at least well-trained ones), and generally accompanied by piano or an

instrumental ensemble.”46 The notes are written down, and both notes and the text are

not casually altered after that.”

20th- and 21st-century composers not only brought Sephardic songs back to

life, but perhaps also initiated a new genre of Sephardic Art Song.

45 The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Song”. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Published in April

01, 2014. Accessed in April 20, 2017. < https://www.britannica.com/art/song> 46 Ibid.

30

CHAPTER 4: THE SEPHARDIC ART SONG CATALOG

4.1. LIST OF COMPOSERS AND WORKS

The list below comprises the names and dates of 20th- and 21st-century

Western classical composers that have contributed to the Sephardic Art Song genre

with their arrangements of Sephardic folk songs and/or original compositions. The

composers are listed in chronological order, along with the titles of their works in this

genre and years of composition.

Table 1 List of Composers in Chronological Order and Their Works

Dates Composer Works

1884?-1944? Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires

Judéo-Espagnoles (1920)

1886-1956 Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardíes (1941)

1887-1974 Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los

Sefardíes de Salonica (1964)

1890-1971 Léon Algazi Quatre Mélodies Judéo-Espagnoles (1951)

1891-1982 Joachim Stutschewsky Two Sephardic Prayers (1973)

1895-1968 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Three Sephardic Songs (1959)

1897-1984 Paul Ben-Haim Three Songs Without Words (1953)

1898-1975 Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies (1933-1973)

Coplas Sefardies, Op.7










31

Dates Composer Works

1991-1970 Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs (?)

1901-1981 Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs (1977?)

1901-1999 Joaquin Rodrigo Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965)

1905-1995 Herbert Fromm Four psalms (1971)

1907-1991 Wolf Simoni (a.k.a. Louis Saguer) Cuatro C ánticas Sefardíes (1935/36)

1908-2004 Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques (1982)

1915-1984 Richard J. Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,

Volume I: The Ladino Collection (2007)

The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book (1981)

1915-2004 Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965)

1918-2007 Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares de Sefarad (2000)

1920-1984 Manuel Valls (Gorina) Canciones Sefarditas (1975)

1922-2014 Yehezkel Braun Seven Sephardic Romances (1968)

b.1932 Samuel Milligan Nine Sephardic Songs (2015)

b.1934 Mario Davidovsky Ladino Songs (2017)

Sefarad: Four Spanish-Ladino Folksongs (2004)

b.1937 Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs (?)

b.1937 Manuel García Morante 40 Canciones Sefardíes (1983)

b.1938 Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardíes (2006)

b.1938 Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee: A Cycle of

Five Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs (1998)

b.1942 Sid Robinovitch Rodas Recordada (2005)

b.1942 Diane Thome Levadi (1986)

b.1945 Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs (1992)

b.1947 Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs (1996)

b.1953 Daniel Akiva Jewish-Spanish Song Cycle (1999)

b.1953 Raymond Goldstein Sephardic Songs (1986, 1998, 2003)

b.1953 Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefard í (1999)

Songs from the Diaspora (2007)

b. 1954 Betty Olivero Cantes Amargos (1984)

Juego de Siempre: 12 folk songs in Ladino (1991/4)

b.1955 Ofer Ben-Amots Kantigas Ulvidades (2010)

Songs from the Pomegrenate Garden

(Kantes del Verdgel de Granadas) (2004/5)

b.1955 Dušan Bogdanović Deux chansons Sépharades (2010)

b.1957 Turgay Erdener Adio Querida (?)

b.1960 Osvaldo Golijov Ayre (2004)

b.1967 Brian T. Field Durme, durme, kerido ijico (2018)

b.1968 Shai Cohen Two Ladino Songs* (2004)*In Hebrew, inspired by Ladino texts

b.1970 Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs (2011)

b.1971 Renan Koen Sephardic Songs (?)

b.1978 Delilah Gutman 13 Jewish Songs (2014)

b.1983 William Kenlon Two Sephardic Songs (2018)

b. ? Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder (2013)

b. ? Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies (1985)

32

4.2. LIST OF WORKS CATEGORIZED BY INSTRUMENTATION

Below is a list of works in the Sephardic Art Song genre categorized by

instrumentation. The categories are as follows: voice and guitar, voice and harp, voice

and organ, voice and piano, voice and tape, voice and violin, voice and chamber

ensemble, and voice and orchestra. The chamber ensemble and orchestra instruments

are indicated in abbreviations next to each work title.

Table 2 List of Works Categorized By Instrumentation

Voice & Guitar

Daniel Akiva Jewish-Spanish Song Cycle

Dušan Bogdanović Deux chansons Sépharades

Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies

Richard J. Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song, Volume I: The Ladino Collection

The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book

Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder

Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardíes

Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes

Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares de Sefarad

Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs

Voice & Harp

Samuel Milligan Nine Sephardic Songs

Voice & Organ

Herbert Fromm Four psalms

Voice & Piano

Léon Algazi Quatre Mélodies Judéo-Espagnoles

Ofer Ben-Amots Kantigas Ulvidades

Songs from the Pomegrenate Garden (Kantes del Verdgel de Granadas)

Paul Ben-Haim Three Songs Without Words

Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs

Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires Judéo-Espagnoles: du XVle Siécle (Smyrne)

Yehezkel Braun Seven Sephardic Romances

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Three Sephardic Songs

Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs

Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardíes

Turgay Erdener Adio Querida

Brian T. Field Durme, durme, kerido ijico

Raymond Goldstein Sephardic Songs

33

Voice & Piano (continued)

Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies Op.7

Coplas Sefardies Op.8









Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs

Renan Koen Sephardic Songs

Manuel García Morante 40 Canciones Sefardíes

Richard J. Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song, Volume I: The Ladino Collection

The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book

Yom Gila, Sephardic Song of Joy

Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques

Joaquin Rodrigo Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes

Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee: A Cycle of Five Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs

Wolf Simoni (a.k.a. Louis Saguer) Cuatro C ánticas Sefardíes

Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los Sefardíes de Salonica

Joachim Stutschewsky Two Sephardic Prayers

Voice & Tape

Diane Thome Levadi

Voice & Violin

Delilah Gutman 13 Jewish Songs

James E. Bobb Adio Kerida (v, vc, hp)

Shai Cohen Two Ladino Songs* (mez, vn, va, vc, fl, cl, tpt, 2tbn)*In Hebrew, inspired by Ladino texts

Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs (v, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2bn, 4hn, 2tpt, 3tbn, timp, perc, hp, str)

Mario Davidovsky Ladino Songs (sop, fl, ob, 2gtr, vn, vc)

Sefarad: Four Spanish-Ladino Folkscenes (bar, tam, perc, fl, cl, vn, vc)

Brian T. Field Durme, durme, kerido ijico (v, 2vn, va,vc)

Osvaldo Golijov Ayre (sop, fl, cl, hn, vn, vc, db, hp, acc, gtr, perc, laptop)

Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs (sop, fl, gtr, db)

William Kenlon Two Sephardic Songs (v, cl, pf or v, va, pf))

Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs (sop, fl, pf)

Richard J. Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,

Volume I: The Ladino Collection (v, pf, gtr, fl, per)

The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book (v, gtr, pf, fl)

Betty Olivero Cantes Amargos (v, 2fl, 2cl, bcl, 2vn, va, vc, db, hp, 2pf, perc)

Juego de Siempre: 12 folk songs in Ladino (mez, fl, cl, perc, hp, vn, va, vc)

Sid Robinovitch Rodas Recordada (sop, alt, bar, gtr, cl, vc)

Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardí (v, fl, cl, pf, vn, vc)

Songs from the Diaspora (sop, pf, 2vn, va, vc)

Manuel Valls (Gorina) Canciones Sefardítas (v, fl, gtr)

Voice & Chamber Ensemble or Orchestra

34

4.3. LIST OF SONGS

The list below serves as a catalog of the Sephardic art song repertoire, i.e.

Sephardic folk songs that have been arranged by 20th- and 21st-century Western

classical composers and original compositions inspired by Sephardic texts or

melodies. The songs are organized in alphabetical order. Some songs have been

published under different titles, although they are arrangements of the same texts

and/or melodies. These titles are gathered within the same box, with all variations of

titles indicated when appropriate. The name of the composer, title of the song set or

song cycle, the location/order of the song within the larger work, and the information

on instrumentation is provided for each arrangement and original composition.

Table 3 List of Songs in Alphabetical order Song Composer Work/Song Number Instrumentation

A la nana, a la buba Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.5 v, gtr

A la una nací yo Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.32 v, pf

Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.1 v, fl, cl, pf,

vn, vc

A la una yo naci Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs, No.2 v, gtr

A la una yo naci Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardies, No.4 v, gtr

A la una yo naci Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.8 v, gtr

A la una yo naci Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs, No.4 v, fl, gtr, db

A la una yo naci Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

A la una yo Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee, No.4 v, pf

A la una Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires

Judéo-Espagnoles, No.2

v, pf

A la una Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.2

v, gtr

Alma y Vida y Coraçon Wolf Simoni Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes, No.1 v, pf

Abraxex abaxo, galanica gentil Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.22, No.6 v, pf

Achot Ketana Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.10 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Adío querida Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.39 v, pf

Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.3 v, fl, gtr

Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs, No.1 v, gtr

Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.2 v, gtr

Samuel Milligan Nine Sephardic Songs, No.5 v, hp

Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs, No.3 v, fl, gtr, db

Dalilah Gutman 13 Jewish Songs, No.10 v, vn

Turgay Erdener v, pf

Adio Kerida James E. Bobb v, vc, hp

Adio Kerida Renan Koen v, pf

Tu madre cuando te parió Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Adonay Shamati Shimacha Joachim Stutschewsky Two Sephardic Prayers, No.2 v, pf

Adonenu, elohenu Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.2

v, pf

35

Song Composer Work/Song Number Instrumentation

Ah, el novio no quere dinero Samuel Milligan Nine Sephardic Songs, No.6 v, hp

Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs, No.2 v, fl, gtr, db

Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.8, No.4 v, pf

Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,

Volume I: The Ladino Collection

v, pf, gtr

Aire de mujer Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.2 v, gtr

Al kenar de la nixava Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.3 v, fl, cl, pf,

vn, vc

Al pasar por casablanca Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.3 v, gtr

Al ruido de una fuente Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.2 v, pf

Alevantex vos toronja Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.1 v, pf

Allí en el midbar Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Alta, alta es la luna Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.6 v, pf

Aman minnush Renan Koen v, pf

Ansí dize la nuestra novia… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.6 v, pf

Aquel conde y aquel conde… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.2 v, pf

Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.31 v, pf

Aquel rey de Francia Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.4 v, pf


El rey de Francia Frederic Hand Sephardic Songs, No.1 v, fl, gtr, db

Arboles lloran por la luvia Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.2 v, pf



Los arvoles llorosos Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee, No.3 v, pf

Arvoles lloran Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Arvoles joran Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires


v, pf

Ariadna en su Laberinto Osvaldo Golijov Ayre, No.1 sop, fl, cl,

hn, vn, vc,

db, hp, acc,

gtr, perc, laptop

Arvolera Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.2 sop, fl, pf

Leon Algazi Quatre Mélodies


v, pf

Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Arvolicos d'almendra Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.8

v, gtr

Aunque me Dex mi mama Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.4 v, pf

Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.4 v, 2fl, 2ob,

2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Avre tu puerta cerrada Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.5 v, gtr

Avrix mi galanica Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.5 v, pf

Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.6 v, gtr

Mario Davidovsky Ladino Songs, No.3 sop, fl, ob, 2gtr,

vn, vc

Avrid, mi galanica Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.22, No.4 v, pf

Avridme galanica Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.7 v, fl, cl, pf,

vn, vc

Avridme galanica Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.1

v, gtr

Avrij, mi galanika Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, gtr

Galanica Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los

Sefardies de Salonica, No.2

v, pf

Ay ke buena Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.3 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Ay ke buena! (reprise) Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.12 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Ay mancebo Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.5 v, pf

36


Benendicho su nombre Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.3 v, pf

Bendicho su nombre Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf

Bendicho su nombre Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Bueno asi biva la coshuegra Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.2 v, pf

Caminí por altas torres Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.11 v, pf

Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.5 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

Canción de Cuna

(Durmite mi alma)

Wolf Simoni Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes, No.3 v, pf

Cantar de amanecida Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.6

v, gtr

Cantar de marinero Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.9

v, gtr

Cantes Amargos Betty Olivero Cantes Amargos (trilogy) v, 2fl, 2Cl, bcl,

2vn, va, vc, db,

hp, 2pf, perc

Celebrating birth

(Canta, gallo canta)

Mario Davidovsky Sefarad, No.1 bar, tam, perc,

fl, cl, vn, vc

Cien donzellas van a la misa Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.22, No.5 v, pf

Chichi Bunichi Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.9 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Come la rosa en la gűerta Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.7 v, gtr


Komo la rosa Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf, gtr

Como la rosa Daniel Akiva Jewish-Spanish Song Cycle, No.3 v, gtr

Como la rosa en la güerta Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.8, No.1 v, pf

Como la rosa en la güerta Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Como esta asentada solitaria Raymond Goldstein v, pf

Criador hasta cuando Raymond Goldstein v, pf

Cuando el rey Nimrod Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, pf

Raymond Goldstein v, pf


Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.5 sop, fl, pf



Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, fl, gtr

Abraham Avinu Wolf Simoni Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes, No.4 v, pf

Kuando el rey Nimrod Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf

Cuando la comadre dize Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.3 v, pf

Cuatro años de amor Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.40 v, pf

De enfrente la vide venir Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.45, No.1 v, pf

De la juma sale el moro Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.1 v, pf

De las altas mares traen una cautiva Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.22, No.1 v, pf

De las altas mares Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.26 v, pf

De las mares altas Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.1 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

De qué lloras blanca niña Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.6 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc


Descanso de mi vida Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardies, No.2 v, pf


Dia de alhad Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.6 v, pf

Dicho me avían dicho… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.4 v, pf

Dime Rozina Yehezkel Braun Seven Sephardic Romances, No.6 v, pf

Dolores tiene la reina Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.6 v, fl, cl, pf,

vn, vc


37


Don Amadí Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.37 v, pf

Yehezkel Braun Seven Sephardic Romances, No.1 v, pf

Dos amantes Ofer Ben-Amots Songs from the

Pomegrenate Garden, No.1

v, pf

Dos amantes tengo mama Renan Koen v, pf

Dunulá Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Durme, durme Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.27 v, pf



Dušan Bogdanović Deux chansons Sépharades, No.1 v, gtr

Daniel Akiva Jewish-Spanish Song Cycle, No.2 v, gtr

Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.1 v, pf

Durma, durme mi alma donzeya Renan Koen v, pf

Durme, durme, hermosa donzella… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.2 v, pf

Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardies, No.5 v, gtr


Durme, durme Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.2 v, gtr

Durme, durme Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Durme, durme Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf, gtr

Durme, durme hermozo hijico Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.25 v, pf

Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.4 v, gtr



Durme hermozo hijico Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Durme durme, kerido ijiko Renan Koen v, pf

Durme, durme, kerido ijico Brian T. Field v, 2vn,

va, vc

Durme, durme, kerido ijico Brian T. Field v, pf

Durmite mi alma : cancion de cuna Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.44, No.2 v, pf

Échate a la mar y alcançalo Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.2 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

El buen viar Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.6 v, pf

El dio grande Leon Algazi Quatre Mélodies


v, pf

El Dió alto Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

El Dio alto Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

El mi querido bevió vino Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.2 v, fl, cl, pf,

vn, vc

El rey de Francia tres hijas tenía Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.3 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

El rey por muncha madruga Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.4 v, gtr



El rey que muntscho madruga Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.3 v, pf

Eli Eliyahu Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs, No.6 v, gtr

En la mar (ay una tore) Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.36 v, pf

En la mar hay una torre Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

En la mar Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires


v, pf

Endecha Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.4

v, gtr

Enriva de la tu seja Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.5 v, pf

Entendiendo mancebico Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardies, No.5 v, pf

Entre las huertas Ofer Ben-Amots Songs from the


v, pf

Esta armada ke viene Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.7 v, pf

Esta montaña d'enfrente Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.35 v, pf

Esta noche es alavada Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.5 v, pf

Esta Rachel la estimoza Yehezkel Braun Seven Sephardic Romances, No.2 v, pf

38


Estas casas Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.7 v, pf


2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Estavase la galana Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.2 v, pf

Estávase la mora Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, pf,

gtr, per

Estave la mora en su bel estar Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.8, No.6 v, pf

Et Shaarei Razon Joachim Stutschewsky Two Sephardic Prayers, No.1 v, pf

Fel sharah canet betet masha Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs, No.7 v, gtr

Galeas las mis galeas Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.5 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Hija mía, mi querida Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.2 v, pf

Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.6 v, gtr

Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.5 v, pf


2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Hombre, en que te lo contienes?

(endecha)


Ir me kero madre Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.7 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Ir me quiero Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardies, No.4 v, pf

Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.7 v, fl

Ir me quero la mi madre Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Ir me kero madre Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.2 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Juego de siempre Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.1 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Kondja mia Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.11 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

La borracha Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee, No.5 v, pf

La cantiga de la ley Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.3 v, pf

La mal casada Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee, No.1 v, pf

La rosa enflorece Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.3

v, pf







Los bilbilicos Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.5

v, gtr

Los bilbilicos Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Los bilbilikos Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf

Los bilbilikos Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires


v, pf

La Serena Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.7 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

Mario Davidovsky Ladino Songs, No.1 sop, fl, ob, 2gtr,

vn, vc


Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.7 v, gtr

La soledad de la nochada Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardies, No.3 v, gtr


La vida do por el raki Renan Koen v, pf

Las estreyas Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Las estreas Lucien L. Bernheim Cinq Chansons Populaires


v, pf

39


Lavava y suspirava Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.33 v, pf

Levadi (Alone) Diane Thome sop, tape

Levantéis vos Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, pf

Los siete Ermanos Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Malana, tripa de madre Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.1 v, pf

Malato está el fijo del Rei Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Malato 'sta el hijo del rey Ofer Ben-Amots Songs from the


v, pf

Mama yo no quero Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.6 v, pf


2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Mama, yo no tengo visto Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs, No.3 v, pf

Mañanita de San Juan Osvaldo Golijov Ayre, No.1 sop, fl, cl,

hn, vn, vc,

db, hp, acc,

gtr, perc, laptop

Me parto y me vo' Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.44, No.4 v, pf

Mercar vos quiero la mi mujer Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.6 v, pf

Mi alme triste Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.45, No.5 v, pf

Mi coracón Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.4 v, gtr

Mi korason Ofer Ben-Amots Songs from the


v, pf

Mi padre era de Francia Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs, No.1 v, pf


Mi padre era de Fransia Renan Koen v, pf

Mi sposica está en el baño... Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.5 v, pf

Mi suegra la negra Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.5

v, pf


Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora, No.4 sop, pf, 2vn,

va, vc

Mizmor l'David Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, fl

Montañas Altas Andrew Zohn 8 Sephardic Songs, No.8 v, gtr

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Three Sephardic Songs, No.1 v. pf

Montanyas altas Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, pf

Morena me llaman Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.16 v, pf


Joaquin Rodrigo Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.4 v, pf

Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, fl



2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Morena me yama Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares de Sefarad, No.3 v, gtr

Morena me yaman Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.4 v, gtr

Morenica a mi me llaman Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.4 v, pf

Morenika a mi me yaman Renan Koen v, pf

Morenica sos Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.8 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Moxé suvio laxamayim Mario Davidovsky Sefarad, No.3 bar, tam, perc,

fl, cl, vn, vc

Munchos mueren de su muerte Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.4 v, pf

Nacimiento de Moxé Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.29 v, pf

40


Nani, nani Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.7 v, pf


Lorenzo Palomo Cinco canciones sefardies, No.2 v, gtr


Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs, No.2 v, pf



Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, fl

Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.4 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Nanni Osvaldo Golijov Ayre, No.5 sop, fl, cl,

hn, vn, vc,

db, hp, acc,

gtr, perc, laptop

No pasech por la mi sala… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.3 v, pf

No paseis por la mi sala Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.3 v, gtr

No vo comer ni vo beber Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.28 v, pf

Noches buenas Leon Algazi Quatre Mélodies


v, pf

Noches, noches, buenas noches Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.8 v, pf


Noches, noches Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Noches, noches Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf

O! que nueve mezes Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

O que mueve mezes Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Ondi vas djoyiha miya Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.2 v, pf

Onete bonete

(cantiga de pasatiempo)


Para qué quero yo más bivir Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.38 v, pf

Partos trocados Pedro Elias Siete Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, gtr

Paxarico tú te llamas Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.24 v, pf

Paxaro d'hermozura Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.5 v, fl, gtr

Paxaro de hermozura Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Pasharo d'ermozura Renan Koen v, pf

Pájaro de hermosura Jose Antonio de Donostia Canciones Sefardies, No.3 v, pf

Por la puerta yo pasi Ulrike Merk Sephardische Lieder, No.9 v, gtr

Por que llorax blanca niña Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.22 v, pf


William Kenlon Two Sephardic Songs, No.2 v, pf, cl

(or v, pf, va)

Pregoneros Betty Olivero Juego de Siempre, No.6 mez, fl, cl, per,

hp, vn, va, vc

Pregoneros van y vienen Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.9 v, pf

Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.4 v, fl, cl,

pf, vn, vc

Psalm 1 Herbert Fromm Four Psalms, No.1 v, org




Puncha, puncha la rosa huele Samuel Milligan Nine Sephardic Songs, No.4 v, hp

Puncha, puncha Renan Koen v, pf

La rosa huele William Kenlon Two Sephardic Songs, No.1 v, pf, cl

(or v, pf, va)

El punchon y la rosa Simon Sargon At Grandfather's Knee, No.2 v, pf

¿Quen es este paxarico? Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.45, No.3 v, pf

Quen supiense es entendiense Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.51, No.6 v, pf

Quien quiere tomar consejo Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.4 v, pf

Rahel Dušan Bogdanović Deux chansons Sépharades, No.2 v, gtr

Reina de la gracia Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.4 v, pf

41


Respóndemos Joaquin Rodrigo Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, pf


Rodas Recordada Sid Robinovitch sop, alt, bar,

cl, gtr, vc

Salerica de oro Leon Algazi Quatre Mélodies


v, pf (fl, vc)

Scalerica de oro Raymond Goldstein v, pf

Scalerica de oro Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, fl, gtr

Skalerika de oro Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, gtr

Secretos quero descuvrir Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.6

v, pf


Sentada en mi ventana Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.44, No.3 v, pf

Sephardic Chant

(Mizmor le David, Psalm 29)

Richard Neumann v, pf

Sephardic melody Paul Ben-Haim Three Songs Without Words, No.3 v, pf

Sí savias, gioya mía Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.6 sop, fl, pf

Siete hijos tiene Haná Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.15 v, pf

Los siete hijos de Hanna Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, gtr

Los siete ijos de Hanna Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf, gtr

Los siete fijos de Hanna Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Sivdá de mi chikés Ofer Ben-Amots Kantigas Ulvidades, No.3 v, pf

Soldadito, Soldadito Mario Davidovsky Sefarad, No.2 bar, tam, perc,

fl, cl, vn, vc

Solo kon ti Ofer Ben-Amots Kantigas Ulvidades, No.1 v, pf

Tanto fuites y venites Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.5 v, pf

This mountain in front

(Esta montaña d'enfrente)

Mario Davidovsky Sefarad, No.3 bar, tam, perc,

fl, cl, vn, vc

Torondon Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.45, No.4 v, pf

Tres hermanicas eran Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.34, No.3 v, pf

Tres ermanikas eran Renan Koen v, pf

Tres Hermanicas Wolf Simoni Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes, No.2 v, pf

Tres hijas tiene el buen rey Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.8, No.3 v, pf

Tres hijas tiene'l buen rey Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.30 v, pf

Roberto Plá Sales Cuatro Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, gtr

Triste esta la infanta Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.18, No.1 v, pf

Un cabretico

(cancion de noche de Pascua)


Una hija tiene el rey Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.1 v, pf

Una madre comió asado Osvaldo Golijov Ayre, No.2 sop, fl, cl,

hn, vn, vc,

db, hp, acc,

gtr, perc, laptop

Una matica de ruda Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.40 v, pf


Roberto Sierra Cancionero Sefardi, No.5 v, fl, cl,

pf, vn, vc


Una matika de ruda Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, gtr

Una muchacha en Selanica Shimon Cohen Seven Sephardic Folk Songs, No.1 v, pf


2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Una niña que yo amo Mieczyslaw Kolinski Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.4 sop, fl, pf

Una ventana enfrenti di otra Menahem Bensussan Seven Sephardic Folksongs, No.4 v, pf

42


Una noche yo me armi Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Three Sephardic Songs, No.3 v, pf

Una noche Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, pf

Una noche Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Una pastora yo amí Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.20 v, pf



Una tadre fresquita de Mayo Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.6 v, pf

Vamos para la urilla Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.41, No.5 v, pf

Ven querida Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.3 v, pf

Manuel Valls Canciones Sefarditas, No.2 v, fl

Ven mos amaremos Ofer Ben-Amots Songs from the


v, pf

Ven y verás Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Three Sephardic Songs, No.2 v, pf

Vengax en buen'hora,

Sinora coshuegra


Ya abaxa la novia Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.6 v, pf


Ya salió de la mar la galana Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.3 v, pf

Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.4

v, pf


Ya salió de la mar Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, fl, pf

Ya salió de la mar Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Ya viene el cativo Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.21 v, pf


Mario Davidovsky Ladino Songs, No.2 sop, fl, ob,

2gtr, vn, vc


Ya vien el cativo Daniel Akiva Jewish-Spanish Song Cycle, No.4 v, gtr

Yah, Anna Emtzacha Osvaldo Golijov Ayre, No.10 sop, fl, cl,

hn, vn, vc,

db, hp, acc,

gtr, perc, laptop

Yéndome para marsilia Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Yo boli de foja en foja Joaquin Nin-Culmell Six Chansons Populaires

Sefardiques, No.1

v, pf


Yo boli Richard Neumann The Nico Castel Ladino Song Book v, pf

Yo boli Vicente Emilio Sojo Nueve Canciones de los


v, pf

Yo kon amor Ofer Ben-Amots Kantigas Ulvidades, No.2 v, pf

43


Yo m'enamorí d'un aire Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.13 v, pf



Alexander Knapp Four Sephardi Songs, No.4 v, pf




2cl, 2bn, 4hn,

2tpt, 3tbn, timp,

perc, hp, str

Linda de mi corasón Lorenzo Palomo Cinco Canciones Sefardies, No.1 v, gtr

Yo m'enamorí d'un ayre Renan Koen v, pf

Yo m'enamorí d'un ayre Richard Neumann Anthology of Jewish Art Song,


v, gtr

Yo me alevantí un lunes Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.13, No.5 v, pf

Yo me levantara un lunes Manuel Garcia Morante 40 Canciones Sefardies, No.17 v, pf

Yo me levantí un lunes Matilde Salvador Endechas y Cantares

de Sefarad, No.7

v, gtr

Yo tomí una muchacha… Alberto Hemsi Coplas Sefardies, Op.7, No.1 v, pf

Yom gila (Sephardic Song of Joy) Richard Neumann v, pf

מה שואל Shai Cohen Two Ladino Songs, No.1 mez, vn, va,

vc, fl, cl,

tpt, 2tbn

איך בין הגיבורים Shai Cohen Two Ladino Songs, No.3 mez, vn, va,

vc, fl, cl,

tpt, 2tbn

44

CHAPTER 5: PERFORMANCE PRACTICE

5.1. PERFORMANCE

A vocal performance requires a combination of physical and mental skills to

achieve effective communication with an audience, whether it may be in the form of

public speaking or a musical performance. A large number of resources on public

speaking, musical performance, and psychology seem to agree that when it comes to

communication, what matters is not necessarily what one says, but how one says it.

The content is, of course, significant; although, perhaps only valuable when

communicated effectively and accurately. Resources emphasize that successful

communication has non-verbal components that are crucial in achieving a better

connection with an audience, such as eye contact, body posture, gestures,

distance/physical contact, facial expression, voice tone/inflection/volume, fluency,

timing, and content.47 Thus, one can conclude that communication is not merely a

verbal and intellectual endeavor, but also a physical one. Similarly, a musical

performance is not merely physical realizations of musical ideas, but a powerful

medium of expression and communication; “performers are expected to animate the

music, to go beyond what is explicitly provided by the notation or aurally transmitted

standard – to be ‘expressive.’”48

In their performances of art songs, singers adopt the conventions associated

with the art song performance practice, which are deeply rooted in the Western

47 Alberti, Robert E. "It's Not What You Say-It's How You Say It!" Psychology Today. November 19,

2013. Accessed November 13, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-and-

sensibility/201311/it-s-not-what-you-say-it-s-how-you-say-it. 48 Clarke, Eric. “Understanding the Psychology of Performance.” Musical Performance: A Guide to

Understanding, edited by John Rink. Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 59-72.

45

European classical, or more specifically, German Lied tradition. When comparing and

contrasting this tradition with the performance practice of the Latin American and

Iberian Art Song, Patricia Caicedo draws attention to the more rigidly structured and

physically contained performances of the Lied, as well as “a strict adherence to the

score.”49 She further presents a philosophical argument on why the Euro-centric

perspective values the intellectual experience more than the physical, and therefore,

encourages a physically contained musical performance. Then she asks, “What

happens then when Lied is produced and interpreted in contexts where the body has

permission to express itself without censorship, as in Latin America?”50 Considering

the culture-specific elements that contribute to a musical genre and its performance

practice, how could a singer possibly exhibit authenticity when performing a Latin

American song in the Lied tradition? Likewise, how can one possibly perform the

Sephardic Art Song repertoire in an authentic manner without embracing its

multicultural aspect, which comprises Jewish, Iberian, Eastern European and Middle

Eastern elements?

The obvious (although frequently overlooked) and perhaps the easiest

approach in understanding the performance practice of a genre that is rooted in a

particular culture and/or geography, is studying that culture and/or geography, but

also the people, their gestures and body language. One could argue that folk music is

one of the genres that reflect the people and culture of a region (or nation) in the most

visible way. A folk singer represents their culture and environment; “their


Lexington Press, 2019, p. 119. 50 Ibid., pp. 143-144.

46

neighborhood, customs, and social-cultural-historical-geographical milieu.”51 Perhaps

this characteristic of the folk genre makes it suitable for political expression. In any

case, when preparing a Western classical vocal work that represents non-Western

European regions and cultures, minority groups, and diasporic populations, a singer

may want to consider studying the folk music of that region or population. YouTube

offers many wonderful videos of performances that are simply one click away;

performance analysis is an effective way to assess some of the key elements pertinent

to performance practice.

Sephardic music is among the popular genres performed in world music

concerts and festivals, although the Western classical audience might not be familiar

with it. Some notable singers associated with traditional (but popular) Sephardic

vocal music are Flory Jagoda (b.1926), Yasmin Levy (b.1975), and Gerard Edery

(b.1958). There are also numerous Sephardic music ensembles that regularly perform

in music festivals around the world and contribute to the genre with their recordings.

Although the names mentioned above do have a Sephardic heritage, most musicians

of the Sephardic folk genre today are non-Sephardic or non-Jewish artists.52

In her fieldwork among Sephardic communities in France regarding the

Sephardic experience, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Jessica Roda observed

that for Sephardic people, an authentic Sephardic music performance evoked a feeling

of connection to a shared “Jewish past in the Ottoman Empire.”53

51 Ibid., p. 126. 52 Seroussi, Edwin. “From Spain to the Eastern Mediterranean and Back: A Song as a Metaphor of

Modern Sephardic Culture.” In: Music in the Jewish Experience. Bar-Ilan University Press, 2012, pp.

41-82. 53 Roda, Jessica. The singularity of performers in the revival of Judeo-Spanish music and language in

France. Selected Papers from the Fifteenth British Conference on Judeo-Spanish Studies. Department

of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, 2012, p.189.

47

“During and after these performances, this common sephardicness is

embodied through an exchange of emotion as well as sounds, eye contact,

touch, words and stories related to the shared past. During the event, it can be

argued that the singer embodied the figure of the Sephardic mother who

transmits secular cultural heritage to the next generation.”54

In another article, Roda shares with the reader her ethnographic observation of the

Tres Culturas festival in Murcia, Spain, and her ethnography of the Sandra Bessis

Trio performance at the festival. Roda remarks Sandra Bessis’s gestures and body

movement throughout the trio’s performance of Sephardic songs, such as, “Gesture is

at the heart of Sandra’s performance, resembling an actual score in which we can read

the meaning of the text…Bessis sits down to perform the song Ven kerida…leading

Sandra to move her hands even more, along with her lower body, in a few dance

steps, before she begins singing, while gently swaying.”55

Her observations suggest to me that the gestures and body language used in

Sephardic music performances are closer to those employed in Iberian and Latin

American music performances, and possibly in Middle Eastern music performances,

than the German Lied or French Mèlodie. Considering the many cultures that formed

the Sephardic culture, the folk elements of the music, as well as the non-Western

musical elements that give the music its unique flavor, it would only be appropriate to

allow the body to have more freedom when performing the Sephardic Art Song

repertoire. Although, it should be emphasized that the gestures incorporated must be


France." Théologiques vol. 24, no. 2, 2016, p. 114. 55 Roda, Jessica. “Jewish Performance as a Means for Constructing the Society of “Living Together.””

European Journal of Jewish Studies Vol. 8, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 115-118.

48

within the cultural codes and styles associated with Sephardic music, and must serve

the music and text.

5.2. DICTION

Today, it is rather easy to find sources on how to pronounce a variety of

languages. We singers make use of diction books, dictionaries with transliterations of

words in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as well as the ones such as the

Nico Castel books full of IPA translations of Italian, German, and French operas, and

online sources that provide IPA translations of classical vocal works in various

languages. The emergence of publications of vocal works that the Western Classical

world was less familiar with, enriched the vocal literature in the 20th century; these

vocal works had texts in less common languages. Now, we are able to access IPA

transcriptions of a wide range of languages and texts; however, it is crucial to point

out that most of the languages we are dealing with in classical music are standardized

languages or dialects of large populations living together in specific countries or

geographic areas. How do we approach singing in a language of a diasporic

population that is not standardized nor uniform?

In his presentation on the challenges of working with Ladino (or Judeo-

Espagnol), Hispanic studies scholar Dr. Isaac Jack Levy emphasizes how each

Sephardic community spells and pronounces Ladino in their own way.56 After

reminding his audience that although considered a Romance language Ladino was

initially written in Hebrew and Arabic characters, he acknowledges the lack of

56 Levy, Isaac J. “The Challenges of Working with Judeo-Espanyol.” Judeo Espaniol: The Evolution

of a Culture. Edited by Raphael Gatenio. Thessaloniki: ETS Ahaim Foundation, 1999, pp. 79-88.

49

uniformity in the transcriptions of Ladino into Latin characters. Due to the differences

in consonant and vowel sounds between Ladino and modern Spanish, Ladino and

Hebrew, and Ladino and Arabic, the consonant and vowel sounds in Ladino were

transcribed differently by scholars depending on their own native languages.57 For

example, the sound [k] could be written with a c, q, qu, k, or ch, depending on the

person transcribing it. One Sephardic community could use the letter j for the [x]

sound, while others used the same letter for other sounds, such as [ʎ] or [ʒ]. Similarly,

one could find the word [diʃo] written as disho, dixo or dišo.58 A similar complexity

presents itself in the case of a diphthong as well. Dr. Levy describes how some

Eastern Sephardic communities avoid the diphthong [ei] in written form, although it

exits in Ladino. For example, the word reina, meaning queen, could be spelled rena,

but pronounced [reina].59

What adds to the complexity of pronunciation of Ladino is its adoption of

words and sounds from other languages that different Sephardic communities were

exposed to, such as Turkish, Italian, French, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Arabic, etc. The

pronunciation of Ladino can be significantly different from community to

community, as well as the content of vocabulary used,60 based on the languages

surrounding these communities. In his presentation, Dr. Levy discusses in detail the

difficulty of achieving a standardized spelling system in Ladino due to its variations,

but also the challenges in translating texts from Ladino into other languages.

57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid.

50

The information above is crucial for those who are interested in performing

Sephardic songs, since the texts of these songs will reflect the lack of uniformity in

the spelling and pronunciation of the Ladino language. In her fieldwork, Jessica Roda

observed that the members of the Sephardic community in France found Sephardic

song performances to be more authentic when the Ladino text was pronounced

accurately.61 Some of the music scores offer help in how to pronounce the Ladino

texts of the songs. While few composers have included IPA transcriptions of the

Ladino texts they used in their published works, some others preferred to add a table

of vowels and consonants to serve as a guide for diction; however, most published

Sephardic Art Song works do not come with any information on how to pronounce

the texts. I have created the following tables (Table 4 & Table 5) to serve as a diction

guide for those who are interested in performing Sephardic songs. I would like to

emphasize that the consonants and vowels listed below, as well as their IPA

translations, are by no means an attempt to achieve a standardized spelling or

pronunciation system for Ladino. I acknowledge the complexity of the task and the

endeavors of many linguists in their pursuit of achieving this almost-impossible goal.

I am also fully aware that my educational, cultural, and professional background do

not sufficiently equip me with the appropriate tools to even propose a standardized

spelling system, especially for such a complex language as Ladino. My intention here

is merely to help singers, who would like to perform this repertoire, in deciphering

the texts.

61 Roda, Jessica. The singularity of performers in the revival of Judeo-Spanish music and language in

France. Selected Papers from the Fifteenth British Conference on Judeo-Spanish Studies. Department

of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, 2012, p.189.

51

It should be noted that there are exceptions to the rules presented below, as

well as differences in pronunciation from community to community. The following

tables are a fusion of information presented in a number of sources,62 as well as my

personal experience with the language as a member of the Turkish Sephardim

community.

Table 4 Vowel Sounds in Ladino

62 Edery, Gerard. “The Gerard Edery Sephardic Song Book: for Voice and Guitar.” Owings Mills,

MD.:Tara Publications, 2003.

Harris, Tracy K. Death of a Language: The History of Judeo-Spanish. London and Toronto:

Associated University Presses, 1994, pp. 279-280.

Horowitz, Joshua & Saltiel, Aron. Sephardisches Liederbuch: 51 Judenspanische Lieder = The

Sephardic Songbook: 51 Judeo-Spanish Songs. Frankfurt: C.F. Peters, 2001, p.XII.

Meizel, Katherine Lynn. Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic Tradition in Art Song. Ann Arbor,

Michigan: UMI Dissertation Services, 2004, pp. 59-62.

Varol, Marie-Christine. Manual of Judeo-Spanish: language and culture. Bethesda, MD: University

Press of Maryland, 2008, p. 27.

Wall, Joan, et al. Diction for Singers: A Concise Reference for English, Italian, Latin, German,

French, and Spanish Pronunciation. Second ed. Redmond, WA: Diction for Singers.com, 2012.

Spelling IPA Symbol Ladino Spanish English Other

i [i] m i , i ja, amar i yo m i , i ja / b ee t f i n i t i (Italian) e [e] d e , e l, k e ro d e, e lla, p e ro _ l e gale (Italian) a [?] esp a nyol esp a ñol, a lm a _ b a s, â me (French) o [o] b o ka b oc a, o r o , canci ó n _ d o lce, s o spir o (Italian) u [u] kom u nidad com u nidad b oo t f u gare (Italian) u [w] f u ego, f u i, ag u a p u esta, c u arto _ g u erra (Italian) ö [ø] m ö syö _ _ h ö ren (German) ü [y] b ü ro _ _ f ü r, gr ü n (German)

VOWELS

Spelling IPA Symbol Ladino Spanish English Other

i [i] mi, ija, amariyo mi, ija / beet finiti (Italian)

e [e] de, el, kero de, ella, pero _ legale (Italian)

a [ɑ] espanyol español, alma _ bas, âme (French)

o [o] boka boca, oro, canción _ dolce, sospiro (Italian)

u [u] komunidad comunidad boot fugare (Italian)

u [w] fuego, fui, agua puesta, cuarto _ guerra (Italian)

ö [ø] mösyö _ _ hören (German)

ü [y] büro _ _ für, grün (German)

VOWELS

52

Spelling IPA Symbol Ladino Spanish English Other Explanation

b [b] barko, bever, djumba barco boy batti (Italian)

b [β] debasho tubo, haba _ _ between [b] and [v]

c [s] recintados, haces cerrar, cielo save souffler (French) preceding i, e

c [k] cuando, calleja, con castillo, corason carpet café (French) preceding a, o, u

ç [s] coraçón cerrar, cielo save souffler (French)

ch [tʃ] chiko, noche, muncho _ church certo (Italian)

d [d] despues, danyo, bodre después dog diva (Italian)

d [ð] dedo, boda mido, verdad those _

dj [dʒ] djente, djénero, adjile _ gender gentile (Italian)

f [f] fransé, faktor, bafo factor fair fato (Italian)

f [x] fui, esfuenyo gente _ Bach (German) between [k] and [h]

g [g] grande, guay, godro grande gallon gala (Italian)

g [dʒ] gente, género, gentil _ gender gentile (Italian) if a word begins with ge

g [ɣ] agua, djugueves fraguar, juego _ _ between [ɡ] and [h]

h [x] haham, hazino gente _ Hanukah (Hebrew) sometimes as [X]

j [ʒ] ijo, kaleja, mojado _ vision journal (French)

ǰ [dʒ] ǰusto _ just, gender gentile (Italian)

k [k] kuanto, ke, asukar cuanto, que carpet café (French)

kh [k] zekhut, malakhim cuanto, que carpet café (French)

ky [kj] kyöshé, kyuprí _ thank you _

l [l] luna, leche, kale luz leaf libertà (Italian)

ll [j] or [ʎ] ella, lluvia llama yes soleil, brillant (French)

m [m] mamá, kome, meza llama, mesa mother mentre (Italian)

n [n] numero, nada, lonso número never numero (Italian)

ny [ɲ] anyo, inyervos, Espanya año _ champagne (French)

ñ [ɲ] montañas año _ champagne (French)

p [p] papú, premio premio pebble porto (Italian)

r [ɾ] ratón, bodre, karo caro _ tesoro (Italian)

rr [r] perro, karro, borracho carro _ guerra (Italian)

s [s] sielo, sin, lonso cielo, sin save souffler (French)

s [z] rosa, casa musgo, hazlo zebra rosa, casa (Italian) between two vowels

s [z] frutas, noches musgo, hazlo zebra rosa, casa (Italian) if a word ends in s

sh [ʃ] kosho, disho, bushkar _ share scena (Italian)

š [ʃ] dišo _ share scena (Italian)

t [t] tadre, todo, tambien, pato también tender tanto (Italian)

v [v] bever, vozós, livro, vedre _ victory voce (Italian)

x [ʃ] kosho, disho, bushkar _ share scena (Italian)

y [j] yerva, luvya, ya, boyo llama year soleil, brillant (French)

z [z] meza, kaza, razon musgo, hazlo zebra rosa, casa (Italian)

ž [ʒ] ižo, mužer _ vision journal (French)

CONSONANTS

Table 5 Consonant Sounds in Ladino

53

5.3. MUSIC

As mentioned on Chapter 3, Sephardic songs that are arranged in the Western

classical tradition, as well as the original Sephardic vocal works of the 20th and 21st

centuries, are rooted in the folk song genre. Performances of traditional Sephardic

songs encourage creativity, as ornamentation and rhythmic freedom are two of the

essential musical characteristics of the genre. The Sephardic song repertoire was

orally preserved for centuries through oral transmission from generation to

generation; oral transmission encourages improvisation.

In his study of Isaac Levy’s Chants judeo-espagnols, Edwin Seroussi draws

attention to the elimination of non-tempered pitches as a result of piano being the

instrument of accompaniment, the structuring of free melodies with no clear pulse

into fixed rhythms, and simplified (and sometimes eliminated) melismas.63 He

concludes that the main stylistic elements of the traditional Sephardic songs were

naturally removed in the process of arranging them in the Western classical tradition.

A similar consequence is observed in the Spanish Art Song genre. While working on

a song64 by the Spanish composer Montsalvatge with the Latin American and Iberian

Art Song expert Patricia Caicedo, she frequently commented on my approach in

singing the motives that represented ornamentations. These motives were usually

groups of sixteenth notes, grouped in fours or fives. The feedback I got from her was

that I was simply singing them too accurately, in terms of rhythm. The notation was

there to provide the pitch sequence of that specific ornamentation; however, the

63 Seroussi, Edwin. “Reconstructing Sephardi Music in the 20th Century: Isaac Levy and his “Chants

judeo-espagnols.” The World of Music, Vol.37, No.1, 1995, p. 45. 64 The song was “Chevere” fromCinco Canciones Negras by Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002).

54

rhythm was meant to serve as a guide only and was supposed to be much freer. She

emphasizes this stylistic detail in her book as follows:

“Even when songs are printed in scores, in performance there are elements

that cannot be captured on paper: vocal inflections, pronunciation, particular

intonations, character, and pauses. All these subjective elements are derived

from the knowledge that the performer has of the work and its context; these

elements from the complex fabric of elements involved in the performance of

song…Style is nothing more than a reflection of culture and environment

projected onto a specific individual…as a result of their training process,

academically trained performers often lose intuitive skills needed to learn

melodies by ear, their ability to imitate vocal inflections and, in general, they

lose spontaneity and skills folk musicians have to learn by ear and imitation.

In addition to this, academic musicians are governed by written music, which

limits them to producing only sounds that are written on paper, losing sight of

the fact that musical notation was from the beginning, an attempt to capture

the music made by ear and the notation itself can not contain all the twists,

accents, intentions and emotionality of the sound experience.”65

Catalan composer and pianist Manuel García Morante supported this argument in my

personal interview with him on his 40 Canciones Sefardíes. Morante’s late wife,

Argentinian mezzo-soprano Myriam Alió, had a Sephardic heritage and sang many of

the traditional Sephardic songs in their home. Having collaborated with great classical

singers of his time, such as Victoria de los Ángeles, Conxita Badia, Carmen


Lexington Press, 2019, pp. 122-123, 133-134.

55

Busamente, and Myriam Alió, Morante was thoroughly familiar with the Western

classical vocal repertoire. Thus, as his wife sang these traditional Sephardic songs, he

enjoyed creating his original accompaniments to them, which were based on his

Western classical training and knowledge on the art song repertoire. Eventually, he

decided to notate these arrangements and publish them under the title 40 Canciones

Sefardíes. During our conversation about his work, Morante mentioned how these

Sephardic melodies had many ornamentations, which ended up being notated in a

rigid structure as a result of limitations that come with the Western classical notation.

When I inquired about how to approach singing them, he responded that the

ornamentations were meant to be sung in free and flexible rhythm, in accord with the

style.66

My research and observations suggest that both the singer and the

accompanying instruments are expected to be more flexible in rhythm in the

Sephardic Art Song genre, albeit within a stylistic context. Singers interested in

performing this repertoire should familiarize themselves with the stylistic elements

and performance practice of the Iberian Art Song repertoire, but also those of

zarzuelas, French foxtrots and chansons, tangos, Turkish songs, Greek tragoudis, and

other genres that influenced the Sephardic repertoire.67 This may result in

incorporating different vocal styles into the performance and experimenting with

vocal gestures and timbre. This goes without saying that healthy vocal production

should not be compromised in the process.

66 Morante, Manuel García. Personal interview. 3 July 2018. 67 Seroussi, Edwin. “The Growth of the Judeo-Spanish folksong repertory in the 20th century.”

Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies, Vol. Division D, Volume II: Art, Folklore and

Music, 1989, pp. 174-175.

56

5.4. AUDIENCE

Any performance can only be meaningful and successful, if the performers are

able to connect and communicate with the audience. It was argued in the introduction

of this dissertation that it is more likely for the audience to enjoy a musical

performance when they are able to identify themselves with some aspect of the

performance, and when they find the performance to be authentic. If so, in selection

of recital repertoire, it is worth taking into consideration who the audience might be.

In their book, Art of the Song Recital, Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sonntag divide

the art song recital audience into two; the musically sophisticated, more

comprehending listeners, and the popular audience. They further categorize the

popular audience as follows:

“… (1) those who have been attracted by the program because the music is

most important to them; (2) those who are supporters of the singer—fans,

relatives, students; (3) those who are, at best, curious to hear and assess the

singer’s skills; (4) those who have been brought to the concert by someone

else, perhaps even against their will; and (5) those who are basically inimical,

with a “show-me” state of mind.”68

Art of the Song Recital was published in 1979 and the book highlights some salient

points that are still appropriate in the 21st century; however, I would argue that the

21st-century recital audience is comparatively much more diverse. This may be a

positive result of the more diverse and continuously expanding art song repertoire in

our current day. As mentioned before, today, the Western classical recital repertoire

68 Emmons, Shirlee & Sonntag, Stanley. The Art of the Song Recital. New York: Schirmer Books,

1979, p. 24.

57

encompasses opera, operetta, oratorio, art song, musical theater, and sometimes even

the folk songs and popular music genres. Art song in and of itself is now a rather rich

genre, sometimes adopting works and melodies from other genres. Folk songs have

inspired the Western classical composers for centuries.

In her book, Caicedo describes the audiences of different song genres, such as

art song, folk song, and popular song. She discusses how the art song audience tends

to be members of elite, upper-middle class and/or highly educated communities, who

are rather familiar with the literature, characteristics of the genre, and performance

practices. The art song audience also refrains from actively participating in the

performance and show their appreciation by applauding between songs or sets/cycles.

The folk song audience, on the other hand, tends to belong to middle or lower social

groups, and they tend to actively participate in the performance by singing along,

clapping hands, and moving their bodies.69 Thus, Caicedo concludes that folk song

performances allow more flexibility in communication with the audience.

The traditional and popular Sephardic song performances exhibit this

flexibility. Throughout the centuries, these songs were only sung in intimate spaces,

such as the homes of the Sephardim and small community spaces, and mostly in life

cycle events, such as weddings. Hand-clapping and singing along have always been

contributions of the audience to the performance. Jessica Roda’s observations of the

audience during a performance of Sephardic songs by the group Presenya in Paris, in

2009, are as follows:

69 Caicedo, Patricia. Los sonidos de las naciones imaginadas: La canción artística latinoamericana en

el contexto del nacionalismo musical. Barcelona: Mundo Arts and Fundación Autor, 2018, pp. 185-

189.

58

“Throughout the performance, I observed the active participation of the

audience as they sang and swayed to the music, chattered enthusiastically with

one another, smiles and interacted with the artists on stage. The interaction

and dialogue that occur between the artists and the audience facilitated the

transmission and reception of the songs. Such performances confirm the

exchange of knowledge from musicians to audience members. … For the

artists, these moments of sharing and communicating with the community are

extremely significant because they not only validate their art, but also

legitimize their performance of Sephardic heritage. To be recognized as artists

of the Sephardic musical tradition, they need to forge a relationship with

members of the community, who express their agreement, disagreement,

satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the performance. This active participation

of audience members through words, gestures, clapping and singing serves to

validate their involvement with the performers.”70

How can we achieve such communication with an audience in the Western

classical performances of the Sephardic repertoire, considering the conventions of the

art song performance that do not allow such flexibility? At this point, it might be a

good idea to go back to the question, “who is the audience?” Questions, such as the

following, may help in determining who might be attending the performance. Are the

Sephardic songs being programmed with some other art song repertoire, such as Lied

and mélodie? Are they programmed as a section of an Iberian and Latin American Art

Song recital? Or perhaps as a section of a recital of folk songs arranged in the


France." Théologiques vol. 24, no. 2, 2016, pp. 113-114.

59

Western tradition? What is the instrumentation of the selected repertoire? Is the

recital repertoire consisted of exclusively Sephardic songs? Where will this recital be

performed? What is the performance space like? Is it a big concert hall or is it an

intimate space? Is the stage leveled above the audience or at the same level as the

audience? Is the recital a part of a festival? Does the festival have a theme?

The Sephardic Art Song repertoire not only consists of works for voice and

one accompanying instrument, such as piano, guitar, harp, violin, and viola, but also

of works for voice and chamber ensemble and voice and orchestra. These works also

form a hypothetical spectrum with the folk song genre on one end and the

conventional Western European art song genre on the other; some of the Western

classical arrangements are closer to the folk genre in sound, range, instrumentation,

and simplicity, while some are closer to the art song end of the spectrum in similar

parameters and the works’ harmonic complexities. Depending on context, repertoire

can be selected from this variety to better serve the audience. Perhaps the works on

the folk song side of the spectrum could be performed in a more flexible manner,

even with contributions from the audience, whereas the conventional art song

performance practices could be preserved for those works that are on the other end of

the spectrum.

In my own Sephardic Art Song recitals, I observed that the audience members

were intrigued by this unique and beautiful repertoire; although many were not

familiar with the Sephardic culture, nor the music. I have also experienced a certain

connection with the Jewish audience members, who have expressed a feeling of

nostalgia, home, and belonging after listening to these songs. Without doubt, this

60

repertoire is unique and fascinating for many, and will certainly add a different flavor

to any recital program.

61

CHAPTER 6: PERFORMANCES

6.1. RECITAL 1 – PROGRAM NOTES71

APRIL 28, 2017

LEAH SMITH LECTURE HALL

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK

Cinco Canciones Sefardíes Lorenzo Palomo

I. Linda de mi corasón (Canción sefardí) (b. 1938)

II. Nani (Canción de cuna sefardí)

III. Pequeña serenata sefardí

IV. Romance sefardí

V. Nana sefardí

Jeremy Lyons, guitar

~

Lecture: Sephardic Art Song: A Musical Legacy of the Sephardic Diaspora – Part I

~

Canciones Sefarditas Manuel Valls

I. La rosa enflorece (1920-1984)

II. Ven querida, ven amada

III. Adio, querida

IV. Durme, durme

V. Paxaro d’hermozura

VI. Abrix, mi galanica

VII. Irme quiero, la mi madre

VIII. Ya viene el cativo

Jeremy Lyons, guitar & Caroline Rohm, flute

8 Sephardic Songs Andrew Zohn

VIII. Montañas altas (b.1970)

VI. Fel sharah canet betet masha

Jeremy Lyons, guitar

71 Text and translations can be found in Appendix B.

62

6.1.1. Lorenzo Palomo, Cinco Canciones Sefardíes (2006)

Lorenzo Palomo (b.1938) is a contemporary Spanish composer and conductor.

Lorenzo Palomo is a contemporary Spanish composer and conductor. He currently

lives in Berlin, Germany, where he had been a member of the music staff of the

Berlin Opera (Deutsche Oper Berlin) as conductor and pianist from 1981 to 2004. As

a composer, Palomo’s works display strong influences of his native Cordoba, as well

as the life-style and music of Andalusia that embrace many diverse cultures. He

further enjoys combining these diverse musical elements with the passionate

flamenco style. Palomo has become a musical ambassador for Spain with his more

than 200 works for piano, chorus, orchestra, voice and guitar, which have been

performed all around the world. One of his most famous works is his Spanish Songs,

which was premiered by Montserrat Caballé (b.1933) at the Carnegie Hall in New

York, in 1987. His Madrigal y Cinco Canciones sefardíes was premiered by Ofelia

Sala (soprano) and Maria Smirnova (harp) at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2004.

I will let Palomo present you the following work in his own words: “Writing

the present work, I primarily intended to preserve its magic, simplicity and traditional

character. Canciones sefardíes are melodies, which have been left Spain by Jewish

music. They especially captivate by their enormous simplicity. Subject is always love,

pain of unrequited love, the history of a young love or a lullaby. All of these songs

exude purity and tenderness.”72

72 Palomo, Lorenzo. Madrigal y Cinco Canciones Sefardíes. Score. FH 3251. Leipzig: Friedrich

Hofmeister Musikverlag, 2006.

63

6.1.2. Manuel Valls, Canciones Sefarditas (1975)

Manuel Valls (1920-1984) was a Catalan composer, pianist, music critic and

educator. He achieved success as a composer through his symphonic, choral, chamber

works, as well as operas, art songs, and works for solo piano, while simultaneously

teaching composition at the University of Barcelona and writing music reviews for

the daily newspaper El País. His Canciones Sefarditas is a collection of popular

Sephardic tunes arranged for voice, flute and guitar. Just like Lorenzo Palomo, Valls

clearly intended to preserve the simplicity of these folk tunes and to evoke a medieval

atmosphere through his selection of instruments and treatment of harmony.

Although each song has multiple verses, Valls preferred to treat his

arrangements more as little appetizers instead of entire meals. The set includes one of

the most popular Sephardic love songs, La rosa enflorece (Los bilbilicos), and a

farewell to the loved one, Adio querida, among other love songs, songs of longing

and a lullaby. Those who are familiar with Verdi’s La Traviata may find similarities

between Adio querida and the aria Addio del passato. Although some suggest that

Verdi may have been inspired by this beautiful Sephardic song, it is quite the

opposite. A portion of the Sephardic song repertoire can be traced back to the

medieval times; however, a large number of these songs were altered or created (or

recreated) throughout the history under the influence of the surroundings of the

scattered Sephardim communities. In this particular case, the Sephardic tune is

derived from the famous Verdi aria.73

73 Madsen, Catherine. “In Search of Sephardic Music.” Pakn treger No. 48, Summer 2005/5765.

Retrieved 17 March 2017, from http://www.klezmershack.com/articles/madsen/bresler/

64

6.1.3. Andrew Zohn, 8 Sephardic Songs (2011)

Andrew Zohn (b.1970) is an American guitarist and composer, internationally

recognized for his performances. He is currently a faculty member at the Schwob

School of Music (Columbus State University) in Georgia. Zohn began composing for

the guitar in 1998 and published his 8 Sephardic Songs for voice and guitar in 2011.

The reason I picked the following two songs among the eight is because I

think that they will provide a different flavor when compared to the previous

repertoire presented on the program. Montañas altas is simply another song of

yearning and desire for the beloved. Fel sharah canet betet masha, on the other hand,

is quite an interesting tune. It is interesting for it is referred to as “a secret world hit

with many names, a tune that can be traced all over South Eastern Europe and in

some parts of the Mediterranean area, the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia, the

Far East and North America.” It has not yet been proved where it exactly came

from—or when and by whom it was originally written—and it has been suggested

that the origins of the melody are either Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian,

Bulgarian, Chinese, Greek, Iranian, Scottish, Sephardic (Ladino), Serbian or Turkish

or that the song was brought by the Crusaders. There is even a documentary named

Whose is this song? in which a lady named Adeela Peeva follows the route of this

song, which she had thought to be Bulgarian until she is told one day in Istanbul that

it is Greek (by a Greek) - Serbian (by a Serb) or Turkish (by a Turk) respectively.

Throughout the film, she traces the tune in Greece, Turkey and all over the Balkans.74

74 Peeva, Adela. "Adela Media Film and TV Production Company." Whose is This Song? - Adela

Media. Accessed April 25, 2017. http://www.adelamedia.net/movies/whose-is-this-song.php.

65


NOVEMBER 16, 2017

GILDENHORN RECITAL HALL


Lecture: Sephardic Art Song: A Musical Legacy of the Sephardic Diaspora – Part II

~ intermission ~

Canciones Sefardíes José Antonio (Aita) de Donostia

I. Levantéis vos (1886-1956)

II. Descanso de mi vida

III. Pájaro de hermosura

Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques Joaquín Nin-Culmell

I. Yo bolí de foja en foja (1908-2004)

~

Three Sephardic Songs Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

I. Montañas altas y marinadas (1895-1986)

II. Ven y veràs

III. Una noche yo me armi

~

40 Canciones Sefardies Manuel García Morante

I. Cuando el rey Nimrod (b.1937)

II. Pregoneros van y vienen

III. Una tadre fresquita de Mayo

IV. Adio, querida

~

Coplas Sefardies Alberto Hemsi

I. No paséch por la mi sala, Op.7-3 (1898-1975)

II. Arboles lloran por luvia, Op. 51-2

III. Ansí dize la nuestra novia, Op.7-8

Alex Chan, piano

75 Text and translations can be found on Appendix B.

66

6.2.1. José Antonio (Aita) de Donostia, Canciones Sefardíes (1941)

Donostia (1886-1956) was a Basque ethnomusicologist and composer, who

can be found in scholarly resources by various names (Aita Donostia, José Gonzalo

Zulaica Arregui, Father Donostia, and Father San Sebastian). I found out about

Donostia through a Basque soprano friend, Olatz Saitua, whom I met this past

summer at The Science of the Singing Voice program in Sweden. As soon as I

mentioned my dissertation to her, she told me about Donostia and his Sephardic

songs, and generously sent me the musical score of Canciones Sefardíes (1941) later

on.

Donostia studied civil and ecclesiastical subjects, as well as harmony and

composition, at the Capuchin College in Lecároz, in the late 19th century; however, he

was a largely self-taught composer. Upon his ordination as a priest in 1908, he began

teaching at the Capuchin College. During this time, he also collected and studied

Basque popular songs and pursued his interest in composing. He supplemented his

interest by taking harmony, counterpoint, and composition lessons from various

musicians, but he also studied Gregorian chant, the influence of which is prevalent in

his Sephardic songs. In 1918, he travelled to Madrid and Paris in pursuit of a musical

career. It is notable that he got to meet Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and Albert

Roussel (1869-1937) during his travels, and to study with Vincent d’Indy (1851-

1931) and Eugène Cools (1877-1936).

Donostia’s music is based on two elements: Gregorian chant and Basque

popular song. Although he was initially influenced by Romanticism, his acquaintance

with French Impressionism “led to a more personal and refined language, with a

67

concise expressiveness.”76 He has numerous sacred vocal works; however, he

achieved more popularity through his Basque choral music and Preludios vascos for

piano. He published two books of compilations of Basque songs, which together

include about 2000 melodies.77

The songs you will hear today are from his Canciones Sefardíes, which is a

set of five songs, although there are ten songs mentioned in Donostia’s introduction to

the set. They are simple in character and speak of love and pain of unrequited love.

6.2.2. Joaquín Nin-Culmell, Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques (1982)

Joaquín Nin-Culmell (1908-2004) was a Cuban-American pianist, composer

and an emeritus professor of music at the University of California, Berkeley. He was

born into a musical family in Berlin, Germany. His father was the Cuban composer

and pianist Joaquín Nin (1879-1949) and his mother was Rosa Culmell, a Cuban

singer of French and Danish descent. Nin-Culmell moved to New York at the age of

six with his mother, only to return to Europe nine years later. He began his studies in

music in Barcelona with Conchita Badía (1897-1975), who was a Spanish pianist and

composer, as well as a former student of Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Manuel de

Falla (1876-1946), and Pablo Casals (1876-1973). Nin-Culmell later studied piano,

harmony, counterpoint and fugue, and composition at the Schola Cantorum and the

Paris Conservatory, where his teachers included Paul Dukas (1865-1935), Alfred

Cortot (1877-1962), and Ricardo Viñes (1875-1943). He also had the opportunity to

76 Itziar Larrinaga. "Donostia, José Antonio de." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford

University Press, accessed November 1, 2017,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/08009. 77 Ibid.

68

study with Manuel de Falla, and premiered his Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas in

1936. After moving back to the US in 1939, Nin-Culmell taught at a couple of

institutions before he became a faculty member at the University of California,

Berkley, in 1950. He continued to compose, premiere the works of Spanish

composers, and perform as a concert pianist internationally during his lifetime.

Nin-Culmell’s Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques is a set of six songs

composed in 1982. Nin-Culmell dedicates the set to the Jewish martyrs in Latin: “In

memoriam omnium martyrum iudaeorum,” which also serves as his description of the

set. These songs are also simple in character and quite straightforward dramatically

and stylistically. Although the songs are vocally simple as well, the melismatic vocal

lines with little ornaments of grace notes and intervals of augmented seconds create a

Middle Eastern soundscape with hints of a Spanish flavor.

6.2.3. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Three Sephardic Songs (1959)

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1986) was an Italian composer, pianist,

music critic and essayist of Sephardic descent. Throughout his lifetime, he credited

his musical talent to his maternal grandfather, who had a great influence on

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s musical development throughout his childhood. He received

his formal training in piano and composition at the Cherubini Royal Institute of

Music in Florence and Liceo Musicale of Bologna. Even in the early years of his

musical career, he became acknowledged as a prolific composer with exceptional

gifts. In 1925, many years after his grandfather’s death, he found a small book of

manuscripts of his grandfather’s musical settings of several Hebrew prayers. These

69

manuscripts became a source of both musical and philosophical inspiration for

Castelnuovo-Tedesco and triggered his interest in using Jewish themes in his

compositions.78 In 1939, he moved to New York with his family due to the increasing

anti-semitic activity in Italy. About a year later, he moved to California and signed a

contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer that began his relationship with several

Hollywood studios and his career as a film composer.79

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s catalogue includes songs, operas, oratorios, ballets,

choral and orchestral works, works for guitar, piano, and chamber ensembles. His

compositions display traces of Impressionism, neo-Romanticism, and some neo-

Classicism; however, there were four major influences in his work: works of

Shakespeare, Jewish music, Tuscan folksongs and poetry, and his devotion to his

adopted country, the US.80

His Three Sephardic Songs for voice and piano (or harp) was published in

1959. The first song in the set, Montañas altas is a love song of yearning and desire.

According to Israel J. Katz, the song does not exist in any of the published Sephardic

song collections, and therefore, it is probably a more recent tune – possibly a

translation of a Turkish or Greek song.81 The second song, Ven y verás, is more

commonly known as Arboles lloran por luvia. This particular tune exists in multiple

versions, some of which are clearly interpreted as love songs, whereas some

78 Lakeway, Ruth. C. and Robert C. White. Italian Art Song. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,

1989, pp. 258-260. 79 Westby, James. "Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford

University Press, accessed November 6, 2017,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/05128. 80 Lakeway, Ruth. C. and Robert C. White. Italian Art Song, 1989. 81 Meizel, Katherine L. Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic Tradition in Art Song. Thesis, Ph.D.,

University of California, Santa Barbara, 2004, pp. 41-45.

70

emphasize elements of lament. I have included Alberto Hemsi’s arrangement of this

song in the program today to present two different interpretations of the same song.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s setting is a song about love and longing for the loved one.

The third and last song, Una noche yo me armí, is more commonly known as

Ventanas altas. In her research on Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s setting, Katherine Meizel

found out that this song is documented as a wedding song among the Jewish

communities. Moreover, the melody of this song is derived from a popular Greek

song carried by Salonikan immigrants to Jerusalem in the 19th century, and the text is

a combination of this song from Salonika and text from another song, Ni blanca ni

morena.82 The original traditional version of Ventanas altas has a very rhythmic

quality; however, Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s setting dismisses the rhythmic quality of

this song and creates an entirely different atmosphere with his arpeggiated chords and

fluid piano accompaniment.

6.2.4. Manuel García Morante, 40 Canciones Sefardies (1983)

Morante (b.1937) is a living pianist and composer, born in Barcelona, Spain.

Upon completion of his musical studies in Barcelona, and then Paris, he began his

career as a pianist. He collaborated with renowned singers, such as Victoria de los

Ángeles, Carmen Bustamante, and Conchita Badia on international recitals. He began

to focus more on composition from 1979 on and worked on his vocal compositions

with his wife, the Argentinian mezzo-soprano Myriam Alió. His vocal compositions

include five operas and 554 art songs. About half of Morante’s art songs are

82 Ibid.

71

arrangements of traditional Catalan, Asturian, Sephardic, Mallorcan, Andalusian,

Japanese, Cantabrian, and Irish songs.83

His 40 Canciones Sefardies was published in 1983. Unfortunately, the

collection has received some criticism by the great scholars of Sephardic song, such

as Israel J. Katz and Samuel G. Armistead, for not being truly original, as Morante

has made some changes in the original texts and has altered prosody as well. The

melodies are borrowed from traditional Sephardic songs; however, some of

Morante’s arrangements alter the character and undertones of these songs

significantly. Despite the fact that the arrangements are rather westernized and

possess less of the traditional Sephardic flavor, I think they are still quite unique in

character. Instead of displaying the folky attributes of these songs and keeping the

simplicity of them, Morante prefers to paint atmospheres and scenes with the piano

accompaniment. He enhances the text with some rather haunting harmonies and

melodies supplemented by the piano.

My selection of songs from the Morante collection is solely based on my

desire to present you songs from a wide range of the Sephardic repertoire. I tried my

best to pick the songs that I thought would complement the rest of the program in

terms of theme and character. Cuando el rey Nimrod is a very popular narrative song

on the birth of Abraham, the biblical prophet. Pregoneros van y vienen is a rather

haunting war song. These two songs will be followed by Una tadre fresquita de

Mayo, which Israel Katz refers to as a modern and picaresque song. The light, lyrical

83 Tritó Edicions (n.d.). Manuel García Morante (1937). Retrieved November 02, 2017, from

https://www.trito.es/en/composers/30252/manuel-garcia-morante

72

character of this song will lighten up the mood before the somber, but beautiful Adío

querida, which is a farewell to the loved one.

6.2.5. Alberto Hemsi, Coplas Sefardies (1933-1973)

Alberto Hemsi, in my opinion, is one of the most significant composers in the

Sephardic Art Song genre, if not the most. His contribution to the genre goes well

beyond his Coplas sefardies (1933-1973), which is a compilation of about sixty

arrangements of Sephardic songs in ten opuses. In the early 20th century, a number of

musicologists and folklorists showed interest in collecting and transcribing the

Sephardic folk songs of the Ladino-speaking Mediterranean Jews. Hemsi was one of

the handful of them, who traveled from country to country and town to town to

interview Sephardic communities, and transcribed over several hundreds of song

fragments and texts. What puts Hemsi apart from the other scholars is his more

westernized approach in his notation and arrangements, which I believe qualifies

these songs to be considered among the classical art song repertoire. Irene Heskes

states in her review of Hemsi’s songs that “Hemsi refers to a strong historic

continuity with the Iberian past as inherent to the song texts. Melodically, however,

he renders transcriptions in a more westernized notation, thereby moving away from

an essence of old Hispanic and Near Eastern melos and modality.”84

Another reason why I became particularly drawn to Hemsi’s work is because

he was from Turgutlu (a.k.a. Cassaba in the Ottoman Empire), a district in Manisa, in

Turkey, which is just outside my hometown, Izmir. Hemsi was born into an Italian

84 Heskes, Irene. Notes, vol. 56, no. 2, 1999, pp. 496–500. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/900052.

73

Sephardic family in Turgutlu, and he studied composition with Shemtov Shikayar and

cantorial music with Isaac Algazi (1889-1950, also a collector of Sephardic folk

songs) at the Société Musicale Israélite in Izmir. He received a scholarship to study at

the Milan Conservatory, where he studied theory, solfège, orchestration, history,

composition, and piano, until his studies were interrupted by war service. After

serving in the Italian army during World War I and getting severely injured, he

returned to Izmir in 1919, and began his career as a pianist, choral conductor, and

music teacher. By 1920, he had already begun to collect and transcribe the Sephardic

songs and poems in Izmir and Rhodes. He then extended his research to Thessaloniki,

Jerusalem and Alexandria.

Hemsi’s Coplas comprise both romances (ballads) and cantigas (songs). His

collection is rich of themes and characters, and includes life-cycle songs, lullabies,

serenades, dirges, and love songs, as well as Biblical, religious and paraliturgical

compositions. The selections you will hear today are two wedding songs (No.1 & 3)

and a love song (No.2).


FEBRUARY 24, 2018

ULRICH RECITAL HALL


Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes Joaquín Rodrigo

I. Respóndemos (1901-1999)

II. Una pastora yo ami

III. Nani, nani

IV. “Morena” me llaman

Alex Chan, piano

85 Text and translations can be found on Appendix B.

74

~

Seven Sephardic Romances Yehezkel Braun

I. Don Amadi (1922-2014)

II. Esta Rachel la estimoza

IV. Durme, durme

VI. Dime Rozina

VII. Morenica a mi me llaman

Alex Chan, piano

~

Sephardic Songs Frederic Hand

I. El Rey de Francia (b.1947)

III. Adio Querida

IV. A la una yo naci

Meghan Shanley, flute & Jeremy Lyons, guitar & Shawn Alger, double bass

~ intermission ~

Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes Wolf Simoni

I. Alma y Vida y Coraçon (1907-1991)

II. Tres Hermanicas

III. Canción de Cuna

IV. Abraham Avinu

Alex Chan, piano

~

Two Sephardic Songs William Kenlon

I. La rosa huele (b.1983)

Emily Robinson, clarinet & Alex Chan, piano

~

Rodas Recordada Sid Robinovitch

(b.1942)

Juliana Franco, soprano & William Kenlon, baritone & Emily Robinson, clarinet

Jeremy Lyons, guitar & Carol Anne Bosco, cello

75

6.3.1. Joaquín Rodrigo, Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965)

Rodrigo’s Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes is where my dissertation journey

began. Therefore, it is only appropriate for my final dissertation recital to begin with

this set. As I had mentioned in my previous recitals, I found out about this set of four

songs through a student in the undergraduate Vocal Literature class I was assisting in

three years ago. I have to thank Sofiya Schug (student then, friend now), who knew

about my Sephardic heritage and thought that I would be interested in performing

these songs someday. This finding led me to further investigate whether there were

other 20th- or 21st-century vocal works in the Western classical music tradition that

could be traced back to a Sephardic influence. Not only have I found sufficient

amount of works to create a dissertation out of them, but I have also discovered so

many vocal works in this genre that I ended up having to create a catalog to be able to

keep track of them. Through my dissertation work, I hope to draw attention to the

revival of Sephardic ballads in the 20th and 21st centuries as Sephardic Arts Songs.

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was one of the ten children of a Catholic

Valencian family. He lost his eyesight at the age of three as a result of a diphtheria

epidemic. He began studying music at a young age with Eduardo López Chávarri

(1871-1970), who was a well-known composer, folklorist, and writer at the

Conservatorio de Valencia at the time. He also studied composition and harmony

with Francisco Antich (1860-1926) in Valencia. By the time he began traveling

throughout Europe in 1920, he had already become an excellent pianist and a good

violinist. In 1927, he began his studies at Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris as a

student of Paul Dukas (1865-1935). He lived mainly in France until after the Spanish

76

Civil War and returned home in 1939.86 While in Paris, he developed friendships with

other Spaniards living there, including Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). Falla was the

one to encourage Rodrigo “to compose nationalistic music that would employ

Spanish dance rhythms, gypsy and Moorish melodies, and accompanimental effects

of the guitar.”87 Another name that influenced Rodrigo’s career and compositional

style was Victoria Kamhi (1905-1997), whom he met in Paris in the late 20s. In his

program notes about Rodrigo, James Loeffler refers to their relationship as a

“turbulent romance,” and mentions the many obstacles they faced before their

marriage in 1933, such as religious differences, financial concerns, family opposition,

war, and exile.88 Evidently, Victoria Kamhi was a Turkish pianist of Sephardic

descent and was born into a cosmopolitan, well-to-do Istanbul Jewish family. Loeffler

speaks of her as “a proud, independent woman reluctant to relinquish her career or

conceal her religious background,” who found it challenging to share the household

with Rodrigo’s traditional, rural Spanish family. After World War II, Rodrigo

emerged as the leading Spanish composer as a result of the tremendous success of his

works. He composed in a wide spectrum of genres for voice, guitar, orchestra, choir,

piano, and other instruments. When Spanish folklorist and literary scholar Ramón

Menédez Pidal (1869-1968) suggested that Rodrigo arrange some Sephardic ballads,

he composed his choral work Dos Canciones Sefardíes del Siglo XV in 1950.89 This

86 Cockburn, Jacqueline, and Richard Stokes. The Spanish Song Companion. Lanham, MD: The

Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006. 87 Draayer, Suzanne R. A Singer’s Guide to the Songs of Joaquin Rodrigo. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow

Press, 1999. 88 Loeffler, James. “Piety and Passion: The Musical Legacy of Jewish Spain” Program notes for

Rodrigo’s Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes. The Amernet Quartet with special guests. Washington, D.C.:

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Terrace Theater, November 23, 2015. 89 Ibid.

77

was followed by his Cuatro Canciones Sefaradíes (1965) for voice and piano, which

was premiered by the Venezuelan soprano Fedora Alemán (b.1912) in November

1965.

Cuatro Canciones Sefaradíes is a set of four songs with anonymous Sephardic

texts adapted by Rodrigo’s wife Victoria Kamhi, who was familiar with the Ladino

language. The set begins with Respóndemos, a prayer of supplication. Rodrigo

dedicates the song to Victoria’s father Isaac Kamhi. Loeffler argues that this

dedication is “a gesture of posthumous reconciliation,” as Isaac Kamhi had

disapproved of his daughter’s marriage outside the faith. The second song, Una

pastora yo ami, is a lament of unrequited love and a fairly modern song that is a

translation from Modern Greek.90 Nani, nani is an old romance, a classic Sephardic

lullaby. The set ends with an old, traditional lyric song about a Moorish girl,

“Morena” me llaman, which was documented in Spain as early as the 16th century

and in Sephardic tradition from the late-18th century.91 Loeffler presents this song as

“a complex folk meditation on the links between community and violence among

Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Spain’s medieval past,” which he believes is

conveyed through the speaker’s description of walking through the town’s streets.

In her book, A Singer’s Guide to the Songs of Joaquin Rodrigo, Suzanne

Rhodes Draayer describes Rodrigo as “a neo-Classical composer, favoring ancient

legends as well as modern poetry, set in traditional art song style. … Rodrigo’s songs

meld the old with the new—supreme lyricism, harmonic as well as nonharmonic

90 Armistead, Samuel, et al. “Another Anthology of Sephardic Folksongs (Review Essay).” Musica

Judaica vol. 7, no. 1, 1985, pp. 58-72. 91 Ibid.

78

dissonance, and a fine sense of poetic line.”92 Cuatro Canciones Sefaradíes is an

excellent representation of his compositional approach in the art song genre, as well

as his love of languages, literature, and history.

6.3.2. Yehezkel Braun, Seven Sephardic Romances (1968)

Yehezkel Braun (1922-2014) was born in Breslau, Germany, which is now

known as Wroclaw and belongs to Poland. When he was two, his family immigrated

to Palestine, where he began his musical studies at an early age. He studied at the

Israel Academy of Music (a.k.a. Buchmann-Mehta School of Music of Tel Aviv

University) in Tel Aviv, under the tutelage of Alexander Uriah Boskovich (1907-

1964). He later taught at his alma mater between1953-1990, during which time he

also served as the director for three years (1979-1981). In addition to his musical

studies, Braun also earned a Master’s degree in Greek and Latin philology at Tel

Aviv University. His interest in Hebrew and Gregorian chant led him to spend a year

(1975) at the Benedictine Monastery at Solesmes, France, where he studied Gregorian

chant with Dom Jean Claire (1920-2006).

Braun is now known as an Israeli composer and scholar, who belongs to the

generation of Israeli composers following Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) and Marc

Lavry (1903-1967).93 Ben-Haim and Lavry were immigrant composers that had

escaped Nazi Germany and they had actively sought ways to create a national sound

in their compositions through incorporating elements of Jewish and Middle-eastern

92 Draayer, Suzanne R. A Singer’s Guide to the Songs of Joaquin Rodrigo, 1999. 93 Levin, Neil W. “Yehezkel Braun.” Retrieved January 15, 2018, from

https://www.naxos.com/person/Yehezkel_Braun/26223.htm

79

music. Sharing a similar approach, Braun’s fascination with medieval chant,

traditional Jewish and Eastern-Mediterranean music, Israeli folk music, and Hebrew

poetry is evident in his works. His catalogue comprises vocal and instrumental works,

as well as music for film, theater, and dance.94 He also compiled and edited an

anthology of traditional Jewish melodies.95

Although Braun has several works that has elements of 12-tone style, his

songs are quite simple in character. His Seven Sephardic Romances (1968) are also

simple arrangements of Sephardic ballads, which are dramatically and stylistically

quite straightforward. These songs are reminiscent of the arrangements by José

Antonio de Donostia (1886-1956) and Joaquín Nin-Culmell (1908-2004) that you had

heard in my previous recital. Similarly, the melismatic vocal lines with little

ornaments of grace notes and intervals of augmented seconds create a Middle Eastern

soundscape with hints of a Spanish flavor.

Don Amadi is a version of the Medieval ballad La vuelta del marido (the

return of the husband), in which we encounter a hopeless wife faithfully waiting for

her missing husband’s return.96 It is followed by a wedding song, Esta Rachel la

estimoza, the story of another honest and faithful wife. I decided to exclude the third

song in the set, Nani, nani, as the setting was very similar to that of Rodrigo’s you

have just heard. However, I kept the second cradle song in the set, Durme, durme,

which is a beautiful setting of the traditional Sephardic lullaby. Dime Rozina is a

pretty little song, an expression of passionate love for a lady named Rozina. The set

94 The National Library of Israel. “Yehezkel Braun.” Retrieved January 15, 2018, from

http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/music/archives/detailed_archives/Pages/Yehezkel_Braun.aspx 95 Levin, Neil W. “Yehezkel Braun.” 96 Armistead, Samuel, et al. “Another Anthology of Sephardic Folksongs (Review Essay).” Musica

Judaica vol. 7, no. 1, 1985, pp. 58-72.

80

ends with Morenica a mi me llaman. Although you have just heard Rodrigo’s

arrangement of this song, I decided to keep it, as Braun’s setting is rather different in

character and text.

6.3.3. Frederic Hand, Sephardic Songs (1996)

Frederic Hand (b.1947) is a living American composer, arranger, guitarist, and

lutenist, from Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music

in New York, where he has been a faculty member since 1972. Hand also received a

Fulbright scholarship to study with English virtuoso classical guitarist and lutenist

Julian Bream (b.1933) in England. Since then, he has toured both as a soloist and with

his ensemble, Jazzantiqua, throughout North and South America, as well as Europe,

served as head of the guitar departments at SUNY Purchase and Bennington College,

and taught masterclasses and had residencies at the New England Conservatory of

Music, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Cleveland Institute of Music, Emory

University, and University of California at Santa Barbara, Colorado State, Miami

University and University North Carolina. Hand has also been the appointed guitarist

and lutenist with the Metropolitan Opera since 1984, having performed with

renowned singers as Placido Domingo (b.1941) and Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007).

His accomplishments include a Grammy nomination and an Emmy award.97

As a composer and arranger, his works have been published throughout the

world. His catalogue comprises vocal and instrumental works in a variety of genres,

including music for film and television. According to New Focus Recordings, Hand’s

97 Hand, Frederic. Biography, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://www.frederichand.com/biography/

81

compositions are difficult to categorize, as they “draw from various styles including

early music, Irish music, new age, contemporary composition, and jazz.”98 In 1995,

he was commissioned by the Seacliff Chamber Players to compose new settings of a

group of Sephardic songs. His Sephardic Songs for soprano, flute, guitar and double

bass was published in 1996, and comprises four songs, although the original

instrumentation had cello instead of a double bass. The cello part was transcribed for

the double bass later by double bass virtuoso and composer Norman Ludwin

(b.1956). In his notes about this set, Hand mentions his performance of Manuel

Valls’s Canciones Sefarditas, which I had performed on my first dissertation recital

last year. One particular song among Valls’s arrangements had stayed with Hand over

the years, which happens to be one of my favorite Sephardic songs as well. It is an

absolute pleasure to perform yet another arrangement of Adio Querida, which

includes an extra verse that is often excluded in other settings. Today, we will also

perform the first and last songs of the set. El Rey de Francia is a traditional, narrative

Sephardic song about one of the daughters of the King of France. In the story, she

shares her dream with her mother, who interprets it for her. Hand’s setting only offers

the introductory verse of the ballad. A la una yo naci is another popular Sephardic

song that can be found under different titles and in various arrangements. Wolf

Simoni’s setting of it will offer a different flavor, which you will hear after the

intermission.

98 Hand, C. W. Frederic Hand: Odyssey | Catalogue. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/frederic-hand-odyssey/

82

6.3.4. Wolf Simoni, Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes (1935/36)

Wolf Simoni (1907-1991) is a German composer with Italian heritage. He is

more commonly known by the name “Louis Saguer,” as he took this name after he

fled the Nazi Germany and became a French citizen in 1947.99 He began his musical

studies in piano and composition with two students of Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924),

including Gino Tagliapietra (1887-1954). He moved to Paris in 1929, where he

studied orchestration with Louis Aubert (1877-1968) and composition with Arthur

Honneger (1892-1955) and Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). Before settling in France in

1933, he returned to Berlin to study with Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) and worked as

an assistant to Hans Eisler (1898-1962). In Paris, he achieved success with his

performances of contemporary works on radio broadcasts as a pianist and

harpsichordist. He introduced contemporary works to audiences, including works by

Boulez, Dutilleux, and Messiaen, and accompanied renowned singers of his time.100

He has also made important contributions to the classical music world with his

compositions, which comprise both vocal and instrumental works. According to

Grove Music dictionary, “his most notable awards include the Grand Prix de Monaco

(1964) for the opera Mariana Pinéda, the first prize of the American Association of

99 Olivier, Philippe. “The Fate of Professional French Jewish Musicians Under the Vichy Regime.”

Articles & Essays, 1 December 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://orelfoundation.org/journal/journalArticle/the_fate_of_professional_french_jewish_musicians_und

er_the_vichy_regime 100 Desarbres, Hervé. Louis Saguer, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://brahms.ircam.fr/louis-saguer

83

Negro Music (1973) for a series of melodies on texts by Langston Hughes and the

Prix de la SACEM (1974).”101

His compositions reflect a fusion of modal, polytonal and atonal elements.102

His fascination with complex rhythm is evident in his Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes

(1935/36). I can say that this particular set of four songs has been the most

challenging to prepare among the works for voice and piano that I have performed in

my dissertation recitals, due to the frequent rhythm changes and unusual harmonies in

these songs. However, they are also among my favorites. The set begins with Alma y

vida y coraçon, a different setting of A la una yo naci you have just heard. The

influence of oral transmission in these songs can be observed through the differences

in text, as melodies and words of same Sephardic songs can differ from community to

community or generation to generation. Tres Hermanicas is a narrative song about

the doomed sister, who was unable to find love, and therefore, was banished from the

family. Canción de Cuna is a rather sad lullaby, in which the mother sings about her

husband’s unfaithfulness. The last song, Abraham Avinu, more commonly known as

Cuando el rey Nimrod, is a popular narrative song about the birth of Abraham, the

biblical prophet.

6.3.5. William Kenlon, Two Sephardic Songs (2018)

William Kenlon (b.1983) is an American composer based in Washington D.C.

and Boston areas. He specializes in music for chamber, choral, and jazz ensembles,

although his catalogue also includes works for orchestra, solo piano, and for solo

101 Musk, Andrea. “Saguer, Louis.” Grove Music Online, 2001. Retrieved 17 Jan. 2018,

fromhttp://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/om

o-9781561592630-e-0000024292. 102 Ibid.

84

voice with instrumental accompaniment.103 William is also a friend, whom I met at

the University of Maryland (UMD) about four years ago, when we began our doctoral

studies at the School of Music. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in

Composition at UMD last year and holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts

degrees in Composition from Tufts University and James Madison University

respectively. He has also studied at McGill University and at the New England

Conservatory, as well as with numerous composers from a variety of traditions and

backgrounds.104

While studying at UMD, William and I collaborated on several occasions,

mainly for performances of new music with the UMD TEMPO New Music

Ensemble. Having completed a voice minor degree at James Madison University,

William is also an excellent baritone and performs frequently as a singer in the D.C.

area. We will be performing the next piece in the program together, as he gladly

agreed to sing the baritone part when I approached to him about it. However, he is

making a much more significant contribution to my Sephardic Art Song project.

William recently expanded the existing Sephardic song repertoire with his brand new

set of two songs, Two Sephardic Songs for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano.

During a conversation last November, I had told William about my dissertation and

how I kept finding new 20th- and 21st-century works in this genre. When I asked him

if he would be interested in creating a new “Sephardic” work that we could

collaborate on, he was intrigued. About two months later, I was holding the score to

his Two Sephardic Songs, beautiful original settings of Puncha, puncha, la rosa huele

103 Kenlon, William. Biography, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from

http://www.williamkenlon.com/about.html# 104 Ibid.

85

and Por que llorax blanca niña. Although these two texts can be found in the

traditional Sephardic song repertoire, I am referring to William’s settings as

‘original,’ as they are entirely different than the folk versions you may be familiar

with. He described his compositional approach in this pieces as ‘being appropriate to

the style by using elements of Sephardic music, while keeping his own voice.’ He

found commonalities between his own established harmonic voice and the Sephardic

style. William’s compositional style often draws upon polytriadic harmonies and

Olivier Messiaen’s (1908-1992) modes of limited transposition. His music is

described as follows: “"pointed and groovy" (New Music Box), Kenlon's music has

garnered praise for its "lyrical personality that is original and strong" (Boston

Musical Intelligencer), and for its sophisticated tonal explorations: "solid without

being dense, clear without being sparse, and ever-changing without being random"

(ibid).”105

In choosing the songs, although the two folk songs are possibly centuries

apart, William found the protagonists to be similar in character—abandoned by the

loved ones. The speaker in La rosa huele is rather mournful. The last verse “If you

wish to see me again, come outside and I will speak with you. Look to the sea and

there you will find me.” implies suicide. Por que llorax blanca niña is a romance of

medieval Hispanic origin combined with a Sephardic ballad that originated in the

Eastern Mediterranean as a translation of a modern Greek tragedy.106 Although the

protagonist is clearly abandoned by her (perhaps) husband and has to take care of her

children, instead of accepting her fate, she challenges the man angrily.

105 Ibid. 106 Armistead, Samuel, et al. “Another Anthology of Sephardic Folksongs (Review Essay).” Musica

Judaica vol. 7, no. 1, 1985, pp. 58-72.

86

We will be premiering only the first song of the set today due to time

constraints. The songs will be performed together at a later time this spring (2018).

6.3.6. Sid Robinovitch, Rodas Recordada (2005)

Sid Robinovitch (b.1942) is a Canadian composer from Manitoba. He seems

to have had quite an interesting journey towards his career in music, considering his

brief music education at Indiana University, and his background in social sciences

and communication with a Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois.

He has taught social sciences at York University in Toronto, while also studying with

composer Samuel Dolin (1917-2002) at the Royal Conservatory of Music. According

to resources, he decided to devote himself to his career in music as a composer in

1977, and has been composing prolifically since.107 Robinovitch’s compositional

style is described as “rooted in traditional or folk material, with a distinctly

contemporary flavor.”108 His catalogue includes works for piano, guitar, orchestra,

band, chamber ensembles, as well as vocal and choral works. He has also composed

music for television, radio and film.

A considerable number of Robinovitch’s works are based on world folklore,

including programmatic pieces inspired by folktales.109 He has arranged numerous

Sephardic folksongs under the titles Canciones Sefardies and Mosaic of Jewish

Folksongs, and has also contributed to the genre with his original composition Rodas

Recordada for soprano, alto, baritone, clarinet, guitar, and cello. This beautiful

107 Sid Robinovitch, composer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

https://www.sidrobinovitch.com/ 108 Ibid. 109 Levin, Neil W. “Sid Robinovitch.” Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://www.milkenarchive.org/artists/view/sid-robinovitch/

87

chamber piece is a setting of a poem by Spanish literary historian and author

Guillermo Diaz-Plaja (1909-1984). I will let the piece speak for itself, but I would

highly recommend that you read the poem before the performance. Robinovitch’s

delicate setting skillfully complements and enhances Diaz-Plaja’s prose. To share

with you the story behind this touching poem, I would like to quote Tomás L. Ryan

de Heredia, who has provided the notes about the poetry and the translations in the

musical score:

During the summer of 1933, a group of young Spanish scholars and

writers decided to make an expedition to certain of the Mediterranean

Sephardic communities in search of an ancient Hispanic folklore. One

member at that group, the then twenty-four year old Guillermo Díaz-

Plaja, was particularly successful in filling his notebook with

‘romances’ on the island of Rhodes, where he made the acquaintance

of a Sephardic lady who identified herself as “Mazaltó (Mazaltov) de

Jacob Israel.” She recited the ballad of the “Three Doves” to him

during a beautiful summer afternoon.

Some forty years after his first visit, Prof. don Guillermo Díaz-Plaja,

now a celebrated literary critic and member of the Royal Spanish

Academy, returned to the Sephardic community where his literary

career had been born. As he well knew, a tragic change had taken

place. After the capitulation of Italy to the Allies in 1943, the Germans

occupied Rhodes, and on July 23, 1944 shipped off to Auschwitz 1,673

Jews who were living on the island. All but 151 perished. Don

Guillermo tried to find again the house of Mazaltó de Jacob Israel in

the ‘calle ancha,’ the street running through the old ‘juderia’ (Jewry),

now called “Street of the Jewish Martyrs.” He took out his notebook

and, instead of a ‘romance’ wrote a poem in prose of his own,

hauntingly interwoven with memories of his first visit and the ballad of

the “Three Doves.”110

-Tomás L Ryan de Heredia

110 Robinovitch, Sid. Rodas recordada (Rhodes remembered): based on a poem by Guillermo Diaz-

Plaja. Toronto: Canadian Music Centre, 2005.

88

Upon reading about Diaz-Plaja’s poem and the story behind it, I found a

personal connection to this piece that made it much more meaningful for me. My

paternal grandfather’s side of the family is from Rhodes. Although the majority of the

family had moved to Turkey long before the Second World War, two of my

grandfather’s aunts remained in Rhodes until Germans occupied Rhodes and they

were sent to Auschwitz. My grandfather used to tell me this heartbreaking story when

I was a kid; the story of Mazaltó de Jacob Israel reminded me of it. Perhaps Mazaltó

de Jacob Israel and my great-aunts were friends, and perhaps, they shared their last

moments together. Today, I would like to perform this piece in remembrance of them.

89

Appendix A: RECITAL DVD TRACK LISTINGS

Recital 1 DVD (Video)

Tracks

1-5. Cinco Canciones Sefardíes, Lorenzo Palomo (11:02)

1. Linda de mi corasón

2. Nani

3. Pequeña serenata sefardí

4. Romance sefardí

5. Nana sefardí

6. Lecture (25:53)

Sephardic Art Song: A Musical Legacy of the Diaspora – Part I

7-14. Canciones Sefarditas, Manuel Valls (10:34)

7. La rosa enflorece

8. Ven querida, ven amada

9. Adio, querida

10. Durme, durme

11. Paxaro d’hermozura

12. Abrix, mi galanica

13. Irme quiero, la mi madre

14. Ya viene el cativo

15-16. 8 Sephardic Songs, Andrew Zohn (4:14)

15. Montañas altas

16. Fel sharah canet betet masha

Recorded April 28, 2017 in Leah Smith Lecture Hall

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park

Recorded and mastered by Antonino d’Urzo

90

Recital 2 DVD (Audio and Video)

Tracks

1. Lecture (24:03)

Sephardic Art Song: A Musical Legacy of the Diaspora – Part II

2-4. Canciones Sefardíes, José Antonio (Aita) de Donostia

2. Levantéis vos (1:25)

3. Descanso de mi vida (2:36)

4. Pájaro de hermosura (1:31)

5. Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques, Joaquín Nin-Culmell

Yo bolí de foja en foja (1:57)

6-8. Three Sephardic Songs, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

6. Montañas altas y marinadas (3:03)

7. Ven y veràs (1:47)

8. Una noche yo me armi (2:35)

9-12. 40 Canciones Sefardies, Manuel García Morante

9. Cuando el rey Nimrod (1:39)

10. Pregoneros van y vienen (2:06)

11. Una tarde fresquita de Mayo (1:24)

12. Adio, querida (3:20)

13-15. Coplas Sefardies, Alberto Hemsi

13. No paséch por la mi sala (3:46)

14. Arboles lloran por luvia (4:01)

15. Ansí dize la nuestra novia (1:14)

Recorded November 16, 2017 in Gildenhorn Recital Hall



91

Recital 3 DVD (Audio and Video)

Tracks

1-4. Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes, Joaquín Rodrigo

1. Respóndemos (2:50)

2. Una pastora yo ami (1:34)

3. Nani, nani (3:23)

4. “Morena” me llaman (1:17)

5-9. Seven Sephardic Romances, Yehezkel Braun

5. Don Amadi (0:57)

6. Esta Rachel la estimoza (2:30)

7. Durme, durme (2:19)

8. Dime Rozina (1:02)

9. Morenica a mi me llaman (4:00)

10-12. Sephardic Songs, Frederic Hand

10. El Rey de Francia (3:20)

11. Adio Querida (5:00)

12. A la una yo naci (3:09)

13-16. Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes, Wolf Simoni

13. Alma y Vida y Coraçon (3:42)

14. Tres Hermanicas (2:51)

15. Canción de Cuna (3:08)

16. Abraham Avinu (2:30)

17. Two Sephardic Songs, William Kenlon

La rosa huele (5:14)

18. Rodas Recordada, Sid Robinovitch (13:48)

Recorded February 24, 2018 in Ulrich Recital Hall



92

Appendix B: TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

Lorenzo Palomo, Cinco Canciones Sefardíes (2006)111

Linda de mi corasón (Canción sefardí)

Yo m'enamori d'un aire,

un aire d'una mujer;

D'una mujer muy hermoza,

linda de mi corasón.

Tra la la la la...

My heart’s beauty

I fell in love with a scent, ah,

With the scent of a woman;

Of a very beautiful woman,

My heart’s beauty.

Tra la la la la...

Nani (Canción de cuna sefardí)

Nani, nani quere el hijo,

el hijo de la madre… de chico se haga

grande.

Ay, ay, dúrmite, mi alma, dúrmite,

mi vida,

que tu padre viene con mucha alegría.

Ay, avrimex la puerta, avrimex, mi dama,

que vengo muy cansado de arar las

huertas.

Ay, la puerta yo vos avro que venix

cansado

y verex durmiendo al hijo

en la cuna.

Lullaby

A lullaby, a lullaby the child wants,

the mother's child…the little one who will

grow.

Ah, ah, sleep, my soul, sleep,

my life,

For your father is coming with great joy.

Ah, open the door, open it for me, my lady

For I come home weary from plowing the

fields.

Ah, I’ll open the door for you, for you

come home weary,

And will see the child sleeping

in his cradle.

Pequeña serenata sefardí

La soledad de la nochada

muy dezolada, ah, me vo morir.

Mi alma es triste y dolorosa,

nunca repoza, ah, del mal sufrir.

Little Sephardic serenade

The solitude, the night’s solitude -

I am very lonely, oh, I will die!

My soul is sad and suffers, oh!

It finds no rest from suffering so.

111

111 Translations by G. J. Racz.

Racz, G. J. Liner notes for Lorenzo Palomo: My Secluded Garden, Madrigal and Five Sephardic

Songs, Concierto de Cienfuegos, María Bayo, Pepe Romero, The Romero Guitar Quartet, Seville

Royal Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Editorial de Música Boileau, Barcelona

(tracks 1-11); Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig (tracks 12-17); EMEC/SEEMSA, Madrid

(tracks 18-20), 8.572139, 2001, 2008.

93

Romance sefardí

A la una yo nací,

a las dos m’engrandecí,

a las tres tomí amante,

a las cuatro me cazí…

Alma, vida y corasón.

Yendome para la Guerra,

dos bezos al aire dí,

El uno es para mi madre,

Y el otro es para tí…

Alma, vida y corasón.

Sephardic romance

At one o’clock I was born,

At two I grew up,

At three I fell in love,

At four I married…

My soul, my life, my heart!

Going off to war,

I blew two kisses into the air,

The first one for my mother,

The second one for you…

My soul, my life, my heart!

Nana sefardí

Durme, durme, hermosa doncella,

durme, hermosa, sin ansia y dolor.

Heq tu esclavo que tanto desea

ver tu sueño con grande amor.

Durme, durme, hermosa doncella,

durme, hermosa, sin ansia y dolor.

Siente, gioia, el son de mi guitarra,

siente, hermosa, mis males cantar.

Sephardic lullaby

Sleep, sleep, my beautiful maiden,

Sleep, my beauty, in calm and peace.

I am your slave, who so wishes

To watch with great love as you sleep.

Sleep, sleep, my beautiful maiden,

Sleep, my beauty, in calm and peace.

Hear, oh, joy, the sound of my guitar,

Hear, oh, beauty, singing of my sorrows.

Manuel Valls, Canciones Sefarditas (1975) 112

La rosa enflorece

La rosa enflorece en el mes de mai.

Mi alma se escurece sufriendo del amor.

Los bilbilicos cantan

con sospiros de amor.

Mi neshama y mi ventura estan en tu poder.

The rose blooms

The rose blooms in the month of May.

My soul darkens suffering from love.

The nightingales sing

with sighs of love.

My soul and my fate are in your power.

Ven querida, ven amada

Ven querida, ven amada,

Ven al bodre de la mar, amada.

Come beloved, come my love

Come beloved, come my love,

Come to the edge of the sea, my love.

112

112 Translations by Gerard Edery and Lori Şen.

Edery, Gerard. “The Ladino Song Project.” Retrieved January 17, 2018, from

http://www.sefaradrecords.com/lyrics.php

94

Adio, querida

Tu madre cuando te parió

y te quitó al mundo,

corazón ella no te dió

para amar segundo.

Adío, adío querida…

No quero la vida…

Me l’amargates tú…

Va, buxcate otro amor,

aharva otras puertas.

Aspera otro ardor,

que para mi sos muerta.

Farewell, my love

Your mother when she gave you birth

and brought you into the world,

she did not give you a heart

to love another.

Farewell, farewell my love…

I do not want life…

You have embittered it for me…

Go look for another love,

Knock on other doors.

Wait for another flame,

As for me, you are dead.

Durme, durme

Durme, durme hermozo hijico,

durme, durme con savor.

Cerra tus luzios ojicos,

durme, durme con savor.

A la scola tu te irás

y la Ley te ambezarás.

Sleep, sleep

Sleep, sleep my beautiful son,

sleep, sleep with pleasure.

Close your brilliant eyes

sleep, sleep with pleasure.

You will go to school

and you’ll study law.

Paxaro d’hermozura

Por una caza chica,

vidi una hijica

de años era chika

le declaré l'amor.

Paxaro d'hermozura,

linda la tu figura,

aserkate al mio lado

te oyere la boz.

Beautiful bird

In a little house

lived a girl,

a young girl

to whom I declared my love.

Beautiful bird,

with a lovely figure,

come closer to my side

so I can listen to your voice.

Abrix, mi galanica

Avrix mi glanica

que ya va manecer

La noche yo no durmo pensando en ti.

Mi padre ‘sta meldando, mos oyera Amatalde la luzezica, si se dormira

Amatalde la luzezica, si s’echara

Let me in, my love

Open the door, my love,

for dawn is almost here.

I did not sleep all night thinking of you.

My father is studying, he will hear us. Put out the light, so he will go to sleep.

Put out the light, so that he will fall asleep.

95

Irme quiero, la mi madre

Irme quiero, la mi madre,

por estos mundos, me iré.

Aman, me iré.

I wish to go mother

I wish to go mother,

through these worlds I will go.

Oh, I will go…

Ya viene el cativo

Ya viene el cativo

con todas las cativas.

Dientro de ellas

está la blanca niña.

Here comes the captive

Here comes the captive

with all the captive women.

Among them

is the fair skinned girl.

Andrew Zohn, 8 Sephardic Songs (2011)113

Montañas altas

Montañas altas y marinadas

llevame donde el mi amor

llevame donde la mi querida

que con ella tengo l’amor

Amame segun yo t’amo

mira que me va murir

lleva tiempo y viene tiempo

mira que por ti me va murir

High mountains

High mountains of the ocean hues

Take me to my love

Take me to my dear one

For with her I have love

Love me as I love you

I shall die without you

and time relentlessly moves on

see how I die for you

Fel sharah canet betet masha

Fel sharah canet betet masha

la signorina aux beaux yeux noirs

come la luna était la sua faccia

qui éclairait le boulevard

Strolling down the street

The girl with beautiful dark eyes

was strolling down the street,

her face, lovely as the moon,

lit up the boulevard.

Volevo parlare

shata metni

Because her father was à la gare

E con su umbrella darabetni

En reponse à mon bonsoir

I wanted to talk to her,

but she insulted me,

as her father was at the train nearby,

with her umbrella, she hit me

in reply to my greeting.

113

113 Translations taken from Zohn, Andrew E. 8 Sephardic Songs. Saint-Romuald, QC: Productions

d'OZ, 2011.

96

José Antonio (Aita) de Donostia, Canciones Sefardíes (1941)114

Levantéis vos

Levantéis vos toronja

del vuestro lindo dormir

Oiréis cantar hermoso

a la sirena de la mar

Carcelero piadoso

asi el Dio te de las vidas

Que me quites de estas cadenas

y m’aflojes el collare.

Wake up

Wake up

from your beauty sleep my dear

And you will hear

the beautiful hum of the sea

Merciful prison guard,

God gave you life

So that you may free me from my chains

and loosen my collar

Descanso de mi vida

Descanso de mi vida

l’amor que me hazen

De ver una hijica,

tomí un gran plazer

La tadre ya venia

a mí me sperava

Despuntar ya me via,

al barcon s’assentara

I rest from my life

I rest from my life

that the love has made me

I took great pleasure

in seeing a young girl

The evening used to arrive

and she would wait for me

Sitting on the balcony

as I passed by

Pájaro de hermosura

Pájaro de hermosura

y rico de figura

A posa mis ventanas

yo oiré tu vos

Mi storia es muy triste,

penso y me vo pensando

Que fuites y me dejates

sin venir mi a cohortar

Beautiful bird

Beautiful bird

of rich figure

Stop by my window,

so I can hear you sing

My story is very sad,

and I keep contemplating

That you left me

without saying goodbye

114

114 Translations by Lori Şen and Dr. Moris Şen, 2017.

97

Joaquín Nin-Culmell, Six Chansons Populaires Séphardiques (1982) 115

Yo bolí de foja en foja

Yo bolí de foja en foja,

Para alcanzar anesta linda novia.

Yo bolí de rama en rama,

Para alcanzar anesta linda novia.

Con vuestra licencia, madre buena,

Yo me vo a l’ora buena.

I flew from leaf to leaf

I flew from leaf to leaf

To reach that beautiful bride

I flew from branch to branch

To reach that beautiful bride

With your consent, my good mother

I will leave with my heart at ease

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Three Sephardic Songs (1959) 114



Llevame donde el mi amor

Llevame donde el mi querido

Que con el tengo l’amor

Ama me segun yo t’amo,

Mira que me va morir;

Lleva tiempo y viene tiempo,

Mira que por ti me va morir.

Por la calleja aqui yo paso

Mi solumbre no te veràs

Llorando y sufriendo

Deonde viene el dolor

High mountains of the ocean hues

High mountains of the ocean hues,

Carry me to my loved one,

Carry me to my desired one,

For with him I have love.

Love me as I love you

I will die without you

As time relentlessly moves on,

See how I die for you.

On the street that I walked through,

My shadow will not cross you.

Crying and suffering,

There the pain comes from.

Ven y veràs

Ven y veràs viaremos

Lo amor que tenemos los dos

ven lo gustaremos

Arboles lloran por lluvia

y montañas por aire

Asi lloran mis ojos por ti querido amante

Lluvia se hiso

y se mojo la calle y la corteja

Onde y diga a mi amor

que es de los ojos mios

Come and you will see

Come and you will see, we will see

The love that we two have

and will enjoy.

Trees cry for rain

and mountains for air,

Just as my eyes cry for you my beloved.

Rain fell

and wetted the streets and the courtyard.

Tell my love

that it is from my eyes.

115


98

Una noche yo me armi

Una noche yo me armi

por ver vuestros recintados

Deta me la puerta abierta y candil amatado

Tu me quieres, yo te quiero;

tu madre no nos quiere

Esta noche arogo al dios

en la cama ruede

Ni blanca soy ni morena

ni cosa de lavarvos

Por la gerve queami me haces

y en alma mi a entrates

One night I prepare myself

One night I prepare myself

to see your bedroom.

Leave the door open and put out the candle.

You love me, I love you;

but your mother does not love us.

Tonight I pray to God

she will stay in bed asleep.

Neither white am I, nor brown,

nor have I anything of value.

Yet, you think highly of me

and you have entered into my soul.

Manuel García Morante, 40 Canciones Sefardies (1983) 116

Cuando el rey Nimrod, No.1

Cuando el rey Nimrod al campo salía,

miraba en el cielo y en la estrellería,

vido una luz santa

en la judería,

que había de nacer

Avraham abinu.

Avram abinu, padre querido,

Padre bendicho, luz de Israel.

Saludemos al sandag

y al mohel

Que por sus zekut nos venga al goél

Y que rigma a todo Israel

Y daremos loores verdaderos.

When King Nimrod

When King Nimrod went to the fields,

He looked at the sky and the stars,

He saw a holy night

in the Jewish quarters,

A sign that Abraham,

our father was to be born.

Abraham, our father, beloved father,

Blessed father, light of Israel.

We greet now the godfather

and the circumciser,

Because of his merits, the redeemer

and merciful one will come to Israel,

And we will give praise to the true one.

Pregoneros van y vienen, No.9

Pregoneros van y vienen

por la ciudad de Aragón:

Todo varón que hijo tiene

A la Guerra deve ir.

Town criers come and go

Town criers come and go

Through the city of Aragon:

All men that have sons,

To war they must go.

116


99

Una tadre fresquita de Mayo, No.6

Una tadre fresquita de mayo

al campo salí a caminar.

M’encontrí con un joven Moreno

de alta ‘statura era el military.

El me si siguió, me siguió mis pasos,

siguió mis pasos, me quijo engañar.

Mamá mía, yo no savía,

lo que era el amor con un militar.

Hija mia, lo que hacías,

lo que hacías con el militar.

Una coza tan Buena y tan mala,

si te lo digo me vas a matar.

A cool afternoon on May

A cool afternoon in May,

I went to the fields for a walk.

I encountered a young brunette soldier

of tall stature.

He followed me, followed my steps,

Followed my steps and made me cheat.

Oh my, I did not know

What love with a soldier was.

My daughter, what did you do,

What did you do with the soldier?

Something so good and so bad,

If I told you, you would kill me.

Adio, querida




para amar segundo.


No quero la vida…




Aspera otro ardor,


Farewell, my love


and brought you into the world,

she did not give you a heart

to love another.

Farewell, farewell my love…

I do not want life…

You have embittered it for me…

Go look for another love,

Knock on other doors.

Wait for another flame,

As for me, you are dead.

h

100

Alberto Hemsi, Coplas Sefardies (1933-1973)117

No paséch por la mi sala, Op.7-3

No paséch por la mi sala

Que tengo hija galana

Y pasaréch.

Si tenéch hija galana.

Dámela a mi por amada

Y pasaré.

Pasaré y tornaré,

Y l’avlare y le dire

Que la vía no es suya;

Es del Rey.

No paséch por mi cortijo,

Que tengo hijo garrido,

Y pasaréch.

Si tenéch hijo garrido

Dámelo a mi por marido

Y pasaré.

Do not pass from my living room

Do not pass from my living room,

For I have a beautiful daughter.

But you will pass anyway…

If you have a beautiful girl,

Give her to me as my love.

And I will pass.

I will pass and return,

I will talk and say

That the path is not yours;

But it is the King’s.

Do not pass from my ranch,

For I have a handsome son.

But you will pass anyway…

If you have a handsome son,

Give him to me as a husband.

And I will pass.

Arboles lloran por luvia, Op. 51-2

Arboles lloran por luvia

y muntañas por aire

Ansi lloran los mis ojos

por ti querido amante,

Ansi llora el mi corason

por ti mi linda dama.

En frente de mi hay un angelo

cuando pasa, él me mira

Hablar quero y no puedo,

mi corason sospira,

Ven veras y ven veremos

Amor que tenemos los dos,

ven nos aunaremos,

Amor que tenemos los dos

ven nos ajuntaremos.

Trees cry for rain

Trees cry for rain

and mountains for air

Just as my eyes cry

for you my beloved,

So cries my heart

for you my beautiful lady.

Before me stands an angel

and looks at me as he passes

I want to speak but I cannot,

my heart sighs.

Come and see, come and let us see

The love we share,

come and let us unite,

The love we share,

come and bring us together. 117


101

Ansí dize la nuestra novia, Op.7-8

Ansí dize la nuestra novia:

¿Cómo se llama la cavesa?

Esto no se llama cavesa,

Sino toronja de toronjal.

Ah! Mi toronja de toronjal!

Ah! Mis campos espaciosos!

Biva la novia con el novio!

So says our bride

So says our bride:

How would you describe the head?

It would not be called a head,

But rather a grapefruit.

Ah, my grapefruit of the fields!

Ah, my wide fields!

Long live the bride and groom!

Joaquín Rodrigo, Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965)118

Respóndemos

Respóndemos,

Dío de Abraham, respóndemos!

Respóndemos,

El que responde en la hora de voluntad,

respóndemos!

Respóndemos,

pavor de Yizthak, respóndemos!

Respóndemos

El que responde en la ora de angustia,

respóndemos!

Respóndemos,

fuerte de Yaakov, respóndemos!

Respóndemos,

Dío de la *Merkava, respóndemos!

Respóndemos,

O Padre piadoso y gracioso, respóndemos!

*Merkava

Respond to Us

Respond to us,

God of Abraham, respond to us!

Respond to us,

he who responds in the hour of need,

respond to us!

Respond to us,

terror of Isaac, respond to us!

Respond to us,

he who responds, in the hour of anguish,

respond to us!

Respond to us.

Strong one of Yaakov, respond to us!

Respond to us.

God of the *merkava, respond to us.

Respond to us,

Oh Father pious and merciful, respond to

us!

*The chariot of fire that God sent to the

prophet Elijah to ascend into heaven.

118

118 Translations by Suzanne Rhodes Draayer.

102

Una pastora yo amí

Una pastora yo amí,

una hija hermoza,

de mi chiques quel’adori,

mas qu’ella no a mí.

Un día que estavamos

en la huerta asentados,

le dixe yo: “Por tí, mi flor,

me muero de amor.”

I loved a shepherdess

A shepherdess that I loved,

a beautiful daughter,

since my childhood I adored her,

but she did not love me.

One day that we were

sitting in the garden,

I said to her: “For you, my flower,

I die of love.”

Nani, nani

Nani, nani, nani,

quere el hijo de la madre,

de chico se haga grande.

Ay, ay, dúrmite, mi alma,

dúrmite, mi vida,

que tu padre viene

con mucha alegría.

Ay, avrimex la puerta,

Avrimex mi dama,

que vengo muy cansado de arar las

huertas.

Ay, la puerta yo vos avro,

que venix cansado,

y verex durmiendo al hijo en la cuna.

Cradle Song

Nani, nani, nani,

that the son of the mother,

even while young will do great things.

Ay, ay, sleep, my soul,

sleep, my life,

that your father comes

with much happiness.

Ay, open the door to me,

open it, my madame,

that I come very tired from ploughing the

fields.

Oh, I will open the door to you,

since you are so tired,

and will see the sleeping boy in the cradle.

“Morena” me llaman

“Morena” me llaman,

yo blanca nací.

De pasear, galana,

mi color perdi.

D’aquellas ventanicas

m’arronjan flechas,

Si son de amores, vengan,

vengan derechas.

They call me the dark-skinned girl

People call me the dark-skinned girl,

I was born white.

From strolling, charming one,

I lost my color.

From those windows,

arrows are hurled at me;

If they are of love, let them come,

let them come to the right hands!

103

Yehezkel Braun, Seven Sephardic Romances (1968)119

Don Amadi

Arvolera, arvolera,

arvolera tan fertile,

si v’riax almi marido

si pasaria por a qui?

Onde vax vos cavallero,

onde vax vos por aqui?

Si v’riax almi marido

a mi marido Amadi?

Don Amadi

Grove, grove,

grove so fruitful,

have you seen my husband,

have you seen him passing by?

Nobleman, where are you going,

where does this path take you?

Have you seen my husband,

my husband Amadi?

Esta Rachel la estimoza

Esta Rachel la’stimoza

estima que Dios la dio

siendo mujer de quien era,

mujer d’un gobernador.

Un día salio al paseo

con sus damas de honor,

se topo con un mancebo,

que d’ella s’enamoro.

Le mando muchas regalos

alhajas de gran valor;

le mando un anillo fino,

que media ciudad valio.

El oro no vale nada;

la piedra es de gran valor.

Le mando muchos billetes

que le habiban d’amor.

“Mas todo se los volviera,

que casada era yo.”

This is the honorable Rachel

This is the honorable Rachel.

God bestowed honor upon her,

for she is the wife of whom she was,

the wife of the governor.

One day she went for a walk

accompanied by her ladies of honor,

and came upon a young lad

who fell in love with her.

He sent her many presents,

jewels of great value;

he sent her a fine ring

that was worth half a city.

Gold is worthless;

A precious stone is of great value.

He sent her many letters

that spoke of love.

“But I must return everything to you,

for I am a married lady.”

119

119 Translations taken from “Together as one.” Program notes. Waukesha Choral Union. Wisconsin:

Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Oconomowoc, WI, October 22, 2016.

104

Durme, durme

Durme durme mi alma donzella

durme, durme sin ansia y dolor.

Siente, siente al son de mi guitarra,

siente hermoza mis males cantar.

Que tu ‘sclavo que tanto dezea,

ver tu sueño

con grande amor.

Sleep, sleep

Sleep, sleep my soul, my princess

sleep, sleep without anxiety or pain.

Listen, listen to the sounds of my guitar,

listen my precious to my sad song.

We are all slaves to our desires,

we must follow our dreams

with great love.

Dime Rozina

Yasmin gloriozo, dame repozo,

mira tu espozo, enque ‘stado ‘sta.

Dime Rozina, la melezina,

qu’esto hazino,

sin poder havlar.

Dulce image, dame coraje,

me muero caje, por el amor.

Tell me, Rozina

Glorious jasmine, give me peace,

look at your husband, what a state he’s in.

Tell me, Rozina,

what medicine can cure me,

for I am nearly speechless.

Sweet image, give me courage,

for I am nearly dying of love.

“Morenica” a mi me llaman

“Morenica” a mi me llaman,

yo blanca naci

y del sol del enverano,

yo m’hize ansi.

Morenica, graciozica sos,

tu morena y yo gracioso,

y ojos pretos tú.

“Morenica” a mi me llaman,

los marineros.

Si otra vez a mi me llaman,

Me vo con ellos.

“Morenica” a mi me llama,

el hijo del Rey

Si otra vez a mi me llama

Me vo yo con él.

They call me Morenica

They call me Morenica,

I was born fair

but I became like this

from the summer sun.

Morenica, you are

the little dark girl,

graceful, with dark-black eyes.

The sailors call me

“Morenica.”

If they call me again,

I’ll go away with them

The King’s son calls me

“Morenica.”

If he calls me again,

I’ll go away with him.

105

Frederic Hand, Sephardic Songs (1996)120

El Rey de Francia

El Rey de Francia tres hijas tenía

La una lavrava

y la otra cuzía

La mas chica de ellas bastidor hazía

Lavrando, lavrando sueno le callo

The King of France

The King of France had three daughters

One of them embroidered

and the other sewed

The youngest one was making a tapestry

While working she soon fell asleep

Adio Querida




para amar segundo.

Hermosa sos en cantidad

Honestedad no tiene

Milliones si me vas a dar

Mi gente no te queren


No quero la vida…




Aspera otro ardor,


Farewell, my love


And brought you into the world

She did not give you a heart

To love another

Farewell, farewell my love

I do not want life

You have embittered it for me

You are so beautiful

But you are dishonest

Were you to give me millions

My family would still not love you

Go look for another love

Knock on other doors

Wait for another flame

As for me, you are dead

A la una yo nací

A la una yo nací

A las dos m’engrandecí

Alas tres tomi amante

A las cuatro me cazí

Alma y vida y corason

Dime niña donde vienes

Que te quero conocer

Si tu no tienes amante

Yo te hare defender

Yendome para la guerra

Dos bezos al aire dí

Uno fue para mi madre

Y el otro para ti

At one I was born

At one I was born

At two I grew up

At three I took a lover

At four I married

Soul, life and heart

Tell me little girl where do you come from

For I wish to know you

And if you have no lover

I will defend you

Going off to war

I blew two kisses into the air

One was for my mother

And the other for you

120

120 Translations by Gerard Edery, from - Edery, G. (n.d.). The Ladino Song Project. Retrieved January 17,

2018, from http://www.sefaradrecords.com/lyrics.php

106

Wolf Simoni, Cuatro Cánticas Sefardíes (1935/36)121

Alma y vida y coraçon Soul and life and heart

A la una nací yo,

A las dos me bautizaron,

A las tres espozí yo,

A las cuatro me cazaron.

Me cazí con un amor.

A las tres espozí yo:

Alma y vida y coraçon.

At one I was born,

At two I was baptized,

At three I was engaged,

At four I was married.

I married a loved one.

At three I was engaged:

Soul and life and heart.

Dime niña donde vienes?

Que te quiero conocer.

Y si no tienes amante,

Yo te haré defender.

Tell me little girl where are you from?

For I wish to know you.

And if you have no lover,

I will defend you.

Indome para la guerra

dos bezos al aire dí.

El uno es para mi mama,

Y el otro es para tí.

Going off to war

I blew two kisses into the air.

One was for my mother,

And the other for you.

Tres Hermanicas

Tres hermanicas eran,

tres hermanicas son,

las dos están cazadas,

El Amor!

La chica en pedrición.

Three Sisters

There were three sisters,

They were three sisters,

Two of them were married,

Oh love!

The youngest was doomed.

Su padre con vergüenza

a Rodes le mandó.

Passó un cavallero,

El Amor!

Tres bezicos le dió.

The father out of shame

sent her to Rhodes.

A gentleman passed by,

Oh love!

And gave her three kisses.

“Si mi amor lo save

matada era yo.”

“No vos matan, boliça,

El Amor!

que vuestro amorso yo.”

“If my love he knew

I was killed.”

“Do not kill yourself, my lady,

Oh love!

For I am your loved one.”

121

121 Translations by Gerard Edery and Lori Şen.

107

Canción de Cuna

Dúermete mi alma,

Dúermete mi vida,

que tu padre viene

de onde la linda amiga.

Y nuevo amor!

Cradle Song

Sleep, my soul,

Sleep, my life,

For your father is coming

from his pretty friend.

And new love!

Yo me fuí de tras,

por ver lo que haría.

Volvime a mi caza,

Triste y desbalinda.

Y nuevo amor!

I went after him,

To see what he would do.

I came back home,

Sad and desolate.

And new love!

Abraham Avinu

Cuando el rey Nemrod al campo salía,

mirava en el cielo y en la estrellería.

Vido luz santa

en la Judería,

que había de nacer

Abraham Avinu.

Abram Avinu, padre querido,

Padre bendicho, luz de Israel.

Saludemos al compadre

y también al moël,

que por sus zehut

nos venga el goël y rihma a todo Israel

Cierto loaremos al verdadero.

Abraham, our father

When King Nimrod went to the fields,

He looked at the sky and the stars,

He saw a holy night

in the Jewish quarters,

A sign that Abraham,

our father was to be born.

Abraham, our father, beloved father,

Blessed father, light of Israel.

We greet now the godfather

and the circumciser,

Because of his merits, the redeemer and

merciful one will come to Israel,

And we will give praise to the true one.

108

William Kenlon, Two Sephardic Songs (2018)

La rosa huele

Puncha, puncha, la rosa huele

Que el amor muncho duele

Tu no nacites para mi

Presto alexate de mi

Fragrant rose

The thorny rose is fragrant

As love is full of pain

You were not born for me

Quickly go away from me

Acodrate d'aquella hora

Que yo te bezava la boca

Aquella hora ya paso

Dolor quedo al Corazon

Remember the times

When I kissed your mouth,

Those times are gone now

And only sorrow lingers in my heart

Montanas altas y mares hondas

Llevame onde'l mi querido

Llevame onde'l mi amor

El que me de consolacion

High mountains and deep oceans

Carry me to my desired one

Carry me to my loved one

Who will console me

Si otra vez me queres ver

Sale afuera te havlare

Echa los ojos a la mar

Alli me puedes encontrar

If you wish to see me again,

Come outside and I will speak with you,

Look to the sea

And there you will find me

Por que llorax blanca niña

¿Porque llorax blanca niña,

Porque llorax blanca flor?

Lloro por vos caballero

Que vos vas y me dejas.

Why are you crying fair girl

Why are you crying fair girl,

Why are you crying fair flower?

I am crying because of you sir

You are going away and leaving me.

Me dejas niña y muchacha

Chica y de poca edad.

Tengo niños chiquiticos

Lloran y demandan pan.

You left me a young girl,

So small and of tender age.

I have little boys

That cry and demand bread.

Si demandan al sus padre,

Que repuesta les no a dar?

If they ask for their father,

What should I tell them?

Metió la mano en su pecho,

Sien dovlones le fue a dar.

He searched his shirt

And gave her one hundred doubloons.

Esto para que m'abasta,

Para vino o para pan?

What is this money for,

For wine or bread?

Si esto no vos abasta,

Ya tienes d'onde tomar:

If it is not enough,

you know where you can go.

Venderes viñas y campos,

Media parte de la ciudad.

De la parte de la mar.

You wıll sell your vıneyards and your fıelds,

And half the city,

From the border to the sea.

109

Sid Robinovitch, Rodas Recordada (2005)122

Rodas Recordada

Tres palomas van volando

por el palacio del rey,

y vola la una, y vola la otra,

la volaron todas las tres.

Asposan en un castío,

el castío de oro es;

ahí había una muchacha

vestida de catifé,

las colas que eya tenia

encolgaban fasta el vel,

y su padre no la daba

ni por oro ni por bien

sino al que la ganaba

de una vez fasta tres.

Rhodes Remembered

Three doves go flying

‘round the palace of the king;

first one flies away, and then another;

and now all three fly away.

They come to rest at a castle,

the castle is all of gold;

a young girl was there

dressed in velvet;

the braids that she was wearing

stretched to her waist;

and her father would give her away

neither for gold nor favors,

but to him that won her

not once but three times.

Por ahí pasó un moro franco

y la demand por mujer,

y su padre no la daba

ni por oro ni por bien.

Ya la quitan a joguete

al jogo que joga el rey,

ya la gana el moro franco

de una vez fasta tres,

ya la toma de la mano

ya se la lleva con él.

A Frankish Moor passed by

and asked for her as his wife;

but her father would give her away

neither for gold nor favors.

Now they take her from the game –

from the game the king is playing;

and the Frankish Moor wins her

not once but three times.

Then he takes her by the hand,

and leads her away with him.

Ayá en medio del camino

lágrimas a dos y tres:

There halfway along the road

(tears by two and three):

-Que lloras blanca y liña?

Que lloras, blanca y flor?

Si lloras por el tu padre,

mi gortelano es;

si lloras por la tu vuestra madre,

mi cocinera es;

si lloras port us hermanos

yo los maté a todos tres.

-Why do you weep, my pale young thing?

Why do you weep, flower white?

If for your father you weep,

my gardener is he;

If for your mother you weep,

my cook is she;

If for your brothers you weep,

I killed them all three

-Yo no lloro por padre y madre

ni por mis hermanos tres,

lloro por la mi ventura,

que no sé quen ha de ser.

-I do not weep for father or mother

or for my brothers three;

it is for my fate that I weep

for I know now what it shall be.

-Si lloras por la tu ventura

Al lado vos la tenés.

-If for your fate you weep,

you have him here at your side.

122

122 Translations by Tomás L Ryan de Heredia.

110

Una vez que era esto:

-Dame el cuchillo en el vel!

Then she says:

-Give me the knife that is at your waist!

El morico, por ser necio,

Se lo dió al revés;

La muchacha, por ser aguda,

Se lo dió en el vel:

The Moor, unthinkingly,

Places it in her hand,

And the girl adeptly

Plunges it into his chest:

-Ahora tengo padre ya madre

y mis hermanos tres!

-Now I have father and mother

and my brothers three!

Este que ya no soy y soy yo mismo

(mil novecientos treinta y tres)

caminando la judería

de Rodas al atardecer.

No longer am I as I was, and yet I am still the

same, (nineteen hundred and thirty-three)

walking through the Jewry

of Rhodes at twilight

-Tu queres cantigas viejas?

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel

sabe consejos y romances,

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel.

Como una dama de Castilla


-Do you seek old songs?


Knows sayings and ballads,

(Mazaltó de Jacob Israel)

As a lady of Castille –


-Se pone negra mi memoria


se barraron mis palabras,

pero mi canto cantaré.

Tres palomas van volando

para el palacio del Rey

y vola la una, y vola la otra,

la volaron todas las tres.

-Black becomes my memory


my words have been erased,

yet shall I sing my song.

Three doves go flying

‘round the palace of the King

one flies away, and then another,

now all three fly away.

Cae la tarde prodigiosa

Con su cortina rosicler.

Asposan en un castío

El castío de oro es.

The glorious afternoon falls

with its rosy clear curtain.

They come to rest at a castle,

the castle is all of gold.

Para el descanso de la hora

traen el agua y la miel.

-Cuando yo era mancebica

me enamoraba una vez

de un mancebico como tú.

Buena doncella que topés!

-Altas venturas que tengás

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel!

During the quiet of the hour

they bring water and honey.

-When I was a lass

once I fell in love

with a lad like you.

A good woman may you find!

-High fortunes be yours

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel!

111

Ahora he vuelto preguntando…

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel?

La judería esta desierta

hay acibar donde hubo miel.

Vinieron bárbados del norte


Los crematorios de Alemania

consumieron toda la grey.

Now I have come back inquiring –

Mazaltó de Jacob Israel?

The Jewry is deserted,

there is bitterness where once was honey.

From the North came barbarians –


The crematoria of Germany

have destroyed them all.

Soy un fantasma de mí mismo

recordando un atardecer

en la judería de Rhodos,

mil novecientos treinta y tres.

Las canciones se han apagado.


Se ha puesto negra mi memoria

de las lágrimas y la hiel.

Pero yo guardo tu recuerdo


I am a phantom of myself

remembering a twilight

in the Jewry of Rhodes,

nineteen hundred and thirty-three.

The songs are stilled –


My memory has become black

from tears and gall.

But your remembrance I keep,


112

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