Informed and Informative: New Choral Arrangements of Sephardic Music

Sarah Riskind

A dissertation

submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

University of Washington

2018

Reading Committee:

Giselle Wyers, Chair

Geoffrey Boers

JoAnn Taricani

Program Authorized to Offer Degree:

School of Music
University of Washington

i




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Sarah Riskind

ii
 Abstract

Informed and Informative: New Choral Arrangements of Sephardic Music

Sarah Riskind

Chair of the Supervisory Committee:
Giselle Wyers
School of Music

In the choral field, there is an opportunity for greater awareness and understanding of Sephardic

Jewish music. A small but significant number of choral arrangements exist, but it is difficult for

conductors to acquire the knowledge necessary to inform their singers and audience members

effectively. This study discusses how published choral arrangements of Judeo-Spanish, or

Ladino, music reflect the Mediterranean heritage of Sephardic Jews, in addition to their origins

in medieval Spain and Portugal. Three new arrangements created by the author as a central part

of the dissertation show how musical techniques and background information can convey

nuances about Sephardic history and culture. They reflect features such as the Turkish makam

modal system, heterophonic textures, Mediterranean-inspired vocal production

recommendations, and instruments native to the regions of the Sephardic diaspora. The romance

“Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” the copla “Esta Noche de Purim,” and the cantiga de novia “Las

Kazas de la Boda” demonstrate how arrangers can be more transparent about the Western

influences on music from other cultures.


iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1
1.1. Judaism and Multiculturalism 1
1.2 Approaches to Non-Western Repertoire 3
2. Sephardic Jews and their Music 8
2.1 Sephardic Jews: History and Geography 8
2.2 The Judeo-Spanish Language 11
2.3 Genres of Judeo-Spanish Music 13
2.3.1 Romances 13
2.3.2 Coplas 15
2.3.3 Cantigas 18
2.4 Musical Influences 21
2.5 Liturgical and Para-Liturgical Music in Hebrew 23
2.6 Judeo-Spanish Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 24
2.6.1 Early Song Collection 24
2.6.2 Detailed Resources 26
2.6.3 Modern Interpretations 28
3. Existing Choral Arrangements of Sephardic Jewish Music 31
3.1 Overview 31
3.2 Performance Notes 33
3.3 Pronunciation Guides 36
3.4 Instrumentation and Voicing 41
3.5 Meter 46
3.6 Mode 48
3.7 Harmonic Language and Textures 57
3.8 Ornamentation and Melisma 61
3.9 Reflection 64
4. New Arrangements of Sephardic Music 66
iv
 4.1 Song Selection Procedure 66
4.2 Melodic Source Selection and Transcription Procedure 70
4.3 Performance Notes 71
4.4 Vocal Approach, Voicing, and Instrumentation 74
4.5 Spelling and Pronunciation Guides 77
4.6 Text 83
4.7 Mode and Microtones 85
4.8 Ornamentation and Melisma 91
4.9 Harmonic Language 95
4.10 Textures 99
4.11 Difficulty and Accessibility 103
5. Conclusion 104
5.1 Authenticity and Understanding 104
5.2 Judaism in Choral Music 105
5.3 Summary of Arrangement Suggestions 107
5.4 Directions for Further Research 108
Bibliography 110
Appendix A: Catalogue of Sephardic Choral Arrangements 115
Appendix B: New Arrangements of Sephardic Music 119
Lavaba la Blanka Ninya 120
Las Kazas de la Boda 132
Esta Noche de Purim 150
VITA 159

v
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Map of Sephardic diaspora after 1492 ...............................................................10

Figure 2: Transcription of “De Qué Lloras, Blanca Niña” ...............................................14
Figure 3: Transcription of “Kuando el Rey Nimrod” .......................................................17
Figure 4: Transcription of “Morenica” .............................................................................19
Figure 5: “Hazeremos una Merenda,” arr. Elliot Levine, mm. 12-15 ..............................42
Figure 6: “Rahelica Baila,” arr. Lawrence Bennett, mm. 1-8 ...........................................43
Figure 7: “Si Verias a la Rana,” arr. Moira Smiley, mm. 1-4 .......................................…44
Figure 8: “Eight Candles for Chanukah,” arr. J. A. Kawarsky, mm. 1-3 ......................…45
Figure 9: “Durme, Durme,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 11-16 ........................................…48
Figure 10: Microtones Used in Turkish Classical Music ...................................................50
Figure 11: Ahava Rabbah Scale .........................................................................................51
Figure 12: Makam Hicaz Family .......................................................................................52
Figure 13: “Si Verias a la Rana,” arr. Moira Smiley, mm. 1-7 ..........................................53
Figure 14: “Par’o Era Estrellero,” arr. Eleanor Epstein, mm. 1-13 ...................................54
Figure 15: “Par’o Era Estrellero,” arr. Eleanor Epstein, mm. 56-60 .................................55
Figure 16: Makams Hüseyni and Beyati ...........................................................................55
Figure 17: “Irme Quiero,” arr. Western Wind, mm. 1-3 ....................................................56
Figure 18: “Irme Quiero,” arr. Western Wind, mm. 4-7 ....................................................57
Figure 19: “Camini por Altas Torres,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 2-3 .................................58
Figure 20: “Camini por Altas Torres,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 7-9 .................................59
Figure 21: “Hazeremos una Merenda,” arr. Elliot Levine, mm. 21-27 .............................60
Figure 22: “Hazeremos una Merenda,” arr. Elliot Levine, mm. 28-30 .............................60
Figure 23: “Nani, Nani” by Yehezkel Braun, arr. Joshua Jacobson, mm. 14-16 ...............62
Figure 24: “Nani, Nani” by Yehezkel Braun, arr. Joshua Jacobson, m. 35 (piano part) ....62
Figure 25: “La Roza Enflorese,” sung by Malka Manes, with ornamentation ..................63
Figure 26: “La Rosa Enflorece,” arr. Alice Parker, m. 9 (soprano part) ............................63

vi
Figure 27: “La Rosa Enflorece,” arr. Alice Parker, m. 25 (soprano part) ..........................64
Figure 28: Comparison of Makam Hüseyni and “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” scales ..........86
Figure 29: Makam Pençgâh-ı Asıl Scales ..........................................................................88
Figure 30: Maqam Nahawand Scales ................................................................................90
Figure 31: Overall outline of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya" melody .....................................91
Figure 32: Comparison of Melismas in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” ..................................91
Figure 33: Turn Figure in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” .......................................................92
Figure 34: “Blanka Ninya” Melisma .................................................................................92
Figure 35: “Lavaba” Melisma ...........................................................................................92
Figure 36: Melisma Vocalise Based on “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” ..................................93

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Translation of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” ............................................................15

Table 2: Translation of “Kuando el Rey Nimrod” .............................................................16
Table 3: Translation of “Esta Noche de Purim” .................................................................18
Table 4: Translation of “Morenica” ...................................................................................20
Table 5: Translation of “Las Kazas de la Boda” ................................................................20
Table 6: Transcontinental Music Ladino Pronunciation Guides ........................................37
Table 7: Explanation of Traditional Bulgarian Instruments ...............................................76
Table 8: Ladino Spelling Guidelines for Aki Yerushalayim Magazine ..............................78
Table 9: Comparison of Spelling Systems for “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya" ........................80
Table 10: Last Two Verses of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” ..................................................84
Table 11: Additional Verses of “Esta Noche de Purim” .....................................................85

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who offered wisdom and moral support

throughout my degree program. An outstanding doctoral committee chair, Dr. Giselle Wyers has

also been an invaluable role model as a conductor-composer-scholar. Working with Dr. Geoffrey

Boers has made me a better teacher and artist by showing me “what is now possible.” Many

thanks to Dr. JoAnn Taricani for providing insightful musicological perspectives. From the

Jewish Studies department, I am grateful to Dr. Devin Naar for sharing key Sephardic Studies

resources, and to Dr. Naomi Sokoloff for serving on my doctoral committee. My colleague

Molly FitzMorris was generous with her time, giving me excellent advice on Ladino linguistics.

As my graduate adviser, Dr. Brenda Banks was instrumental in guiding me towards my goals.

I would not be the same musician without the past mentorship of the following

conductors: Brad Wells, Beverly Taylor, Bruce Gladstone, Michael Barrett, Leo Wanenchak, and

many others. The choral conducting cohort at the University of Washington enriched the last few

years with the melding of friendship and music. Miriam, Elizabeth, and Elisabeth particularly

helped me navigate the waters of this graduate program with their constant encouragement, and

Corinne, Chris, and Serena helped me see the bigger picture. My sister Rachel has taught me

countless things over the years, from reading to playing percussion to entering academia; I owe

her and my parents a great deal for their endless faith in me.


ix
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. JUDAISM AND MULTICULTURALISM

The current standards of the National Association for Music Education urge ensembles to

“demonstrate an understanding and mastery of the technical demands and expressive qualities of

the music through prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire representing

diverse cultures, styles, genres, and historical periods in multiple types of ensembles (emphasis

added).”1 North America has recently experienced a burgeoning desire to recognize global

contributions to the arts both in schools and in the wider society. Publishers of choral music have

taken up this cause with arrangements of music from many cultures although many of these

cultures do not have a native choral singing practice.

The prominent choral music distributor J. W. Pepper provides a glimpse into current

repertoire trends. Within the category of multicultural choral music, the vast majority of top

selling titles are South African, Kenyan, and other African choral pieces. One Jewish piece

appears in the first page of search results: Allan Naplan’s Al Shlosha D’varim, a setting of a

liturgical Hebrew text by a Boston-born composer that has questionable relevance to the

“multicultural” designation.2 While some sacred Jewish choral pieces are widely circulated, the

more convincingly multicultural repertory of Judeo-Spanish music is often overlooked. Despite

their interest in diversity, conductors sometimes program the most popular Jewish or African

pieces without realizing how heterogeneous these categories are.

1National Association for Music Education, “2014 Music Standards (Ensemble),” accessed April 10, 2017, https://
nafme.org/my-classroom/standards/core-music-standards/.

2 J. W. Pepper and Son, Inc., accessed April 10, 2018, https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/welcome.jsp.

1
 The term multicultural itself prompts deeper inquiry into how the American choral scene

represents music from outside the Western art and popular music traditions. In his article “Eight

Simple Rules for Singing Multicultural Music,” Clayton Parr explains multiculturalism as

follows:

The root of the word "culture" is the Greek word kultus, meaning “belief.” The musical
expressions of a culture come from the shared beliefs of that culture. Therefore,
“multiculturalism” involves multiple beliefs, some of which will be different from those
we hold in our native culture.3

Parr uses the term “multiculturalism” to describe the perspective of singers who are experiencing

a new worldview alongside their own through music. One might argue, though, that the

publishing industry’s category of “Multicultural Music” or “Multicultural Pieces” truly refers to

non-Western or non-Eurogenic music. Western music includes many cultures as well, and it is

often unclear if other music is labeled multicultural because of the mixture of Western choral

conventions and innate musical traditions of those cultures. Mary Goetze’s term “diverse music”

comes with similar problems; both terms are better suited for explaining the overall perspective

of valuing all traditions than for describing a specific artistic work.4

In this study, I treat Sephardic Jewish music as non-Western because the primary

influences on Sephardic music before the twentieth century were not European art music. The

court and folk music in the Ottoman Empire and Northern Africa have shaped the modes, meters,

rhythms, ornamentation, and other facets of the Sephardic oral tradition since the Iberian Jews

were expelled in 1492. While Yiddish music of the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition may or may not

3 Clayton Parr, “Eight Simple Rules for Singing Multicultural Music,” Music Educators Journal 93, no. 1
(September 2006): 34.

4Mary Goetze, “Challenges of Performing Diverse Cultural Music,” Music Educators Journal 87, no. 1 (July 2000):
24.

2
fit well into the non-Western category, as it is folk music from Europe, some liturgical Ashkenazi

music in Hebrew displays a solid foundation in nineteenth-century tonal harmony. It is necessary

to emphasize the variety of Jewish music that exists; while ethnomusicological scholarship has

formed the basis of Western understanding of the Sephardic musical oral tradition, some other

Jewish music has been transmitted primarily through notation and therefore requires different

procedures.

Sephardic music deserves more visibility among choral conductors for the same reason

that other non-Western music needs to be performed. Choral music allows melodies, rituals, and

values to come alive in new ways. Audience members may not seek out a full concert of

traditional music from a certain culture, but when they attend a choral concert, they can learn

about cultures they have not previously considered. Because of the small Sephardic population in

the United States, many non-Jews are entirely unaware of the cultural and ethnic distinctions

between different Jewish groups. Though a number of Sephardic choral pieces were published in

the 1990s and early 2000s, not enough choral conductors know to visit the Transcontinental

Music Publishers’ website to find a wide selection of Jewish music. There were few sample

scores and recordings available online until recently.5

1.2 APPROACHES TO NON-WESTERN REPERTOIRE

After conductors have selected non-Western pieces, they face the responsibility of

conveying traditions with respect and accuracy. In “Challenges of Performing Diverse Cultural

5 American
Conference of Cantors, Transcontinental Music Publications, accessed April 4, 2018, https://
www.transcontinentalmusic.com/.

3
Music,” Mary Goetze makes recommendations to conductors in order to assist them in this task.6

First of all, she suggests interacting with native musicians to provide a musical model for the

performers. This is certainly the ideal situation, although performers should keep in mind that

cultures are not uniform; in the case of Sephardic music, individual singers will have different

pronunciation nuances and different musical knowledge bases. This study explores the valuable

resources of online databases of field recordings where performers can use multiple sound files

repeatedly throughout the rehearsal process. 7

Goetze’s next dictum is to conduct background research and share “how the music

reflects the culture, how and where music is learned and performed, and if it accompanies

extramusical activities” with students.8 This point is one of the most relevant to Sephardic choral

music because most existing arrangements provide limited performance notes. The ideal

performance notes point out useful resources for further information in addition to fostering a

thorough basic understanding.9 In my arrangements, I include hyperlinks to field recordings and

to the online community Ladinokomunita (see Appendix B). Of course, Goetze is correct that

bringing in a native member of the culture in question will be even more helpful for performers.

In order to mitigate the limitations of Western notation, Goetze recommends teaching

music aurally if it comes from an oral tradition. 10 In the performance notes of my arrangements, I

advise conductors that timbre, tempo, ornamentation, and intonation are best absorbed by

6 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

7 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

8 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

9 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

10 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

4
listening to the source recordings. Even some florid melodies and complex meters, which appear

in these original arrangements, are more intuitive when taught partially by rote. While most

Sephardic choral arrangements are too elaborate for complete rote teaching to be practical,

conductors may have the most success when they combine aural exercises with traditional score-

dependent rehearsal strategies.

Goetze emphasizes the value of matching the model as closely as possible, particularly

with regard to pronunciation and vocal technique. She states that choirs who carefully explore

different vocal styles will have a rewarding experience and respect the musical style. 11 I

deliberately set two of the new Sephardic arrangements in this study in a low register in order to

facilitate this potential experimentation. Since Judeo-Spanish pronunciation is often a point of

contention even among native speakers, I will discuss the relative merits of certain spelling

systems and pronunciation guides.

While most advice in Goetze’s article is directed towards the conductor and singers, she

concludes by imploring the conductor to educate the audience as well.12 Clayton Parr expands on

this point by recommending that performers focus on one style at a time. “If we relegate world

music to a token or emblematic role–for example, one lively African piece at the end of an

otherwise classical concert–the audience can be left with the impression that the African piece is

somehow less serious in nature,” he explains.13 For Sephardic music, the equivalent might be

singing Flory Jagoda’s whimsical “Ocho Kandelikas” as the only Sephardic piece or only Jewish

11 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

12 Goetze, “Challenges of Performing,” 25.

13 Parr, “Eight Simple Rules,” 35.

5
piece in a program of mostly “serious” music. It is an engaging musical work, but performers

need to consider their role as storytellers and communicators of culture. In his article “Music of

the Jewish People,” Joshua Jacobson writes eloquently that “sometimes tokenism is worse than

neglect.”14

This discussion of Sephardic music is centered on the arrangement process, which affects

the way the audience perceives Sephardic music and culture. Performers can transcend the limits

of a publication, but arrangers can empower performers to be well-informed storytellers in both

the music itself and the accompanying background information. If performers and audiences are

exposed to a range of Sephardic musical genres and interpretations, they will do a greater service

to the Sephardic community through awareness and respect. I have created new arrangements

that illuminate these nuances, with the hope that both conductors and arrangers will approach

Jewish music more thoughtfully in the future.

The following chapter, “Sephardic Jews and Their Music,” will explain the history of the

Sephardim and the most important facets of Sephardic music. The chapter “Existing

Arrangements of Sephardic Music” will discuss the ways in which published Sephardic choral

arrangements convey cultural influences to performers and audience members. The subsequent

chapter, “New Arrangements of Sephardic Music,” will explain my process of creating three new

arrangements that present more breadth and depth of Sephardic music than many previous

publications. These arrangements, included in Appendix B, explore methods of expression and

education that have not necessarily been a priority for other arrangers. This dissertation is

14 Joshua R. Jacobson, “Music of the Jewish People,” Choral Journal 55, no. 2 (September 2014): 69.

6
intended to open a path toward new methods in Sephardic choral arranging, while also aiding

performers in more active engagement with the existing repertory.

7
2. SEPHARDIC JEWS AND THEIR MUSIC

2.1 SEPHARDIC JEWS: HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

Before elaborating on the musical traditions of the Sephardic Jews, it is important to

clarify their history and geography. The Sephardic Jews (or Sephardim) are the Jews who lived

in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) during the Middle Ages, calling their homeland

Sefarad in Hebrew.15 These Iberian Jews primarily fled to the Eastern Mediterranean and North

African regions after 1492. They are distinct from the Ashkenazim, or European continental

Yiddish-speaking Jews, and the Jews who originated in Persia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, India,

Ethiopia, and other locations.16 Though some in the latter category consider themselves to be part

of a larger Sephardic group, this dissertation will use the term “Sephardic” solely for those who

came from Spain and Portugal. While many customs vary between these cultural groups, all

share the same liturgical language, calendar, and prayer rituals.17

Jews in the Iberian Peninsula lived alongside Arabs and Christians from 711 to 1492 C.E.

Between approximately 900 and 1200 C.E., primarily under Arab rulers, members of all three

religions were able to flourish in an age of intellectual and artistic progress. Jews worked at

courts as poets and musicians in addition to holding other influential positions in society. When

the Christians returned to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the government and

15Irene Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music: Its History, Traditions, and Culture (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
1994), 100.

16 Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music, 105.

17 Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music, 106.

8
Church were responsible for increased persecution of the Jews.18 The destruction of Seville’s

Jewish community in 1391 led to the same treatment in Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and other

cities.19 With edicts targeting Jews in 1478 and Torquemada’s Inquisition in the 1480s, Spanish

Jews were given the ultimatum of conversion or exile in 1492, and Portugal followed Spain’s

example in 1496. Many conversos (insultingly called marranos or “pigs” by some) ultimately

immigrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas by the end of the sixteenth century, though

some bloodlines of conversos remained and even practiced Judaism in secret as crypto-Jews. 20 In

the seventeenth century, a particularly large Jewish community of former Portuguese crypto-

Jews formed in Amsterdam.21 Most of those who left in the 15th-century Expulsion went to

Mediterranean regions: the Balkans, the old Turkish Empire, Greece, the land of Israel, Egypt,

Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco (see figure 1). 22

18 Emanuel Rubin and John H. Baron, Music in Jewish History and Culture (Sterling Heights, Michigan: Harmonie
Park Press, 2006), 100.
19 Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music, 100.

20 Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music, 101.

21 Yitzhak Kerem, “Sephardim,” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007),
294.

22 Heskes, Passport to Jewish Music, 105; map from Kerem, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 293.

9
 Figure 1: Map of Sephardic diaspora after 1492
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Waves of Sephardi emigration from Spain and Portugal after the expulsion of 1492, with dates of establishment of new communities where known. Based on a map drawn by H. Bainart.


Throughout the twentieth century, persecution and politics had monumental impacts on

Sephardic populations around the world. Many Sephardim in former Ottoman areas immigrated

to Western Europe and the Americas after World War I. Rising anti-Semitism prompted flight to

Istanbul from other cities in and around Turkey. Countless Sephardim were sent to death camps

in the Holocaust, though some managed to escape to the land of Israel.23 Though there were

Sephardim in the Americas as early as the sixteenth century, the dire political situations in

23 Kerem, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 301.

10
twentieth-century Europe led to an influx of immigrants.24 Today, there are particularly strong

Sephardic communities in New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

2.2 THE JUDEO-SPANISH LANGUAGE

In the Sephardic diaspora, Jews brought with them a vernacular language much like

medieval Castilian Spanish. Some scholars label it “Judeo-Spanish,” though as

ethnomusicologist and performer Judith Cohen explains, “The admittedly artificial umbrella term

‘Judeo-Spanish’ is used more for its relative accuracy than for its aesthetic appeal.”25 Ladino–

along with “Spaniol,” “Djudezmo,” and “Djudeo-spanyol,” among other terms—usually refers to

the Eastern Mediterranean Sephardi dialects, even though Moroccan Sephardim historically

speak “Haketía.” Ladino is the most widely used name by both native speakers and outsiders. 26

The main linguistic variations result from the influences of non-Jewish languages spoken in each

region; for example, Haketía incorporates Arabic vocabulary along with occasional Hebrew

words. Eastern Judeo-Spanish includes Turkish and Greek vocabulary, as well as some Hebrew.27

Because of the geographic distance and diverse linguistic influences, dialects also vary widely in

pronunciation. For example, “hazer” would be pronounced with a sounded /h/ in Haketía, but it

would be “azer” in Eastern Judeo-Spanish.28

24 Kerem, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 302.

25 Judith R. Cohen, “Women and Judeo-Spanish Music,” Bridges 3, no. 2 (Spring 1993): 113.

26 Cohen, Women and Judeo-Spanish Music, 113.

27
David Bunis, “The Differential Impact of Arabic on Haketía and Turkish on Judezmo,” in El Presente: Estudios
Sobre la Cultura Sefardí, ed. Tamar Alexander and Yaakov Bentolila (Beer Sheva: Centro Gaon, Universidad
Ben-Gurion del Negev, 2008), 2:207.
28
Bunis, “The Differential Impact,” 187.

11
 As the technical definition of Ladino draws from written translations from Hebrew,

Ladino was originally written using Hebrew characters, specifically the Rashi script. Ladino now

uses roman characters with a wide variety of spelling systems.29 I will use the terms Ladino and

Judeo-Spanish in this dissertation to apply to all of these dialects, a practice that has precedent in

both common speech and scholarly discourse.

The number of native Ladino speakers is decreasing, but many have worked to preserve

the language through music, cultural events, and classes. One of the most significant outlets for

speaking Ladino is the online forum Ladinokomunita, which unites over 1600 users around the

world and requires all communication to be in Ladino. 30 It can also be a valuable resource for

researchers, as Judith Cohen found when she joined Ladinokomunita members on a research trip

to Turkey. She solicited their responses to varied modern commercial recordings of Ladino

songs, finding some Sephardim more receptive and others more particular. Several were critical

of these singers’ pronunciation, indicating lack of deep linguistic understanding among

performers as well as possible dialectic differences.31 Although there is widespread interest in

Ladino in the field of music and beyond, not many have been able to make the significant

commitment required to overcome the relative scarcity of resources and become fluent.

29 Kerem, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 294.

30Rachel Amado Bortnick, Ladinokomunita, accessed November 9, 2017, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/

Ladinokomunita/info.

31 Judith R. Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora’ (I’m Not Like Those Modern Girls): Judeo-Spanish Songs meet
the Twenty-First Century,” European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 44, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 160-161.

12
2.3 GENRES OF JUDEO-SPANISH MUSIC

2.3.1 Romances

Judeo-Spanish songs fall into several categories, based on poetic form and function.

Romances have been studied the most, particularly from a literary perspective, but are not

performed often by commercial artists due to their length and repetitiveness. With a large number

of stanzas, romances can be floridly ornamented, often in a makam with microtones. 32 Musically,

each strophe of a romance contains four musical phrases, divided by a pause and a cadential

formula. Romance texts are narrative ballads comprised of paired sixteen-syllable verses in

assonant rhyme, usually about the Spanish Middle Ages or other historical and Biblical subjects;

they are related to Spanish and French poetic forms.33 Women play important roles in the texts,

from committing murder and adultery to engaging in more laudable behavior.

Traditionally, romances are sung unaccompanied by women while performing domestic

activities, such as rocking an infant to sleep.34 By the 1930s, Eastern Sephardic women no longer

sang romances often in the home, while Western Sephardic women continued into the 1980s.35

Certain romances have a different context and might be sung by men; Biblical romances can be

sung around religious festivals and wedding ones around marital rituals.36 As Sephardim have

32Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs, Then and Now,” in The Cambridge
Companion to Jewish Music, ed. Joshua S. Walden (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 105.
33
Judith Etzion and Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Music of the Judeo-Spanish Romancero: Stylistic Features,”
Anuario Musical 43 (1988): 225-226.

34 Cohen, Women and Judeo-Spanish Music, 115.

35 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 156.

36Susana Weich-Shahak, “La ocasionalidad en el romancero judeo-español,” Revista de Folklore 90 (1988):

186-187.

13
immigrated to different cities and mixed with other modern societies, many of the original

customs have changed; those who preserve romances are any men and women who have learned

them from family members or from professional recordings.

“De Qué Lloras, Blanca Niña” is a romance known by both Eastern and Western

Sephardim with many modal and melodic variants. Susana Weich-Shahak includes several

transcriptions in each of her anthologies, but the version closest to Yehezkel Braun’s art song

“Por Que Llorax” (arranged for choir by Joshua Jacobson) is sung by Elazar Abinun from

Sarajevo.37 Though many other versions could be interpreted in the Western major mode, Weich-

Shahak’s transcription in Romancero Sefardí del Oriente provides an alternative example, as well

as exhibiting the unmetered melismatic delivery that is common in many romances (figure 2). 38

Figure 2: Transcription of “De Qué Lloras, Blanca Niña”

This opening verse can be translated as, “Why do you cry, fair maiden? Why do you cry, white

flower? Do you cry about harsh punishment or new love?” The phrase “Why do you cry, fair

maiden?” also appears in the romance “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” that I arranged for choir as part

37 YehezkelBraun, Por Que Llorax: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance, Arranged by Joshua Jacobson (New York:
Transcontinental Music Publications, 1992), 3.

38 Susana Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente: Antología de Tradición Oral, with accompanying compact
disc (Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 2010), 108; this mode is discussed in detail in section 3.6.

14
of this study. The first four stanzas of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” appear in table 1. 39 For the full

text and music, see Appendix B.

Table 1: Translation of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya”

Lavaba la blanka ninya, lavaba i espandia, The fair woman was washing and putting linens out to
Kon lagrimas la lavaba, kon suspiros la spandia. dry,
with her tears she washed and with her sighs she dried.
Por ayi paso un kavayero, kopo d'agua le demando, A knight passed by and asked her for a cup of water
De lagrimas de sus ojos siete kantarikos le incho. And she filled for him seven jugs from her tears.
“Porke yorash, blanka ninya, mi sinyora, porke Why do you cry, fair maiden? Milady, why do you cry?
yorash?” Everyone comes back from the war and the one I wait
“Todos vienen de la gerra, al k'aspero no ay venir for does not return.
mas.”
“Dame sinyal, mi sinyora, sinyal del vuestro marido.” Give me a sign, milady, a sign from your husband.
“Alto, alto komo 'l pino, i derecho komo 's la flecha.” He is tall like a pine tree, straight as an arrow,

2.3.2 Coplas

The genre called coplas or complas uses strophic texts about Jewish tradition, history,

culture, and politics.40 Some are para-liturgical songs for celebration of Jewish festivals such as

Purim and Hanukkah at home, and others are part of life cycle events such as birth, circumcision,

and death.41 Many of their texts have been written down with Hebrew Rashi semi-cursive letters,

particularly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, leading to transmission via booklets for

home use.42 Coplas are generally sung in groups, led by men, sometimes with hand-clapping. 43

Written instructions have indicated a common performance practice involving solo performance

39 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 116.

40 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 108.

41Elena Romero, “Sephardi Coplas: Characteristics and Bibliography,” European Judaism: A Journal for the New
Europe 44, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 76.

42 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 109.

43 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 109.

15
of verses and group performance of refrains that might be unique or taken from other familiar

coplas.44

One particularly well known copla is “Kuando el Rey Nimrod” (also called “Avram

Avinu”), a circumcision song that is sung by Sephardim from both the Eastern and Western

Mediterranean regions. The first verse and refrain read as follows (table 2):45

Table 2: Translation of “Kuando el Rey Nimrod”

1. Kuando el rey Nimrod al kampo salia, When King Nimrod went out into the fields,
Mirava en el sielo i en la estreriya, and looked up at the heavens and at the stars,
Vido luz santa en la djuderia, he saw a holy light above the Jewish quarter,
Ke avia de naser Avram Avinu. a sign that Abraham our father was about to be born.
REFRAIN: REFRAIN:
Avram Avinu, padre kerido, Abraham, our father, beloved father,
Padre bendicho, luz de Israel. blessed father, light of Israel.

In record 2194 in the Maale Adumim database, Avraam Koen leads a group of singers with hand-

clapping on every beat. My transcription adds time signatures that reflect the accented beats in

this recording (figure 3).46

44 Romero, “Sephardi Coplas,” 75.

45 Matthew Lazar, Cuando el Rey Nimrod (New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1990), 2.

46 Avner Perez, “El Trezoro de Kantes de Sefarad,” Maale Adumim Instituto, accessed December 15, 2017, http://
folkmasa.org/avshir/pshir.htm, record 2194.

16
 Figure 3: Transcription of “Kuando el Rey Nimrod”



             
       

    
  
        
 
 



                     
       

          
    
        

               

           
    
 

                      



 

                 
         
     


               
    
 
     
  
                
   



Matthew Lazar’s arrangement, published by Transcontinental Music, adds a lively piano part and

a texture of alternating chorus and soloist (see Appendix A). 47


47 Lazar, Cuando el Rey Nimrod, 2.

17
 For this study, I created a new arrangement of the copla “Esta Noche de Purim,” with part

of the text included in table 3 as well as in Appendix B.48

Table 3: Translation of “Esta Noche de Purim”

1. Esta noche de Purim This Purim night
No duermen los alhalwim, The sweets makers do not sleep
Haziendo las alhalwas They are making sweets,
Para las despozadas. for the newlyweds.
REFRAIN: REFRAIN:
Vivas tu, i viva yo, Long live you, long live me,
I vivan todos los judios. Long live all the Jews.
Viva la reina Ester Long live Queen Esther
Ke tanto plaser nos dio. Who gave us so much pleasure.
2. Haman el mamzer Haman, upon waking,
Mucho mal kizo hazer Had much to do
A Mordehay el judio To Mordechai the Jew
En los dias de Purim. On the days of Purim.

2.3.3 Cantigas

The lyric, local, calendar, and life cycle songs are often grouped as cantigas or canticas

by Ottoman Sephardim, or cantares or cantes by Moroccan Sephardim. These show a strong

connection to the surrounding culture, occasionally using entire folk melodies from Turkish,

Greek, or Bulgarian traditions.49 Cantigas can be sung by men or women alone or in groups,

though the significant category of cantigas de novia or cantigas de boda (wedding songs) is

primarily associated with women. Cantigas de boda often have percussion, particularly the

tambourine (Eastern pandero/panderico or Moroccan sonaja) or other percussion (Moroccan

48Reeva Spector Simon, Michael Menachem Laskier, and Sara Reguers, eds., The Jews of the Middle East and
North Africa in Modern Times (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 516-517.

49 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 109.

18
castanets, Turkish finger cymbals, or dumbek drum), and those sung at the wedding celebration

might have professional musicians on a number of regional instruments. 50

Susana Weich-Shahak mentions the wedding song “Morenica,” which describes a

beautiful dark-skinned woman, in her chapter “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs,

Then and Now.” Her transcription is included here (figure 4):51

Figure 4: Transcription of “Morenica”

Weich-Shahak uses this example to demonstrate the most common structure of a cantiga, which

is a four-line strophe followed by a two-line refrain.52 I have translated the text of the first verse

and refrain of “Morenica” in table 4.


50 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 110.

51 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 111.

52 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 111.

19
 Table 4: Translation of “Morenica”
Morenica a mi me llaman They call me Morenica
Blanca yo naci: I was born fair:
El sol del en verano The sun in the summer
M’hizo a mi ansi. Made me like this.
REFRAIN: REFRAIN:
Morenica, graciosica sos, Morenica, you are lovely,
Morenica y graciocica y mavra matiamu. Lovely, with black eyes.

Interestingly, Yehezkel Braun includes an art song arrangement of “Morenica” in his Seven

Sephardic Romances. It is unclear whether he means to identify these “romances” as narrative

ballads or simply as love songs.53

For this study, I have arranged the Bulgarian wedding song “Las Kazas de la Boda.” Part

of the text is in table 5 below as well as Appendix B:54

Table 5: Translation of “Las Kazas de la Boda”

Estas kazas tan ermozas x2 The houses are so beautiful
Para ke bailen las novias For the brides to dance there
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai
Estas mezas tan ermozas x2 These tables are so beautiful
Para ke bailen las novias For the brides to dance there
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai

Cantigas have been popular with commercial artists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Modern cantigas are particularly well known, including the original songs written by Flory

Jagoda.55

53
Yehezkel Braun, Morenica: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance, arr. Joshua Jacobson (New York: Transcontinental
Music Publications, 1990), 2.

54 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 118.

55 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 156-157.

20
2.4 MUSICAL INFLUENCES

It is particularly difficult to discern to what degree Sephardic music comes from pre-

Expulsion Spain. Susana Weich-Shahak and Judith Etzion undertook to relate several Sephardic

romances, or narrative ballads, to Spanish romances printed in the sixteenth-century polyphony

collection Cancionero Musical de Palacio and various vihuela publications.56 They chose

romances with textual connections and some musical similarities, which did not provide many

options. First demonstrating how melodies change over time within each tradition, they

identified important “tonal axes” or “pitch goals” that remained fairly consistent between earlier

and later versions of the same melody.57 When they identified corresponding tonal axes between

paired Spanish and Sephardic romances, or even phrases with similar contours, the melodic

differences were comparable to those between multiple recordings of the same Sephardic

romance. The similarities between Diego Pisador’s 1552 Quién hubiese tal ventura and the

Sephardic Quién tuviera tal fortuna are particularly striking.58 Nevertheless, few scholars have

traced other melodies back to Spain, and the effects of oral tradition are powerful enough to

render any connections tenuous. Popular culture’s tendency to romanticize the Spanish origins of

Sephardic music can be misleading for performers and conductors who conduct insufficient

research.

Since Sephardic Jews did not live in complete isolation in the diaspora, the cultures that

surrounded them exerted a strong influence on their music. These stylistic differences are best

56Judith Etzion and Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Spanish and the Sephardic Romances: Musical Links,”
Ethnomusicology 32, no. 2 (Spring – Summer, 1988): 2.

57 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “The Spanish and the Sephardic Romances,” 12.

58 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “The Spanish and the Sephardic Romances,” 15.

21
divided into two traditions: the Moroccan or Western Mediterranean region and the former

Ottoman or Eastern Mediterranean region, the latter including Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and

other areas in addition to modern Turkey. Some Sephardic tunes or lyrics are known by

descendants of both traditions, more likely pointing to interaction after the Expulsion than to

medieval musical origins. 59 While Moroccan Sephardic music had more contact with Western

music through Spain in the twentieth century, Eastern Sephardic music often more closely

follows the microtonal modal system of makam from Ottoman court music. The makams

permeated liturgical Sephardic music through Jewish involvement in secular Turkish classical

performance. 60 Even beyond absorbing local characteristics of mode, meter, rhythm, cadential

patterns, tuning, and ornamentation, Sephardic tunes are often contrafacta of folk songs and

popular songs sung by non-Jews in the same locations.61

This study discusses Sephardic songs that are still known by Sephardim, as well as some

that are sung by non-Sephardic amateur and professional musicians. In some cases, it is possible

to identify a melody’s chronological origins, but oral transmission often creates ambiguity. Many

popular Ladino songs are from the twentieth century, while others are linked to older social

customs that have died out because of immigration and assimilation in the twentieth and twenty-

first centuries. In this dissertation, I will generally use past tense to refer to the diaspora in the

fifteenth to twentieth centuries, and I will use present tense to discuss the music itself and

modern interpretations thereof.

59 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 152.

60 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 153.

61Edwin Seroussi, “Between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean: Sephardic Music After the Expulsion from
Spain and Portugal,” Mediterranean Historical Review 6, no. 2 (1991): 203.

22
2.5 LITURGICAL AND PARA-LITURGICAL MUSIC IN HEBREW

Although this study focuses on music in the Judeo-Spanish dialects, a brief discussion of

liturgical and para-liturgical Sephardic music in Hebrew can provide context for the influence of

makams. In the Ottoman Empire, groups of Jewish male singers, poets, and composers known as

Maftirim assembled to perform sacred poetry using the conventions of Ottoman classical music.

They arose as early as the sixteenth century, particularly in cities, and usually sang piyyutim

(Hebrew para-liturgical poems) in the early morning or afternoon of Shabbat (the Jewish

Sabbath, which takes place from Friday night to Saturday night). They used printed text

collections called mecmuas, which indicated the makams, usûls (rhythmic patterns), and genres

of each song.62

Although the Maftirim sang before walking to synagogue on Shabbat morning, makams

also permeated music during the services themselves. Several eighteenth-century rabbis even

complained that the ḥazzanim (cantors) were too invested in Turkish modes, evident by the

latters’ singing extensive passages on nonsense syllables.63 For a single liturgical event, music

would often be unified with a single makam, 64 and many makams are associated with specific

Jewish holidays such as Purim and Hanukkah.65

Many Judeo-Spanish genres have been passed down through generations of women.

Through contrafacta of Hebrew and non-Jewish music, exposure to liturgical and para-liturgical

62Edwin Seroussi, “Towards an Historical Overview of the Maftirim Phenomenon,” in Maftirim: Turkish-Sephardic
Synagogue Hymns, coord. Karen Sarhon, (Istanbul: Gözlem Gazetecilik, 2009), 54.

63 Seroussi, Between the Eastern and Western, 203-204.

64 Seroussi, “Towards an Historical Overview,” 57.

65 Seroussi, “Towards an Historical Overview,” 63.

23
music, and interpretation by trained male singers, the makams have significantly shaped the style

of domestic music as well.

2.6 JUDEO-SPANISH MUSIC IN THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES

2.6.1 Early Song Collection

It is unfortunate that we cannot learn precisely how the Judeo-Spanish song repertory

changed over the last five centuries. The first audio recordings are from the early twentieth

century, and ethnomusicological practices of recording and transcribing have undergone a

century of development between that time and now. Manuel Manrique de Lara collected and

transcribed Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sephardic songs between 1910 and 1917, and

Alberto Hemsi did the same in Turkey, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Salonica between 1920 and

1938.66 In these recordings, most singers were professional male cantors and rabbis who added

instruments such as violin, oud (Mediterranean lute), and kanun (Mediterranean zither) to songs

traditionally sung a cappella. Because of technological limitations, not all verses were

included.67 After World War II, Sephardic immigrants in Israel provided an ample source for

research. Isaac Levy’s influential publications included the secular Chants Judéo-Espagnols in

four volumes published in 1957 and 1970-1973 with a much lesser-known audio disc, and

Moshe Attias published Cancionero Sefaradi in 1972.68 Henrietta Yurchenco published

documentary recordings in 1983, and Manuel Alvar and Leon Algazi conducted their research

during approximately the same time period. However, it was difficult for emerging performers of

66 Seroussi, Between the Eastern and Western, 198.

67 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 155.

68 Seroussi, Between the Eastern and Western, 198.

24
Sephardic music to access the existing field recordings, and transcriptions conveyed incomplete

information.69

Many performers have acquired source material from transcriptions, but Western notation

and Western-trained ears inherently lose some elements in translation. Most anthologies omit

information about microtones, instead mapping pitches onto the nearest semitone according to

Western scales. Some rhythms are modified in a similar fashion. These volumes also rarely

communicate details about performance context, vocal timbre, and potential instrumental

accompaniment; practical needs limit the number of verses publishers can print with musical

variations.70

Isaac Levy’s Chants Judéo-Espagnols, a large song collection in clear notation, has been

one of the most popular sources for commercial artists. Though there are no dynamic markings,

Levy took the liberty to include tempos, breaths, and occasional ornamentation. While these

might help performers approximate the performance practice from Levy’s source recordings,

terms such as più expressivo have specific associations in Western performance, such as using

more vibrato or stretching the tempo. Marking tr above a half-note might result in a variety of

executions, with potential appoggiaturas, varying or even speed of pitch fluctuation, and

presence or lack of anticipations.71 This anthology is a valuable starting point, but artists should

aspire to augment their knowledge with field recordings and performance context information.

69 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 155.

70 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 155.

71 Isaac Levy, Chants Judéo-Espagnols (London: World Sephardi Foundation, 1959), 1:34.

25
2.6.2 Detailed Resources

The ethnomusicological objectives of Susana Weich-Shahak are evident in her more

recent Spanish-language romance anthologies, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente and Romancero

Sefardí de Marruecos. The preamble gives a thorough introduction to the texts, performance

practice, functionality, Ladino spelling and pronunciation system, modal classification, and

informants and even includes a longer transcription of multiple verses to illustrate the variability.

In the transcriptions, Weich-Shahak applies key signatures that may or may not correspond to

common Western signatures, and some include microtones that are suitable for the appropriate

makam. Many of the romances lack time signatures, which allows Weich-Shahak to notate each

rhythm based on its true duration, and she uses metronome markings based on her recordings

instead of the Italian words such as “Allegretto” that appear in Levy’s. Each group of related

romances, or the same romance sung in different ways, has a description with information about

origins and other printed sources. The Romancero Sefardí de Marruecos has an accompanying

cassette; 72 the Romancero Sefardí de Oriente has a CD with selected field recordings that

demonstrate a range of musical styles and geographical traditions.73 These are valuable sources

for both scholars and performers. One can hope that similar work will soon be done on other

genres of Sephardic song.

Samuel Armistead and Joseph Silverman collected a large number of Judeo-Spanish

ballads between 1957 and 1993, and many are available to hear on a website hosted by the

72Susana Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Marruecos: Antología de Tradición Oral, with accompanying
cassette (Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 1997).

73 Susana Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente: Antología de Tradición Oral, with accompanying compact
disc (Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 2010).

26
University of Illinois.74 The texts are printed in the series Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews:

Judeo-Spanish Ballads from Oral Tradition.75 The University of Washington’s Stroum Center for

Jewish Studies hosts the Benmayor Sephardic Ballad collection of 140 songs recorded in Los

Angeles and Seattle.76

A more substantial collection of documentary recordings is available at the remarkable

Maale Adumim Institute database. This website contains over 2800 recordings of Sephardic

songs from all genres, mostly recorded in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s. Each recording has a

separate informational page with details about the informants and their geographical origins, the

lyrics they sing, the song’s genre and function, the Armistead catalogue number if included, and

a sound file that can be streamed or downloaded. Surprisingly, it is a difficult source to find,

particularly for English speakers; the website is in Ladino and Hebrew only. Users can browse

lists of genres and functions or search for words within the text, if they can make educated

guesses about how these words will be spelled. Many songs are recorded multiple times by

different singers, enabling users to compare versions of the melody or elucidate details that are

unclear in some recordings. Whether or not performers choose to emulate the vocal qualities,

tuning, or ornamentation, they can be best prepared to make informed decisions if they spend

time at the Maale Adumim database website. 77

74 Armistead,Samuel G. and Joseph Silverman, Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews, accessed April 12, 2018,
http://www.sephardifolklit.org/.

75 Armistead, Samuel G. and Joseph Silverman, Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews: Judeo-Spanish Ballads from
Oral Tradition, 5 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).

76University of Washington, The Sephardic Studies Collection, accessed November 28, 2017, http://
content.lib.washington.edu/sephardicweb/index.html.

77 AvnerPerez, “El Trezoro de Kantes de Sefarad,” Maale Adumim Instituto, accessed December 15, 2017, http://
folkmasa.org/avshir/pshir.htm.

27
2.6.3 Modern Interpretations

With many sources of inspiration, performers have been interpreting Sephardic music in a

range of styles since the mid-to-late twentieth century. In her article “‘No So Komo Las de

Agora’ (I’m Not Like Those Modern Girls): Judeo-Spanish Songs meet the Twenty-First

Century,” Judith Cohen provides a survey of prominent artists in various styles, who primarily

perform the two-dozen most popular lyric Ladino songs. In the earlier period, Victoria de los

Angeles represents the Western art music interpretation; Joaquin Dias, the Spanish folk music;

and Voice of the Turtle, the early music. Cohen then describes the rise of Sephardic music in the

world music scene, including use of Middle Eastern, flamenco, jazz, and popular music styles.

Without overtly criticizing, she uses some language that indicates disapproval. “Early music

groups in Europe and American seized on Ladino songs as a new source to supplement the finite

repertoire of medieval songs preserved in manuscript,” she claims, implying lack of deliberation

and even boredom with the “finite repertoire.” “The use of guitars or orchestral instruments

precluded the use of traditional microtones and introduced a sort of easy listening style with

exotic overtones,” Cohen writes in summary of the earlier interpretations she describes.78 “Easy

listening” carries a negative connotation that consumers are less discerning, and “exotic”

suggests that they are easily enchanted by unfamiliar sounds. After continuing in the same vein,

she concludes,

Among the few groups performing in traditional styles are the Pasharos Sefardis of
Turkey, still active as performers, and Gerineldo, a Moroccan group which operated for

78 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 158.

28
 close to twenty years in Montreal, Canada. Both groups consisted of people from the
community (I was the lone Ashkenazi member of Gerineldo).79

Besides the virtue of being “from the community,” or Sephardic Jews, Cohen does not elaborate

on the “traditional styles.” Los Pasharos Sefardis appear to perform with a combination of

chordal harmony and heterophony, sometimes educating their audience about the origins of

Turkish Sephardic Music.80 In “Mi Pi El,” Gerineldo sings a Moroccan Sephardic song with

voices and instruments in heterophony. 81 The main challenge for performers intending accuracy

is that most of this repertory is meant for functionality more than performance; endless

unaccompanied verses of romances in an unfamiliar language would not appeal to many

audiences.

Cohen’s insistence on background research is certainly wise, but there will always be

compromises. In fact, her own accounts of Sephardic responses to commercial recordings

demonstrate that many changes are acceptable to insiders. She poses a question at the end of the

article,

Rather than change itself, which has always been an integral part of the Judeo-Spanish
song tradition, perhaps the more immediate and also challenging issues are those related
to questions of representation and appropriation, or, briefly put: who are the harvesters,
and whether anyone is in charge of the orchard.82

Without making specific accusations or drawing the line, she has hinted at the presence of

appropriation among several of the aforementioned genres. It may be impossible to assign

79
Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 159.

80Karen Sarhon, “Sephardic Music: Para Ke Kero Mas Bivir by Los Pasharos Sefardis,” YouTube video, 4:22,
Accessed April 6, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1gZMuigUlk.

81Judith Cohen, “Gerineldo ‘Mi Pi El.’ Alliance Française, Toronto. 25-11-2014,” YouTube video, 3:06, Accessed
April 6, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ0c042kKP4.

82 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 162.

29
precise moral judgments, though, and could be more productive to advocate for better research

practices and more transparency about which musical features are intrinsic to the tradition.

Although Cohen and other ethnomusicologists urge caution in adapting Sephardic music,

I have created choral arrangements that can educate performers and audience members more

effectively about Sephardic culture. Choral ensembles can spread awareness of Ladino language

and music by presenting traditional melodies with a variety of carefully considered textures and

instrumentations. Conductors can participate in the dialogue by promoting publications by well-

informed arrangers and highlighting the musical details that make this repertory distinct.

30
3. EXISTING CHORAL ARRANGEMENTS OF SEPHARDIC
JEWISH MUSIC

3.1 OVERVIEW

In addition to expanding and fine-tuning the repertory of Sephardic choral arrangements,

I aim to remedy the lack of scholarly work on Sephardic music in the choral medium through

this dissertation. There is already considerable ethnomusicological research on Sephardic music

from the last century, and Katherine Lynn Meizel’s 2004 dissertation “Eastern Mediterranean

Sephardic Tradition in Art Song” offers a performer’s perspective of how Sephardic music has

been transformed for solo vocal performance with piano accompaniment. Her explanations of

how Turkish makam modes influence the work of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Joaquín Rodrigo,

Joaquín Nin-Culmell, and particularly Alberto Hemsi provide a useful model for similar

explorations in the realm of choral music.83 However, despite the fact that most choral

arrangements of Sephardic music are already twenty to thirty years old, academics have not yet

brought them into the dialogue.

Seventy-four choral publications of Sephardic music are included in this study,

comprising nearly all of the arrangements widely available to a conductor in the United States.84

The vast majority is published by the American Conference of Cantors’ Transcontinental Music,

the leading publisher of Jewish music in the United States. A recent website redesign added

perusal scores and recordings to many works, transforming the experience of choral directors

83Katherine Lynn Meizel, “Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic Tradition in Art Song” (DMA diss, University of
California Santa Barbara, 2004).

84 See Appendix A for full list.

31
educating themselves about Jewish repertoire.85 The user may search here under the “Sephardic”

genre. Joshua Jacobson’s list of Sephardic music resources on the website of the Zamir Chorale

of Boston is also a valuable aid for conductors. 86

Most of these Sephardic choral arrangements were published between 1990 and 2012,

coinciding with the rise in popularity of Ladino songs in the commercial music scene. Twenty-

eight are liturgical pieces in Hebrew, sixteen are para-liturgical and mostly in Ladino, and thirty

are Ladino songs about romantic love and other themes. The most prolific arrangers in this genre

are Joshua Jacobson and Michael Isaacson, though some of Jacobson’s Ladino choral

arrangements are harmonizations of Yehezkel Braun’s 1968 art songs. While most of these works

have traditional melodies, some are arrangements of Flory Jagoda’s twentieth-century songs such

as the Hanukkah favorite “Ocho Kandelikas” and “Hamisha Asar.” The most widely-arranged

selection is the lullaby “Durme, Durme,” followed by “Adio, Kerida” and “Ocho Kandelikas.”

Many are for mixed chorus, but some are for treble or lower voices, and most are medium-easy

to medium difficulty. In addition to unaccompanied and piano-accompanied arrangements, some

call for guitar, flute, percussion, or non-Western or non-orchestral instruments. Despite the

unfamiliar languages, these Sephardic choral arrangements are highly accessible, expressive, and

idiomatic.

The purpose of his chapter, however, is not merely to identify high-quality, beautiful, or

entertaining music. In order to answer the question of how to create a well-informed and

85 AmericanConference of Cantors, Transcontinental Music Publications, accessed April 4, 2017, https://

www.transcontinentalmusic.com/.

86 The Zamir Chorale of Boston.,“Sephardic Music Resources,” The Zamir Chorale of Boston, accessed April 10,
2018, https://zamir.org/resources/sephardic-music/.

32
informative choral version of a Sephardic song, the treatment of certain musical and contextual

elements that form a listener’s perception of Sephardic Jewish identity needs to be analyzed.

Some arrangements are barely distinguishable from other American or European works, while

others employ Arabic instruments, complex meters, and modes that are not typical of Western

tonal music. Conductors need to understand how to find the strongest examples of Judeo-Spanish

choral music and perform them well. Arrangers can see how I have advanced these techniques in

my own arrangements (Appendix B). An exploration of the breadth of Sephardic styles and

influences—without exoticizing the Sephardim—is needed in order to seek a better

understanding of how choral arrangements create a musical fusion.

3.2 PERFORMANCE NOTES

The performance notes are one of the most crucial aspects of an arrangement. In the first

page of an edition, the arranger has an opportunity to educate the performers beyond what the

music itself provides. However, many choral arrangements of Sephardic music and folk songs

from other cultures supply only minimal background information. Joshua Jacobson’s choral

harmonization of Yehezkel Braun’s art song “Morenica” supplies only the following explanation:

This arrangement of Morenica was adapted from the fifth section of Yehezkel Braun's Seven
Sephardic Romances, a song cycle for solo voice and piano. These love songs stem from the
ancient traditions of the Jews who lived in Spain prior to the sixteenth century.87

One can speculate that the publishers want to avoid overwhelming conductors, or want to keep

the text tidily on a single page. In the current age, though, more conductors have recognized the

value of respecting the music’s culture of origin by being informed about performance context.

87 Braun, Morenica, 2.

33
 In order to aid conductors and singers in a thoughtful approach, Sephardic arrangements

should include an accurate explanation of Sephardic Jews and their origins, a citation for the

melodic source used, a description of who would sing the melody and in what event or locale, an

explanation of the text’s origins and meaning, suggestions for vocal and instrumental approaches,

and recommendations for where to find more relevant and reliable information. Several existing

arrangements manage to provide helpful context even in concise paragraphs. In The Western

Wind Ensemble’s arrangement of Three Sephardic Folk Songs, the first paragraph of notes

effectively describes the history of the Sephardic Jews, and the second paragraph introduces the

musical approach:

Spanish Jews, commonly known as Sephardic Jews, have lived in many parts of the
world. For 1200 years, starting in the Roman Era, their predominant home was in Spain.
Their language therefore dates back to medieval Spain and is considered Judeo-Spanish
or Ladino. Sephardic Jews were driven from Spain in 1492. Forced to live in many parts
of the world, their music is a reflection of many locations. “Xinanáy” as an example is
from Sofia and reflects the playfulness of Bulgarian folk-melodies.
Arranged by members of The Western Wind these delightful pieces capture some
of the essence of the Sephardic people. These songs are to be sung with percussion and
pitched instruments preferably Oud (Arabian lute), Dumbek (Middle Eastern drum) and
tambourine. Hammer dulcimer, guitar or mandolin can also work as a substitute. The
music begins a cappella with an echoing chant and drone. It is very effective to divide the
first and second sopranos antiphonally. The three pieces are designed to segue one to
another. “Irme Quiero” is serene and gentle with the text “I must go, oh my Mother into
the world.” The second “Rahelica Baila” begins with a very dance-like percussion
introduction. Because of this, it sounds very Eastern European. We have provided a
singing translation and an actual translation, but the music is much better in its original
language. As you can tell by the text, it is a child’s play song. The music is constructed in
basically three sections: 1) the melody in unison, 2) the melody with an ostinato beneath
it and 3) the melody harmonized in four parts. These sections can be repeated as many
times as seem to be appropriate to the situation. “Rahelica” segues into the third piece
which is “Xinanáy.” It is a nonsense song which can have additional rhyming verses
made up by children and added. We’ve included some so you can get the idea.88

88 Western Wind, Three Sephardic Folk Songs (Ft. Lauderdale: Plymouth Music Co, Inc., 1994), 2.

34
While many arrangements only mention the Spanish origins, this publication emphasizes that

Sephardic music comes from diverse geographical areas. Performance suggestions mention

specific instruments that are traditional in the areas where Sephardic Jews settled after the

Expulsion while also providing alternative Western instruments for practical purposes. There is

some performance context information, though the children’s song notion could be explained

more, and information about the melodic source would be helpful.

David Ludwig’s program notes for the self-published Four Ladino Folk Songs are on his

website and are also printed in the subset Two Ladino Folk Songs published by Hal Leonard:

These Ladino songs for chorus were inspired by a project of arrangements I made for
unaccompanied violin. I was so taken with this music—its melodic riches and wide
range of emotional expression—that I decided to set several of these songs for choir, as
well. These songs are set to compliment their wonderful texts; some with a gently
rocking four-part texture, others with percussive sounds and effects that would be
familiar to traditional Ladino folk singers.
A debt of gratitude is owed to the seminal scholarship of Isaac Levy, who
transcribed so many of these songs in his four-volume “Chant Judéo-
Espagnols”—a catalogue of this great musical heritage interwoven with the fading
Ladino language scattered across Europe, Africa, and Central Asia…
Ladino is the language that was spoken by the Sephardic Jews—Jews with
Spanish origin. It developed in the Sephardic diaspora after the expulsion from
Spain in 1492.89

These notes lack the scope of background information that The Western Wind arrangement

provides, but Ludwig does mention Isaac Levy’s anthology as his source. The last two sentences

would be more precise without the implication that Ladino is a language of the past; Ladino is

currently spoken by the Sephardim.

89 David Ludwig, Ladino Folk Songs (New York: G. Schirmer, 2012), 2.

35
 If arrangers and publishers honor other cultures with more thorough background

information, choral conductors will be empowered to spread cross-cultural understanding among

their singers and audience members. A respectful approach also needs to include conscientious

guidance with the Judeo-Spanish language.

3.3 PRONUNCIATION GUIDES

Due to dialectal and orthographic variations, choral arrangements approach the Judeo-

Spanish language in numerous ways, sometimes with different pronunciation rules. Although

some publications include informative and accurate guides, as far as it is possible to generalize,

others are closer to Spanish or lack a pronunciation guide entirely. In his arrangement of

“Durme, Durme,” David Eddleman’s well-intentioned attempt at accessibility leads to

misleading vowels and consonants. This guide begins, “Door-meh, door-meh, hee-zhee-koh deh

too mah-threh,” which encourages singers to use excessively open vowels, diphthongized “oh”

as in American English, and the incorrect fricative sound (“th” in “mah-threh”) for the

intervocalic /d/.90 The most effective pronunciation guide combines simplicity, clarity, and

completeness. The spelling system plays an important role. Performers should know that Ladino

was originally written in Hebrew Rashi script as well as the fact that modern spelling in roman

characters has not been standardized.

90David Eddleman, Durme, Durme (New York: Carl Fischer, LLC, 2005), 2. Text: Durme, durme, hijiko de tu
madre.

36
 Most of the arrangements published by Transcontinental Music use either of the

following guides (table 6): 91

Table 6: Transcontinental Music Ladino Pronunciation Guides

Arrangements from the early to Arrangements from 1999 or later:
mid-1990s:

Follow the general rules for modern Spanish

diction, with the following exceptions:

c never dentalized pronounced like unvoiced “s” (sorry)

d pronounced like “th" (this)

g never gutturalized before e or i, like “dj" (gentle)

j as in the French Bonjour, or the English not gutturalized (vision)

vision

kh as in the German Bach

ll pronounced "y", as in mayor pronounced as “y" (yet)

s at the beginning of a word: always unvoiced, when initial- unvoiced (sorry)

as in said. when between vowels - voiced (lazy)
in the middle or end of a word: always when final - voiced (lazy)
voiced, as in zebra .

v pronounced like the English "v" in vision as "v" in English (not mixture of b and v)
(victory)

x pronounced "sh", as in shoe pronounced like "sh" (shoe)

z always voiced, as in zebra (never dentalized) voiced “s” sound (lazy)

The earlier guide is more explicit about the use of Spanish pronunciation by default, which is

particularly helpful for vowels. In the older guide, and the newer one to a lesser extent, the

phonetic terms “dentalized” and “gutturalized” are used to instruct choirs not to use the European

Spanish ceceo /θ/ (the first consonant in “thin”) for <c> and <z> or the velar fricative /x/ (the last

91 Yehezkel Braun, Dime Rozina: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance, arr. Joshua Jacobson (New York: Transcontinental
Music Publications, 1992), 2; Eleanor Epstein, Par’o Era Estrellero (New York: Transcontinental Music
Publications, 1999), 2.

37
consonant in “Bach”) for <j>.92 When the newer guide instead indicates <c> turning into /s/, it is

more simple and direct than using the word “dentalized;” it would also be sufficient to leave <j>

explained as the consonant in “vision” without the potential confusion of the word

“gutturalized.” The second guide’s note about not pronouncing <v> as a mixture of b and v, the

bilabial fricative /ß/, is useful for performers who are knowledgeable about Spanish. At the same

time, one could argue that these explanations of how not to pronounce the consonants impede the

clarity and simplicity.

Interestingly enough, neither of these guides directly addresses the issue of pronouncing

<h>. Many words that would have a silent <h> in Spanish are often spelled without an <h> in

Ladino, such as “ijiko” in the song “Durme, Durme,” which has an <h> in the arrangements by

Alice Parker and David Eddleman but not in that by Audrey Snyder. Parker and Eddleman’s

arrangements both advise pronouncing the <h> as an English /h/.93 In practice, there is variation

in how Ladino speakers approach the non-silent <h>, but it generally becomes a velar fricative /

x/ in words from Arabic or Hebrew. 94

The rest of the guide from Parker’s “Durme, Durme,” which also appears in

“Bendigamos” and “El Dio Alto” by David Poole, all published by Transcontinental, is as

follows:

92In this dissertation, // will refer to sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet and <> will refer to the
spellings.

93 Audrey Snyder, Durme, Durme (New York: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001), 2; Eddleman, Durme, Durme, 2;
Alice Parker, Durme, Durme (New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 2001), 2.

94David Bunis, “Judezmo (Ladino),” in Handbook of Jewish Languages, ed. Lily Kahn and Aaron D. Rubin
(Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2016), 379.

38
 c=k d=d h=h s (initial)=ss
ce=se ‘soft’ d=th, as in this j=zh s (elsewhere)=z
ci=se g=hard g ll=y v=v (always)
ch=tsh ge=dje n=ny x=sh
c=s gi=dji qu=k z=z (always)

This guide is thorough, but there may be confusion over where the “‘soft’ d” occurs and

where <n> would become /ɲ/ or “ny.” Furthermore, the word “joya” is usually pronounced with

a hard /d͡ʒ/ (as in “juice”), rather than the /ʒ/ (as in French “jour”) implied here; this appears in a

post by Judith Cohen in the online community Ladinokomunita. 95 The length of the guide is

striking, with five different pronunciations for <c> and three for <g>. A more elegant solution

would be modifying the spelling to represent the intended sounds.

In most Judeo-Spanish choral arrangements, the words appear almost exactly like modern

Spanish. For example, the first verse of “La Rosa Enflorece” arranged by Alice Parker is as

follows:

La rosa enflorece
en el mez de May
mi alma s’escurece
sufriendo del amor96

The textual transcription of Malka Manes in the Maale Adumim database is as follows:

La roza enflorese
en el mez de may
mi alma s'eskurese
sufriendo del amor.97

95Judith R. Cohen, “Verzyon de Durme Durme,” Ladinokomunita, moderated by Rachel Amado Bortnick, January
2010, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ladinokomunita/conversations/messages/31102.

96 Alice Parker, La Rosa Enflorece (New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 2012), 2.

97 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2802.

39
The main differences between these two examples are the use of <c> or <s> for a voiceless /s/,

<s> or <z> for a voiced /z/, and <c> or <k> for a plosive /k/ (as in “carrot”). In the

orthographical system used for Manes’ transcription, the correspondences between spelling and

pronunciation are more direct, while still using letters that English speakers would find intuitive.

The fact that it appears more distinct from Spanish helps performers remember the Judeo-

Spanish pronunciation.

The widely-used online Ladinokomunita asks participants to promote the spelling guide

from the Israeli magazine Aki Yerushalayim. In this guide, the consonants <q>, <w>, and <c> are

not used, only <s> means /s/, <k> means /k/, <y> is only used as a consonant, <i> spells the

word that means “and,” and intervocalic <s> is written as a <z>. 98 Using this system in choral

arrangements would help performers stay abreast of the changes in the Judeo-Spanish language

and remain aware of the distinction between Sephardic Jews and Spaniards. Unfortunately, since

the recent closing of the Aki Yerushalayim magazine, this guide is no longer available online. It is

expected that the moderators of Ladinokomunita will soon make it available or find another

solution.

The pronunciation guides currently in circulation are adequate, but this paper suggests a

more succinct one in section 4.5, accompanied by a more detailed discussion of the Aki

Yerushalayim spelling system. It is this orthographical approach that best facilitates singers’

successful pronunciation of Ladino.

98Moshe Shaul, “Grafia del Djudeo-Espanyol al Uzo de ‘Aki Yerushalayim,’” Aki Yerushalayim: Revista Kultura
Djudeo-espanyola, accessed November 13, 2017, http://www.aki-yerushalayim.co.il/ay/075/075_05_grafya.htm.

40
3.4 INSTRUMENTATION AND VOICING

In the arrangements themselves, the color palette of voicing and instrumentation can have

an immediate effect on how the listener identifies the musical style. Many are written a cappella

or with piano accompaniment; both are practical choices, and the former is particularly aligned

with traditional contexts. Some, however, specify other pitched or unpitched instruments, which

can have notated or improvisatory roles.

Elliot Levine from The Western Wind cites Isaac Levy’s Antología de Liturgia Judeo-

Española as the source of “Hazeremos Una Merenda,” as well as specifying that it is a

“Sephardic Chanukah melody from Adrianopoli [a city in northwest Turkey now known as

Edirne].”99 The two-part voicing of soprano I and soprano II may hint at the traditionally-female

domestic context of a song about assembling ingredients for Hanukkah cooking (figure 5).100 At

the same time, it would work well for any combination of voices, and many choral conductors

are working to disassociate voice parts from gender identities. Levine’s drum part is unobtrusive;

the rhythm varies between sections, but the repetitive patterns within each section would

naturally fit into an informal context. A woman singing “Hazeremos una Merenda” while

cooking would not have a free hand to play percussion, but this kind of addition takes the

arrangement into the realm of performance while using timbres that could be familiar to

Sephardic Jews in Adrianopoli.

99 Elliot Levine, Hazeremos Una Merenda (New York: Transcontinental Publications, 1991), 2.

100 I will use the spelling “Hanukkah” except in quotations.

41
 Figure 5: "Hazeremos una Merenda," arr. Elliot Levine, mm.12-15

 O D    D O D  O  º
            

 O D    D O D  O  º
            

              


In Three Sephardic Folk Songs, The Western Wind makes specific instrumental

suggestions:

These songs are to be sung with percussion and pitched instruments preferably Oud
(Arabian lute), Dumbek (Middle Eastern drum) and tambourine. Hammer dulcimer,
guitar or mandolin can also work as a substitute.101

The oud, dumbek, and tambourine are common in many regions of the Mediterranean, which

makes them appropriate for Sephardic melodies from any area as well as easier to find than some

traditional instruments. Since budget and location could prevent many ensembles from using

oud, the substitutions of hammered dulcimer, guitar, and mandolin are important to mention.

While the use of instruments is unclear in “Irme Quiero,” the second song in the set, “Rahelica

Baila,” specifies notated parts for recorder, guitar or keyboard, and drum (rim and head) (figure

6).102 The recorder could be a Western approximation of the end-blown Turkish/Arabic ney or

Bulgarian kaval.

101 Western Wind, Three Sephardic Folk Songs, 2.

102 Western Wind, Three Sephardic Folk Songs, 5.

42
 Figure 6: “Rahelica Baila,” arr. Lawrence Bennett, mm. 1-8

Arranger Lawrence Bennett includes guitar or keyboard chords; although triadic harmony is a

sign of stronger Western influence, some native Ladino speakers have recorded traditional music

with guitar chords, indicating the cultural changes of the twentieth century.103 “Xinanáy” has

only a notated drum part; the arrangers likely expect that an oud or oud-substitute player will

double the melody heterophonically.104 The instrumental suggestions in this publication create a

vivid cultural connection to the Sephardic diaspora, but the edition could be more consistent and

informative about the usage of these instruments and the geographical origins of the first two

melodies.

103 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 841.

104Denise Gill, Melancholic Modalities: Affect, Islam, & Turkish Classical Musicians (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2017), 31.

43
 Moira Smiley’s approach to “Si Verias a la Rana” is similarly open-ended (figure 7). She

suggests in the performance notes, “This is best done with some hand percussion and/or a riq,

darabouka, or dumbek. You could also have instruments like clarinet or violin doubling the vocal

lines, or playing the C part instrumental.”

Figure 7: “Si Verias a la Rana,” arr. Moira Smiley, mm. 1-4

)








  
        





  




  


  


  


    
 
 
 


While the notated music only consists of A, B, and C sections in two-part or three-part harmony,

she includes a suggested arrangement:

Begin with rhythm instrument

A1 Solo melody
A2 Melody + Drone
B1 Melody + Drone ending unison
B2 same as B1
C1 Unison Melody
Add more rhythm (castanets?)
C2 All harmonies, bottom 2 hold final notes long under Instr.
Instrumental1 Solo Melody
Instrumental2 Unison + variants105

The manner in which Smiley trusts the performer’s judgment is refreshing; it has a sense of

spontaneity while keeping the audience’s interest with variety. She is specific enough, though, to

suggest that pitched instruments double the vocal lines.

While many arrangements discuss the timbral possibilities of adding instruments, few

address the question of vocal color. J. A. Kawarsky writes in the notes for “Eight Candles for

105 Moira Smiley, Si Verias a la Rana (Studio City, CA: Moira Smiley Music Publishing, 2009), 2.

44
Chanukah” (“Ocho Kandelikas” in Ladino) that “the soloist should sing with a natural vocal

quality” (figure 8).106 Since the default technique of most choirs is bel canto, the word “natural”

presumably refers to a more speech-like technique, but it is ambiguous.

Figure 8: “Eight Candles for Chanukah,” arr. J. A. Kawarsky, mm. 1-3

Many singers in field recordings of Judeo-Spanish songs are women without classical vocal

training who sing with chest resonance and a low soft palate. Some of the men are

professionally-trained cantors and rabbis, combining a bright Sephardic sound with elements of

Western vocal technique or Turkish classical style. In many choral arrangements, it would be

difficult to achieve an approximation of these sounds healthily, particularly given the high

registers of soprano and some alto parts. Furthermore, professional singers of Ladino songs

already display a full spectrum of vocal colors, which provides precedent for many

interpretations. An arranger who intends to encourage exploration of brighter timbres can place

the soprano and alto lines in low registers and the tenor and bass lines in relatively high registers.

106Flory Jagoda, Eight Candles for Chanukah, arr. J. A. Kawarsky (New York: Transcontinental Music
Publications, 2009), 2.

45
3.5 METER

Like the repertoire represented in commercial recordings, the Judeo-Spanish songs

arranged for choir only provide a glimpse of the vast repertory that exists in collective memory.

Notably, the metrical variety in these arrangements is somewhat limited. In their quantitative

study “The Music of the Judeo-Spanish Romancero: Stylistic Features,” Judith Etzion and

Susana Weich-Shahak compared the percentage of Eastern and Western romances in their

collected recordings that fell into each rhythmic category. In the Eastern Mediterranean

romances, there were 16% in duple meter, 3% in triple meter, 13% in complex meters (or

alternating 3/4 and 6/8), 26% in alternating metric and non-metric segments, 16% non-metric

with a pulse, and 26% non-metric without a pulse. In the Western Mediterranean romances, there

were 9% duple, 9% triple, 34% complex, 26% alternating metric and non-metric, 17% non-

metric with a pulse, and 4% non-metric without a pulse.107 It is striking that such a large

percentage in both regions are at least somewhat non-metric and that complex meters are also

fairly common. The authors address the possibility that the hemiola and 5/8 meter in Spanish

music might account for the predominance of complex or alternating simple and compound

meters in Moroccan romances, while the Eastern romances are influenced by the flexibility in the

makam-based liturgy. 108

Many choral arrangements, on the other hand, are in duple or triple meter, with

occasional changing meters to account for gaps between phrases or refrains that change the

accented beats. The most likely explanation for the disparity is that most choral arrangements are

107Judith Etzion and Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Music of the Judeo-Spanish Romancero: Stylistic Features,”
Anuario Musical 43 (1988): 237.

108 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic features,” 238.

46
lyric songs or para-liturgical coplas, which are more likely to be metered than romances. Some

arrangements are in complex meters, but sections without a pulse are rare; David Ludwig’s florid

“Camini por Altas Torres” is one of the only examples. 109

Arrangements of songs in complex or changing meters create more variety in choral

programs, whether the other repertoire consists of simple-meter cantigas or Western art music.

Moira Smiley’s “Si Verias a la Rana” is in a lively 2+2+2+3,110 and Flory Jagoda’s “Hamisha

Asar” is in 3+2+2.111 Alice Parker’s “La Rosa Enflorece” extends some measures to 5/4 or 3/2 in

order to sustain the last note of a phrase expressively, which is similar to the timing of Malka

Manes in a recording in the Maale Adumim database (see section 3.8).112

As with most musical elements, the arrangements that use meter most effectively are

based on a reliable source recording. David Ludwig’s extended phrase endings in “Durme,

Durme” lead to intriguing harmonic progressions (figure 9), but it is unclear whether or not he

consulted any sources other than Levy’s anthologies. 113

109 Ludwig, Ladino Folk Songs, 3.

110 Smiley, Si Verias, 2.

111 Flory Jagoda, Hamisha Asar, arr. Nick Page (New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1993), 3.

112 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2802.

113 Ludwig, Ladino Folk Songs, 4.

47
 Figure 9: “Durme, Durme,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 11-16

Arrangers should be faithful to the source recordings, but also seek out more Judeo-Spanish

songs in complex and ambiguous meters in order to represent the repertory well and demonstrate

the musical influences from Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, and other cultures.

3.6 MODE

In order to expand representation of Sephardic music through the choral medium,

arrangers can select music in a variety of modes. Liturgical music has a direct connection to the

Turkish makamlar and the Arab maqamat, due to participation of male Sephardic musicians in

the Ottoman and Arab classical music milieu as early as the sixteenth century. In fact, even on

the Iberian Peninsula, interaction with Arabs may have led to the sacred Jewish poems (piyyutim)

being grouped by maqamat in printed sources.114 Makams are essential in liturgical music, and

they have permeated Judeo-Spanish music over the centuries through the Hebrew repertoire as

114 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic features,” 229.

48
well as non-Jewish folk music from the surrounding diasporic cultures.115 Musically-trained

Sephardic cantors and rabbis, who are still traditionally male, often label Judeo-Spanish songs

with a makam. However, these labels can be inconsistent. Because many songs are passed down

by amateur musicians, particularly women, they do not always adhere a given makam.116

Scholars can analyze versions of songs for makam characteristics, but only without expecting a

definitive classification.

Since Arab maqams are related to Turkish makams, and Eastern Sephardic music is more

often performed and arranged in Western culture, this explanation will focus on the Turkish

perspective. Mastery of makams can take years of training under a master.117 A makam is a vocal

and instrumental mode that comes with a set of melodic rules and a particular character, in

addition to the pitches of the scale itself. This system dates back to the fifteenth century. The

word makam means “place, spot, or state,” as in the place where the tonic or dominant tone

resides. According to the seventeenth-century theorist Cantemir, makams are formed from a

basic scale and secondary scale degrees, which seems to resemble the musica recta and musica

ficta in medieval European music.118 In this case, though, the secondary scale degrees include

microtones between the half steps in a Western scale.

A whole step in Turkish classical music is divided into nine komas, and each pitch is a

designated number of komas away from the basic tone. These pitches include those one koma

115 The pluralization makams is in common use today.

116 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic features,” 229.

117 Walter Feldman, Music of the Ottoman Court (Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, 1996), 198-199.

118 Feldman, Music of the Ottoman Court, 195.

49
away, four komas away, five komas away, eight komas away, and a whole step away. The

symbols are as follows (figure 10):119

Figure 10: Microtones Used in Turkish Classical Music


 
 

 
 
 
 



 


  

      


Each makam contains only a few secondary pitches or accidentals, and not all are

microtonal. The scales are constructed with pentachords and tetrachords with an ambitus of a

Western perfect fifth and fourth, respectively. For simplicity, this study will use Western letter

names to refer to pitches, but the makam system uses Turkish names such as Çargâh (C) and Rast

(G).120

The makams are used for fixed compositions as well as improvisations. Cadential

conventions and rules about melodic direction make them more than a scale. Full cadences,

including the final one, take place on the tonic or first degree of the scale. Half cadences arrive

on the dominant note, which is often the fourth or fifth degree where the pentachord and

tetrachord overlap. Suspended cadences usually involve the second, third, and sixth degrees, and

they often bring other flavors to the scale; these flavors are patterns from other makams that

involve temporary pitch modifications like the Western use of accidentals. The seventh degree is

the leading tone, which can be either a whole step or half step below the tonic, and it increases

the sense of conclusion at the final cadence. Makams can be extended beyond an octave,

119 Murat Aydemir, Turkish Music Makam Guide, ed. and trans. Erman Dirikcan (Istanbul: Pan Yayıncılık, 2010),
24.

120 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 25.

50
transposed to convey a new character, and modulated to others within a single composition or

improvisation.121

Due to transmission through ethnomusicological work in the early- to mid-twentieth

century, outsiders most often perform Sephardic music without microtones. In this study, none of

the catalogued choral arrangements have attempted to include microtonal pitches. The reasons

might include lack of awareness of microtones being used in Sephardic music, lack of

microtones in the melodic source (either that version or all known versions of that melody), and

belief that microtones would hinder successful performance by amateur choirs. The last is a

particularly compelling concern for publishers, but this academic exploration will hopefully

expand the possibilities of using more non-Western intervals in choral music.

A particularly common mode among Sephardic choral arrangements is the one labeled as

a Phrygian dominant scale or harmonic minor mode five in Western theory. Common in

Ashkenazi as well as Sephardic Jewish music, it is called Freygish in Yiddish and Ahava Rabbah

in Hebrew (figure 11). It also exists in other Asian, Middle Eastern, and European cultures. To

Western ears more accustomed to major and minor scales, the fourth degree may sound like the

tonic, as in harmonic minor; the presence of three half steps gives this scale a minor sound.

Figure 11: Ahava Rabbah Scale

   





    


Sephardic music with this scale most likely originates in the Hicaz family of makams

121 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 26-29.

51
 (figure 12), which accounted for 20% of the romances in the sample analyzed by Judith Etzion

and Susana Weich-Shahak.122 There are four main scales in this family, but a given composition

will modulate between them.123 Like the Hicaz and Humayun scales, the Phrygian dominant has

a sense of stability on the fourth degree, and the upper pitches most closely match the Buselik

pentachord included in the Humayun scale.124 It is noteworthy that the characteristic augmented

second is minutely smaller than the equally-tempered equivalent Western interval, since the Bó is

only four komas flat and therefore one koma higher than a Bb.

Figure 12: Makam Hicaz Family

 


 
 

 

  


       


  

  

 


 
  
   
  
   
       


  



 

 


The choral arrangements that best fit Hicaz are Matthew Lazar’s “Cuando el Rey David,”

Yehezkel Braun and Joshua Jacobson’s “Por Que Llorax,” “Nani, Nani,” and “A la Una Yo

122 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic features,” 299.

123 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 25.

124 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 158.

52
Nací,” Flora Jagoda and Nick Page’s “Hamisha Asar,” Alice Parker’s “La Rosa Enflorece,”

Eleanor Epstein’s “Par’o Era Estrellero,” and Moira Smiey’s “Si Verias a la Rana.” The melody

and harmony combine to communicate a sense of tonic and lead the audience to hear Phrygian

dominant or harmonic minor.

Smiley’s “Si Verias a la Rana” firmly emphasizes the Hicaz or Phrygian dominant mode

by constantly reinforcing the tonic. The C drone is present on almost every beat of the

arrangement, and every cadence ends on a C unison. The Bb-A-Bb figure in m. 5 acts as a

transition, and the A㽇 approximates the behavior of the Hicaz family by altering the sixth scale

degree. The instrumental interlude later on more closely resembles a modulation to the Hüseyni

makam family. Smiley’s arrangement conveys the traditional melody effectively with attention to

the tonic pitch (figure 13).125

Figure 13: “Si Verias a la Rana,” arr. Moira Smiley, mm. 1-7







 
 


     


  




  


  


  


    
 
 
 

 




     

 

 

  


    
  

 
 
   
    
  


In “Pa’ro Era Estrellero,” Eleanor Epstein supports the opening melody with a gradually

shifting drone that begins on a G, the tonic for an analysis of harmonic minor. The ambitus of the

125 Smiley, Si Verias, 2.

53
melody and the final cadence of each verse, though, imply that a Hicaz analysis is more suitable

(figure 14).126

Figure 14: “Par’o Era Estrellero,” arr. Eleanor Epstein, mm. 1-13

The middle sections of the arrangement are harmonized with lyrical horizontal gestures that

support the melody in each moment, but the final repeat of the first line arrives on a G and

therefore suggests that Epstein considers the G to be a more stable conclusion than the D that

ordinarily ends the melody (figure 15). 127

126 Epstein, Par’o Era Estrellero, 3.

127 Epstein, Par’o Era Estrellero, 8.

54
 Figure 15: “Par’o Era Estrellero,” arr. Eleanor Epstein, mm. 56-60

Weich-Shahak and Etzion identify one makam grouping that is even more common than

Hicaz in their romance sample—Hüseyni, Uşşak, and Beyati (figure 16).128 These are

differentiated by specific range extensions and contours, but the essential interval is between the

tonic and the slightly-flat second scale degree.129

Figure 16: Makams Hüseyni and Beyati



  
 
 
   


         


 

 

  


The Western Wind includes one arrangement that best falls in this category, which can

also be described as an approximation of Western Phrygian mode; as mentioned earlier,

microtones are not always preserved in these melodies over time and cross-cultural transmission.

“Irme Quiero” in Three Sephardic Folk Songs begins and ends on an E, with a signature of no

128 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic features,” 299.

129 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 111, 126.

55
flats or sharps. The lowest pitch is a D, which is the last note in the first, third, and fifth phrases

and can be construed as a dominant. The melody never reaches the upper E, but instead rises to

C, D, and B in successive phrases. Instead of interpreting the melody in C major, the arrangers

emphasize the semitone between E and F in the alto part with sustained drones. The second

soprano line echoes the first soprano in a curated, inexact canon. With an extremely simple

arrangement, The Western Wind creates tension and interest that resolves to unison at the end of

each verse (figure 17).130

Figure 17: “Irme Quiero,” arr. Western Wind, mm. 1-3

As arrangers choose source material, they should consider how to bring to light the

modes that are less common in Western music. These can allow more freedom from convention

in choosing harmonies and textures in addition to highlighting the influence of Turkish and Arab

modes for performers and audiences. While some arrangers have already demonstrated effective

modal approaches, the repertory deserves deeper exploration into microtones and into makams

that have not yet been represented in Sephardic choral arrangements.

130 Western Wind, Three Sephardic Folk Songs, 4.

56
3.7 HARMONIC LANGUAGE AND TEXTURES

The seventy-four arrangements in this study exhibit a range of harmonic approaches,

including triadic tonal harmony, added tones and clusters, perfect intervals, suspensions, and

more. Harmony enhances the emotional impact for the audience, engages attention through

numerous verses, expresses the text, and manages the energy and tension of a composition. In

addition to artistic merit, some arrangements skillfully maintain the prominence of the horizontal

melody while enriching the modal context with simultaneities.

The Western Wind’s “Irme Quiero,” as described earlier, directs the listener’s ear to the

tonic with a slow alto drone that oscillates between E and F. The result of the two-part canon

above the drone is intervals that come from the melody itself, including sixths, fifths, fourths,

thirds, and seconds. Each of the two upper voices is anchored to the drone, and singers can create

tension and release by focusing on the interval between their melody and the alto E or F (figure

18).131

Figure 18: “Irme Quiero,” arr. Western Wind, mm. 4-7

“Camini por Altas Torres” from David Ludwig’s Four Ladino Folk Songs also combines

131 Western Wind, Three Sephardic Folk Songs, 4.

57
canon and drone for most of the movement. The tenor/bass A and D invert between a perfect

fourth and fifth in order to accentuate moments in the upper voices’ melody, landing on F# and

C# only at the end of each passage. The mode of the melody itself is ambiguous, but Ludwig

directs the listener to hear D and A as points of reference until he establishes cadences on F#.

These unmetered sections have no other chord changes, and the meandering path of the melody

creates powerful dissonances with both the drones and the melody’s echo. The F# is unexpected,

and it is a melodically-driven sonority that does not need further harmonic adornment (figure

19).132

Figure 19: “Camini por Altas Torres,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 2-3

The brief B section is powerfully homophonic (figure 12). It is first built on D drones and

contrary motion up and down from the D, after which point the melody’s bold F㽇dictates the

bass part’s abandonment of the D. Ludwig focuses on the starkness of the F㽇 against the D,

followed by the unstable dissonance, landing on an F-minor triad that reflects but alters the D-to-

132 Ludwig, Ladino Folk Songs, 3.

58
F# movement in the previous two passages. This arrangement is successful in bringing out the

character of the mode along with the poignancy of the text: Luvias caen de los cielos/ Làgrimas

de los mis ojos (Rain falls from the sky/ Tears from my eyes) (figure 20). 133

Figure 20: “Camini por Altas Torres,” arr. David Ludwig, mm. 7-9

The Hanukkah song “Hazeremos una Merenda” from Adrianopoli is also modally

ambiguous, but it fits best in the Hicaz family. Elliot Levine’s two-part choral arrangement

identifies the last note of G as a tonic and uses it as a drone beginning in the second verse (m.

16). The sustained pitch then encircles the G with Ab and F before ending on a D when the

melody resolves to G (figure 21).134

133 Ludwig, Ladino Folk Songs, 5.

134 Levine, Hazeremos, 4-5.

59
 Figure 21: “Hazeremos una Merenda,” arr. Elliot Levine, mm. 21-27



  O D   D  D O   O D  D  O 
   D O  º
  
           

K K K
 D  º          º
      


This harmony is often in thirds with prominent pitches of the melody, creating temporary

consonance, but the listener also hears instability until the arrival of the G sonority at the end of

the verse. In the third verse, interestingly, Levine harmonizes the melody a third below in a way

that creates an overall scale with two augmented seconds. On one hand, this could indicate that

Levine considers the G to be a prominent dominant pitch, with C as the tonic. On the other hand,

he may be using the augmented second between Db and E to bring the sinuous sound of the

melody into the harmony as well (figure 22). The remainder of the arrangement reverts back to

the sustained harmonies, unisons, and imitative moments that were used in the first two verses,

and the final G/B brightly establishes G as the harmonic goal.135

Figure 22: “Hazeremos una Merenda,” arr. Elliot Levine, mm. 28-30

Ž      D   
!     


Ž    
 D 0  
!     



In the examples mentioned here, arrangers have taken the risk of dealing with a melody

on its own terms. The mode is a fertile ground for expression that does not necessarily need to

follow the same tonal harmonic rules as canonical Western choral music. Furthermore, intricate

135 Levine, Hazeremos, 5-7.

60
contrapuntal textures are not essential for conveying a monophonic tradition in a different

medium. However an arranger chooses to approach harmony and texture, it is best that he or she

begin with an awareness of the wealth of possibilities that exist beyond the first sounds that come

to mind.

3.8 ORNAMENTATION AND MELISMA

Ornamentation is difficult to classify in Sephardic music. Romances can be highly

melismatic, particularly those from the Eastern Mediterranean tradition. These melismas are not

confined to specific melodic gestures. They can often take the form of neighbor-tone turns and

runs, but also contain small leaps as part of a specific melody’s contour. Singers will frequently

add turns and single trills or mordents to less melismatic melodies such as those in cantigas and

coplas. A small number of choral arrangements incorporate one or both of these stylistic features,

though the ornamentation is often applied cautiously.

The melismatic melody of “Nani, Nani” from Seven Sephardic Romances is not tied to a

metrical pattern, but Yehezhel Braun notates it in 2/4 in order to control how the harmony aligns.

A soloist is responsible for the melisma in the choral edition by Joshua Jacobson, conveying the

affect of the original art song. Most of the melisma takes the form of ascending and descending

runs that pause on key melodic pitches, such as in measure 14, with the exception of an

oscillating trill approaching the final D cadence of each verse in measure 16 (figure 23).136

136 YehezkelBraun, Nani, Nani: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance, arr. Joshua Jacobson (New York: Transcontinental
Music Publications, 1992), 4.

61
 Figure 23: “Nani, Nani” by Yehezkel Braun, arr. Joshua Jacobson, mm. 14-16

The piano elaborates on these fragments with runs and turns, such as in measure 35 (figure

24).137

Figure 24: “Nani, Nani” by Yehezkel Braun, arr. Joshua Jacobson, m. 35 (piano part)

Although the choir is less involved in the essential melodic material, the florid solo in this

arrangement prominently features the melismatic style that is typical of many romances.

Alice Parker uses a neighbor-tone mordent multiple times in her arrangement of “La Rosa

Enflorece.” This gesture is audible in many field recordings used for this study, as well as in

Malka Manes’ recording of “La Rosa Enflorece” in record 2802 of the Maale Adumim database.

137 Braun, Nani, 7.

62
Manes’ vocal shakes are fast enough to be barely audible as separate pitches, and they most often

occur as indicated in the following transcription of the first verse (figure 25):138

Figure 25: “La Roza Enflorese,” sung by Malka Manes, with ornamentation indicated by mordents

  
          
      
     
          

       
  

        
            
                   
 
  

                
      

                  

Parker asks the choir to perform this figure between F and G# on the words sufriendo (suffering),

mata (kills), muchigua (increases), yo (I), and morir (die), likely based on text as well as melody

(figure 26).139

Figure 26: “La Rosa Enflorece,” arr. Alice Parker, m. 9 (soprano part)

The only other ornamented pitch is an A-C-A figure in a soprano harmony on the word mata

(kill) in measure 25 (figure 27).140

138 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2802.

139 Parker, La Rosa, 4.

140 Parker, La Rosa, 7.

63
 Figure 27: “La Rosa Enflorece,” arr. Alice Parker, m. 25 (soprano part)

She may have read or heard these ornaments in her source, or she may have decided to limit the

ornamentation to the most impactful moments. Regardless, it is true that this shake is a common

ornamental gesture in Sephardic music.

Ornamentation can enrich an arrangement and should be included if it appears to be an

essential aspect of a given song. Conductors should not allow their concerns about the challenge

of unifying ornaments to prevent them from performing ornaments. Heterophony is a perfectly

acceptable result, even if it contradicts the conventions of Western choral culture.

3.9 REFLECTION

Due to the brevity of performance notes printed in choral octavos, it is not always easy to

understand an arranger’s sources, process, and rationale. Conductors can reach out to arrangers

with specific questions in order to present these Sephardic choral arrangements more effectively.

Focusing on the music itself reveals a desire to share the lyrical melodies, colorful texts, and

evocative rhythms with choral singers and audiences. Arrangers have been successful in creating

works that are accessible to many amateur choirs in texture, harmony, rhythm, and length.

There is a need for deeper research on the part of arrangers, along with more transparency

about their sources. Conductors will program Sephardic choral arrangements more often if the

publishers’ websites explain Sephardic music and culture more thoroughly and accurately. Their

64
interpretations will be truer to the tradition if they have access to recordings of the vocal style

and pronunciation. They will incorporate Sephardic music more wisely into concerts when they

understand the influence of Turkish and Arab classical music, the social contexts of each song

and its genre, and the development of Sephardic music throughout history. In the following

chapter, I discuss the approaches I used in my own arrangements to give performers and

audience members a greater understanding (see Appendix B for arrangements).

65
4. NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF SEPHARDIC MUSIC

4.1 SONG SELECTION PROCEDURE

The primary goal of this study is to propose ways that arrangers can inform performers

and audiences about Sephardic music through careful research and transparency. An enormous

number of songs exist in living memory, recordings, and documents, many of which have

already received considerable attention and acclaim. There is little need, however, for more

arrangements of “Adio, Kerida,” “Durme, Durme,” or “Ocho Kandelikas" at this time. The

current need is to take advantage of the ethnomusicological work that has gone beyond the

collections of Isaac Levy and his compatriots of the mid-twentieth century, particularly since the

“two dozen Judeo-Spanish hits” (as described by Judith Cohen) are primarily love songs from

the last century and a half. 141 The existing Judeo-Spanish choral arrangements reflect a similarly

narrow range of material. This promising opportunity for growth provided the impetus for this

project.

Early on, I identified the need to demonstrate a new approach to arranging romances.

These ballads have long dominated the scholarship on Sephardic music, often from a textual

standpoint, but broadening in the last fifty years to encompass more musical discussions as well.

At first glance, there seem to be examples in the choral repertory already, but some are

misleading. The Seven Sephardic Romances of Yehezkel Braun, adapted for choir by Joshua

Jacobson, are described as love songs. When only two or three verses are included, the romances

141 Judith R. Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora’ (I’m Not Like Those Modern Girls): Judeo-Spanish Songs meet
the Twenty-First Century,” European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 44, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 156.

66
lose their narrative quality. Few choral arrangements attempt to tell a complete story, and few

show the full melismatic and microtonal influence of the makams.

“Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” also named “La Vuelta del Marido” (The husband’s return), is

an example that has already been studied in depth by Susana Weich-Shahak.142 Her contextual

background and transcriptions proved valuable, although I ultimately did a new transcription.

There are multiple field recordings available on the Maale Adumim Institute database; their

regional origins and melodic interpretations are consistent with Weich-Shahak’s findings.143

Most recordings corroborate the use of a makam with microtones, the Eñ in the key I used for the

arrangement. Since few published choral pieces of any kind incorporate microtonal singing,

“Lavaba” allows choirs to explore one non-Western scale tone without completely departing

from familiar modes. The unmetered melismatic melody also challenges ensembles and

communicates the typical florid quality. In this dissertation, the overall theme is understanding

and communicating the ways Sephardic music is different from Western music. By looking

outside of the Western canon, composers and arrangers can advance the choral art and create a

more dynamic audience experience.

Another significant consideration in selecting a romance was the meaning of the text. A

number of romances tell stories of adultery and murder, but "Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” describes

a couple’s initially troubled reunion with a triumphant ending. This text would likely find its way

onto more choral programs than more violent ballads. Another recommended romance is “La

142Susana Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente: Antología de Tradición Oral, with accompanying
compact disc (Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 2010), 100-103.

143 AvnerPerez, “El Trezoro de Kantes de Sefarad,” Maale Adumim Instituto, accessed December 15, 2017, http://
folkmasa.org/avshir/pshir.htm.

67
Doncella Guerrera,” the story of a princess who goes to war disguised as a man.144 I ultimately

chose “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” in its place because of the opportunity to use microtones.

Setting the most challenging melody for a treble ensemble added to the body of advanced

repertoire for soprano and alto voices. This is a more meaningful contribution than an advanced

work for mixed voices. Independent of voicing, most existing Judeo-Spanish arrangements are

easy to medium difficulty.

Arranging a copla allowed me to present a side of Sephardic culture that is more closely

related to Jewish history and traditions than the romances. Purim is a common occasion

associated with coplas, and the one I titled “Esta Noche de Purim” is sometimes labeled as “Los

Confiteros de Purim” (The Purim Confectioners), “El Testamento de Amán” (The Testament of

Haman), or even “Coplas de Purim” (Stanzas for Purim).145 Since the violence discussed in some

verses made this a less suitable choice, I included only the more celebratory verses in this

arrangement, though setting a small number of verses takes the arrangement further from

tradition.

There were many recordings available for this example, consistently from Moroccan

Sephardim, which made it an important melody to include in this set of arrangements. More is

generally known about Eastern or Ottoman-influenced Sephardic music than Moroccan, and this

unornamented melody represents the Moroccan repertory well. The emphasis on food and drink

in the Purim celebration communicates an important facet of the Jewish holiday along with its

specific traditions in Sephardic communities. The straightforward melody of “Esta Noche de

144 Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente, 157-162.

145 Perez, “El Trezoro.”

68
Purim” was an ideal choice for an arrangement that would be accessible to younger and less

advanced choirs.

I arranged a wedding song (cantiga de novia) to demonstrate the possibilities of using

accompanying instruments other than the piano; there is supporting evidence for the use of

instruments with wedding songs in functional contexts. The presence of a source recording with

drum accompaniment was fortuitous, allowing me to specify with confidence a similar drum

rhythm in my arrangement. “Las Kazas de la Boda” or “El Baile de Novias” lends itself to varied

ornamentation and heterophony, as demonstrated in the source recording.146 Its 2+2+2+3 meter

draws a strong connection to Balkan music that may be familiar to some performers and

audiences, highlighting the cross-cultural influences that are central to this study. The text

explains the jaunty meter, instrumental accompaniment, and wordless “lai lai” refrain by praising

the location of the wedding celebration for allowing all to dance.

These three Sephardic songs demonstrate different meters, modes, textual themes,

geographical origins, social functions, instrumental accompaniments, tempi, and poetic

structures. They all take advantage of existing research; I am intentionally showing that other

arrangers can find compelling material without being ethnomusicologists themselves. To my

knowledge, none have previously been arranged for choir. I urge conductors to embrace this

breadth by programming more than one Sephardic piece, whether in the same program or one

after another.

146 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 39.

69
4.2 MELODIC SOURCE SELECTION AND TRANSCRIPTION PROCEDURE

To a large extent, I chose to transcribe the field recording with the greatest clarity of tone

and pitch. For each of the three songs, I first notated an approximate transcription of all

recordings available. For “Las Kazas de la Boda,” record 39 has a group of singers in a clear

2+2+2+3 with percussion. Although the timbral clarity is only moderate, the similarity to other

Balkan vocal music is more audible than in other recordings. In record 423, Haim Tadjer sings

much more slowly with noticeable vibrato, though his vocal training creates fairly clear pitch

distinctions. Dvora Rabeno in record 505 has an intriguingly thin sound, but the meter is less

consistent, and the slides make transcription a more difficult task. Asher Tsarfati in 736 is also

less metrically clear than the group of women from the Moadon Tiferet club in Jaffa, Israel in

record 39. Although I transcribed various versions of ornamentation from record 39, I did not

map each verse of the arrangement directly onto the ornamentation of the same verses in the

recording; my impression is that different ornamentation might be added each time the song is

sung.147

Beyond differences in where dotted rhythms fall and where the melody ascends and

descends, the variations in recordings of “Esta Noche de Purim” have sociological interest.

Records 2443 (Simi Amar) and 2444 (Rahma Knafo) capture the sound of a baby crying in the

background; 943 (Abraham Serfati) includes several likely unintentional key changes despite his

apparent vocal training; 2423 (Luna Naka and companion) demonstrates two women singing the

melody slightly differently at the same time; 2226 (Isaac Ajuelos) evokes a sense of 7/8 in one

continuous phrase for each verse; and 1403 (Alberto Benaim) slips into moments of speech.

147 Perez, “El Trezoro.”

70
Marcelle Cohen was the most consistent with pitch and rhythm, although I had to make some

interpretive decisions about several pitches. 148

For “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” it was important to transcribe the way Renée Bivas-Sevy

in record 1849 sang each verse in order to catch the text setting and ornamental variations. Her

rendition is at a moderate tempo, with expressive stretching on certain syllables and between

phrases. Yaakov Tsidikario in record 832 presents a contrasting version that has a consistent

pulse, a trained nasal tone, and ornamentation that involves more quick single turns with

neighbor tones than meandering melisma. The extremely slow pace of record 693 (David Haim)

allows the listener to lose a sense of the tonic. In record 163, Tikvah Petah sings with a consistent

pulse and occasional unpitched ends of phrases. Conductors may find it informative to listen to

these contrasting interpretations and be influenced by multiple singers. It is important for them to

realize that the rhythmic transcription of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is a loose approximation of

the melodic gestures’ speed.149

4.3 PERFORMANCE NOTES

While publishing companies often limit the length of performance notes for reasons of

space and accessibility, I have chosen here to show a greater depth of information that would

help conductors be successful. Before discussing the source and history of each melody, I include

an explanation of Sephardic history and music that would be a starting point for further research:

The Sephardim are descended from Jews who settled in modern-day Greece and other
Balkan countries, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt after being expelled from
Spain and Portugal in the 1490s. Due to persecution in the twentieth century, many

148 Perez, “El Trezoro.”

149 Perez, “El Trezoro.”

71
 Sephardic Jews now live in Israel, France, the Americas, and other parts of the world. The
term “Sephardic” is often used to represent all Jews who are not Ashkenazi, or
traditionally Yiddish-speaking Jews from German or Eastern European backgrounds, but
there are also groups that fall into neither category.
Because Sephardic music was not notated until the twentieth century, it is difficult
to discern the age of most Sephardic melodies. Most Sephardic music reflects the
Ottoman and Arabic cultures of the Mediterranean more than the Iberian Peninsula,
except for influences in the twentieth century and beyond. Commercial artists and
composers have interpreted Sephardic music in a range of styles, but it is important to
understand that the harmonies, vocal timbres, instrumentation, and rhythms usually create
more of a reimagining than a literal presentation of tradition.

In these two paragraphs, I target a number of common assumptions and misconceptions about

Sephardim. Those who are unaware of their existence will be equipped with more knowledge

than is customarily included in choral publications. The necessity is clear; although best

conducting practices involve thorough research into each composition being performed, the

reality is that rehearsal considerations often demand most of the director’s preparation time.

Works from the Western art music canon can rely on a certain amount of knowledge absorbed in

various stages of the conductor’s education, but music from other cultures is filtered through

decades of evolving ethnomusicological methods and diverse artistic renderings.

The first common misunderstanding is an exaggeration of the role of Spain in Sephardic

music and culture. As discussed in the previous chapter, many choral octavos allude to the

Iberian origins of the Sephardim but neglect to mention the many Mediterranean areas where

Sephardic culture evolved. These performance notes intentionally mention those countries before

Spain and Portugal, and the second paragraph follows with the key words “Ottoman” and

“Arabic” in order to highlight the fact that national boundaries changed frequently over the

centuries.

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 Another common misunderstanding is a nostalgic association of Sephardim with the

Middle Ages and other distant eras, which goes hand in hand with the assumption that Sephardic

music has been passed down faithfully from medieval Spain. By using present tense

immediately, I frame the Sephardim as a living, breathing cultural group, and I make a point of

mentioning the more recent emigrations. In the second paragraph of the performance notes, I

describe the dynamic musical influences of the twentieth century.

The source recording link is perhaps the most useful feature of these performance notes

for the conductor. Even the most eloquent description cannot duplicate the effect of listening to a

singer who has learned Sephardic music through lifelong immersion. The listener can hear the

variations in vocal timbre, including different degrees of pitch clarity and stylistic approaches of

both men and women, and be able to guide singers better than any technical guide. Conductors

may find it useful to notice how even singers from the same city know vastly different versions

of a melody, in different modes, meters, and tempi. These recordings can also be valuable aids in

pronunciation; the dialectic variations add a layer of subtlety in addition to raising further

questions. They contain information about performance practice, such as in the group of women

singing “Las Kazas de la Boda” with a repetitive drum accompaniment, and some recordings

even demonstrate multiple singers remembering the melody slightly differently. Even the low

registers used by women can inform a conductor in how to approach these arrangements.

In “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” the recording is particularly crucial; a singer who strictly

uses my notated transcription to learn the melody could expend unnecessary energy in learning

the rhythms of eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes instead of hearing the contour and flow

of the melody in the recording. It also conveys the improvisatory nature of the melismatic

73
ornamentation, indicating that singers are free to depart somewhat from the written pitches if the

overall contour is preserved. The microtonal pitches, between Eb and E in this case, are easier to

internalize aurally than visually. Whether or not singers choose to emulate the untrained voices in

the recordings, they will benefit from hearing the striking differences between the choral

arrangement and the field recording.

4.4 VOCAL APPROACH, VOICING, AND INSTRUMENTATION

The performance suggestions are intended to help conductors make decisions about vocal

technique, instrumentation, and complex aspects of the notated score. While most previous

arrangements of Sephardic music have not mentioned vocal style, a larger percentage of choirs

have recently become more open to changing their approach for individual pieces. This repertory

may become more appealing if it is associated with new ways of engaging the audience’s

interest. At the same time, it may not be possible or desirable to sound exactly like the

recordings, due to prior vocal training and age.

“Las Kazas de la Boda” is well suited to a Balkan-inspired timbre, since there has been

considerable interaction between Jewish and non-Jewish musicians throughout the diaspora.

“Esta Noche de Purim” is also set in a low register to maximize the amount of singing the

sopranos and altos can achieve with chest resonance. Since many source recordings feature men

singing in high registers, I chose not to lower the tenor part. “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is

extremely florid, making it more difficult for singers trained in bel canto technique to be

sufficiently agile in a different style. I placed this in a higher register to lessen the challenges of

switching registers and to support the harmonization in soprano and alto voices. I chose the

74
treble voicing for “Lavaba” in order to evoke the nature of the romance as a genre sung and

taught by women.

By applying a different instrumentation to each arrangement, I intended to show the

variety of social contexts and musical styles associated with each genre. Every artist has the right

to add instruments as part of the transition from functional music to performative music; I find,

however, that specific decisions tailored to each piece can help performers and listeners grasp

details of transmission and function most effectively. “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” takes on the role

of representing the narrative ballad that is sung while accomplishing domestic tasks. An

unaccompanied setting of this melismatic, unmetered melody can be programmed along with a

copla or cantiga to give the audience a more three-dimensional perspective on Judeo-Spanish

song.

According to Susana Weich-Shahak, Sephardic communities often sing with instruments

at wedding feasts.150 “Las Kazas de la Boda” provides an opportunity to introduce instrumental

textures to set this music apart from others in the audience’s perception. The performance notes

include a list of instruments used in traditional Bulgarian and Ottoman music (tambura, oud,

kanun, kaval, and gadulka) as well as close equivalents (violin, rebec, mandolin, dulcimer, zither,

harp, recorder, flute, and bouzouki) for the pitched instrumental line. The suggested drums to

accompany the tambourine include tupan and tarabuka/dumbek (see table 7).151

150
Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs, Then and Now,” in The Cambridge
Companion to Jewish Music, ed. Joshua S. Walden (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 111.

151Denise Gill, Melancholic Modalities: Affect, Islam, & Turkish Classical Musicians (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2017), 8; Timothy Rice, James Porter, and Chris Goertzen, eds., “Bulgaria," In Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music, Europe (Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group, 2000), 8:923-926; Weich-Shahak,
“Traditional Performance,” 110-112.

75
 Table 7: Explanation of Traditional Bulgarian Instruments
Tambura Balkan instrument: fretted, plucked, doubled strings

Oud Widely used lute—Mediterranean/Middle Eastern regions:

unfretted, plucked, doubled strings

Kanun Arabic/Turkish zither

Kaval Balkan/Turkish end-blown wooden flute

Gadulka Bulgarian bowed string, vertically-held. Three main strings, many sympathetic
resonating strings
Tupan Large drum, two heads, played with mallets

Tarabuka Widely used goblet drum in Mediterranean/Middle Eastern regions and beyond, also
known as Dumbek and other names

Because the exact age of this wedding song is unknown, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact

list of instruments used in Bulgaria at the time. Most of these instruments have been played

throughout former Ottoman and Arabic-speaking countries for centuries, though they have names

and construction nuances that are specific to smaller areas. Evidence suggests that these pitched

instruments would often play the melody heterophonically with the singers. 152 In this

arrangement, I used the instrument to provide variety in the introduction and instrumental

interludes as well as to double the melody in later verses. I notated slight melodic and

ornamental variations based on the varied ornamentation in the field recordings. Because some

instruments may provide a thin accompaniment, conductors may wish to use two or three

instruments doubling each other in heterophonic unison or octaves.

152 Gill, Melancholic Modalities, 8.

76
 The drum rhythm is transcribed from the source recording, with dotted rhythms in place

of rolls that would be difficult to accomplish precisely in this tempo and meter.153 While the

recording does not include tambourine, Susana Weich-Shahak and Judith Cohen indicate that the

pandero or panderico (Eastern Mediterranean Sephardic term for tambourine) is a standard

accompaniment for cantigas de novia. 154 This arrangement adds tambourine partway through in

order to avoid fatiguing the audience with the repeated high-overtone timbre for the entire

duration.

Coplas are usually sung a cappella, sometimes with handclapping.155 In “Esta Noche de

Purim,” I chose to omit instrumental accompaniment accordingly, with specific rhythms notated

for the handclapping. Here, the clapping can provide respite from the continuous alternation of

verses and refrains as well as add a varied textural element in key moments of the arrangement.

In the future, it would be intriguing to explore how the piano can be used in a Sephardic

choral arrangement to evoke timbres and textures that are closer to functional music making

within the tradition. Because many existing arrangements already incorporate piano, this study

focuses on vocal and instrumental colors that allow more flexibility away from Western tonal

music.

4.5 SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDES

With many systems of Ladino orthography in use around the world, I chose to follow the

spelling guide from the recently-discontinued magazine Aki Yerushalayim. The online discussion

153 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 39.

154 Cohen, “‘No So Komo Las de Agora,’” 155; Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 111.

155 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 108.

77
group Ladinokomunita is a fruitful source for information about written Ladino since it has over

1600 users.156 Using a standardized spelling guide allows users to search more effectively,

though in practice there are still some variations. Because the Aki Yerushalayim website is no

longer functional, this spelling guide is not currently available online. However, it is likely that

the moderators of Ladinokomunita will find a way to make it available soon. The spelling guide

is printed here for reference (table 8):157

Table 8: Grafia del Djudeo-Espanyol sigun el metodo de Aki Yerushalayim

Aki IPA Enshemplo Prononsiasion
Yerushalayim
A a amar

B b bueno

CH t∫ chiko

D d demandar

DJ dƷ djudia Komo “jumbo” en inglez

E e este

F f famiya

G g gato

H x hazino Komo “j” en espanyol: jefe, jardín, jabón

.H x es.huenyo Solo kuando el “h” viene despues un “s” i aun kon esto deve ser
pronsado komo “h” i no komo “sh”: shavon, shabat, etc.
*H h *Herzi Kuando deve prononsarse komo el “Hey” ebreo

I i venir

J Ʒ ojos Komo "j" en fransez: jour, journal, etc.

K k kaza Komo “c” espanyola en “casa” o “que” en “que”

KS k+s aksion Komo en espanyol en “acción o extra”

156Rachel Amado Bortnick, “Ladinokomunita,” accessed November 9, 2017, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/

Ladinokomunita/info.

157Moshe Shaul, “Grafia del Djudeo-Espanyol al Uzo de ‘Aki Yerushalayim,’” Aki Yerushalayim: Revista Kultura
Djudeo-espanyola, accessed November 13, 2017, http://www.aki-yerushalayim.co.il/ay/075/075_05_grafya.htm.

78
L l lana

M m meter

N n no

NY ɲ anyo Komo en espanyol en “año, cuñado”

O o oro

P p poko

R r ora

RR rr serrar

S s paso Komo en espanyol en “pasar o salvar”

SH ∫ shavon Komo “chic” en fransez, “short” en inglez o la “Caixa” en katalan

T t topar

U u un, tu

V ß vaka

X g+z examen Solo komo en “examen o exekutir”

Y j yo

Z z koza Komo en franséz en “zéro, rose”

Los nombres de personas se eskriven sigun los uzan eskrivir las personas ke los yevan:
Cohen, Coen o Koen; Levy o Levi, etc.
Los nombres de sivdades i paizes se eskriven komo en sus lengua, salvo los kavzos onde
ya se formaron en djudeo-espanyol nombres o grafias diferentes. Por enshemplo: Londra
i no Londres o London; Estambol i no Istanbul, etc.

Ideally, future choral publications would reference this guide through a hyperlink. It is more

complete than what I have included in the performance notes for these three arrangements, and

the IPA equivalents offer additional precision.

The greatest advantage of this system is a more direct relationship between a consonant

and its phoneme. In Spanish-based spelling systems, <c> is used for /k/ and /s/ in addition to the

European Spanish /θ/ (as in “thin”). Here there is no <c>, but only <s> and <k> used in its place.

Instead of being ambiguous about voicing, <s> is spelled as a <z> when pronounced /z/ in the

79
beginning or middle of words. Whereas Spanish-based systems use silent <h> in many words,

such as the word “hora” (meaning “hour”), the <h> is merely omitted here (“ora”). <Dj> (/dƷ/ as

in “juice”) is noticeably distinct from <j> ([Ʒ] as in “jour”). <G> is only /g/ (as in “goat”) and

not /x/ (as in “Bach”), <x> is /gz/ instead of /ks/ or /∫/ (as in “shout”), and /j/ (as in “you”) is

spelled “y” and never “ll.” The lack of prior standardization in Ladino spelling provides an

opportunity to optimize the spelling system.

For many choirs, singers’ prior familiarity with the Spanish language can prove to be

both a help and a hindrance when singing Judeo-Spanish music. They may excel at the vowels

and some of the consonants, but might succumb to the temptation to pronounce other consonants

as if in Spanish as well. Directors with greater musical priorities and concerns do not always

have sufficient time to fine-tune specific consonants weeks into the rehearsal period. If the

language appears significantly different from Spanish, singers will need fewer reminders about

the differences between Spanish and Ladino.

Here is a comparison of two verses of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” with the Aki

Yerushalayim-based spelling and a more Spanish-based spelling (table 9):

Table 9: Comparison of Spelling Systems for “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya"

Aki Yerushalayim-based Spelling Spanish-based Spelling

“Un' ora antes ke muriera, tres palavrikas me avlo: “Un’ hora antes que muriera, tres palavricas me havló:
‘Mujer ermoza tengo, ijikos komo es el sol,’ ‘Mujer hermosa tengo, hijicos como es el sol,”
La otra es, mi sinyora, ke me kazara yo kon vos, La otra es, mi siñora, que me casara yo con vos,
La otra es, mi sinyora, ke me kazara yo kon vos.” La otra es, mi siñora, que me casara yo con vos.

In the Spanish-based spelling, singers must rely on the pronunciation guide to specify whether

“hora,” “havló,” and “hermosa” are words with a silent <h> or a /x/ (as in “Bach”), although

80
Spanish-speakers will likely choose the correct silent <h>. The consonant <k> used in the Aki

Yerushalayim approach for “ke” is closer to English, which eliminates the potential confusion

between Latin and Spanish on the word “que.” In “ermoza” and “kazara,” singers are more likely

to remember the voiced intervocalic /z/ than they would with the Spanish spelling, since the

Spanish “hermosa” and “casara” follow a different rule. Even the word “sinyora” presents the

palatal consonant more clearly than <ñ> for singers without Spanish knowledge.

Due to geographical origins and individual speech patterns, there were unique spelling

and pronunciation challenges in each of the three arrangements. Between the available field

recordings of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” the main differences were in pronunciation of /d/, /g/, /

b/, and final <s>.” Renée Bivas from Salonica pronounced most /d/, /g/, and /b/ as voiced

plosives (as in the English consonants), whereas some of the other singers were more inclined to

soften them into fricatives as in Spanish, particularly in intervocalic positions. She ended some

words with a voiced final <s>, including “sus” and “es,” but “palavrikas,” “ojos,” and others had

a voiceless /s/ instead. 158

In the main source recording for the Bulgarian “Las Kazas de la Boda,” the singers either

intend the lyrics to be singular or delete the final /s/ as a natural speech tendency, which occurs

among many Spanish speakers. On the database, the transcribed words are plural. The strong

Judeo-Spanish knowledge of the transcribers implies that the latter explanation is more likely.

Dvora Rabeno in record 505 usually sings voiced final /s/, and Asher Tsarfati in 736 does not

voice the final /s/. This phonological phenomenon displays vast differences among individual

158 Perez, El Trezoro, record 1849.

81
speakers. Most of these singers, though, consistently sing the initial /b/ and intervocalic /d/ as

plosives.159

The eight Judeo-Spanish speakers in the recordings of “Esta Noche de Purim”

demonstrate even more individual differences. In the main source recording for this arrangement,

Marcelle Cohen often pronounces <s> as a voiceless /s/ in both final and intervocalic positions,

<j> in the word “dejis” as the Spanish word with /x/ (“Bach”) instead of /Ʒ/ (“jour”), and /d/ as a

softer fricative.160 Alberto Benaim pronounces “judios” with a /x/ as well, but Rahma Knafo and

Isaac Ajuelos pronounce it as /Ʒ/.161 As in the other Judeo-Spanish examples, final /s/ is

inconsistent even from a single speaker.

The Moroccan Jews spoke Haketía, an Arabic-influenced form of Judeo-Spanish, but the

Spanish Occupation from 1860 on had a powerful effect on the language. Linguist Yvette Bürki

explains that Haketía experienced a sharp decline, with few true speakers living today; most

Sephardim from Morocco speak a version of Judeo-Spanish that resembles modern Castilian

Spanish more than Ottoman Judeo-Spanish dialects.162

I created the following pronunciation guide, to be used only with the Aki Yerushalayim

spelling in the arrangements:

Vowels: same as Spanish

Consonants: same as Spanish, except:
z is voiced, as in English

159
Avner Perez, “El Trezoro de Kantes de Sefarad,” Maale Adumim Instituto, accessed December 15, 2017, http://
folkmasa.org/avshir/pshir.htm.

160 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 953.

161 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 1403; Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2444; Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2226.

162 YvetteBürki, “Haketia in Morocco. Or, the Story of the Decline of an Idiom,” International Journal of the
Sociology of Language 239 (2016): 122.

82
 j is Ʒ, as in French “jour”
g is a hard g, as in English “gate”
s at the end of a word is voiced, as in z

Given the diverse localities of these three songs, it would be reasonable to suggest slightly

different pronunciation rules in each arrangement. However, most findings from these examples

are inconclusive.

My pronunciation guides intentionally do not address the intervocalic /b/, /g/, and /d/,

since true plosives and fricatives are both correct, and most choral singers have difficulty

unifying the fricative pronunciation. Ladino speakers’ voicing of final <s> is also varied in

practice, but it generally becomes /z/ when the next word begins with a voiced consonant.163

Because this process is often subconscious, Ladino speakers usually still spell final /z/ as an <s>.

I have chosen to be consistent with this convention for simplicity, also knowing that singers

might de-voice final /z/ naturally if a voiceless consonant follows. The official pronunciation

rules of every language naturally differ in usage by native speakers, and the goal of a musical

pronunciation guide is to help singers find one possible answer. Conductors who listen to

recordings will be able to capture further nuances.

4.6 TEXT

With many verses of each song in circulation, I had to be selective about textual content

as well as pronunciation. For “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” I used the text of the source recording

for almost all of the verses; it is more difficult to combine multiple versions when the text is

narrative. The text is also closely tied to Bivas’ melismatic delivery. Still, I added two more

163José Ignacio Hualde and Mahir Şaul, “Istanbul Judeo-Spanish,” Journal of the International Phonetic
Association 41, no. 1 (2011): 99-100.

83
verses from Susana Weich-Shahak’s 1977 recording of Regina Salem out of a desire to include a

slightly more feminist version.164 The wife requires a reciprocal test of her husband in the

penultimate verse, and the last verse provides a satisfying conclusion (table 10):

Table 10: Last Two Verses of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya”

“Si sos el mi marido, sinyal de mi puerpo dares.” If you are indeed my husband, you should have a sign
“En el pecho de ezkiedro, ayi tenes un buen lunar.” from my body.
Under your left breast you have a nice freckle.
Se tomaron, se abesaron, i a echar se irian. They embraced and kissed, and they went off together.
Se tomaron, se abesaron, i a echar se irian. They embraced and kissed, and they went off together.

As I write in the performance notes (see Appendix B), this story is about how “a husband returns

after a long time at war to find his wife weeping for him. Unrecognized, he tests her faithfulness,

and in many versions she tests him in return.”

There are fifteen verses of “Esta Noche de Purim” included between the eight recordings

on the database and several other sources used in this study.165 Some focus on eating and

drinking to celebrate Esther and Mordechai’s victory, while others are centered around Haman’s

plans for the gallows. Here are several verses printed in the appendix of Jews of the Middle East

and East Africa in Modern Times (table 11):166


164 Weich-Shahak, Romancero Sefardí de Oriente, 101.

165 Reeva Spector Simon, Michael Menachem Laskier, and Sara Reguer, eds., The Jews of the Middle East and
North Africa in Modern Times (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003); Ty Alhadeff, “Sephardic Purim
Customs from the Old World to the Pacific Northwest,” Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, University of
Washington, February 2015, https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/sephardic-purim-customs-from-
the-old-world-to-the-pacific-northwest/.

166 Simon, Jews of the Middle East, 516.

84
 Table 11: Additional Verses of “Esta Noche de Purim”
Haman antes que muriera Before he died Haman
llamó a su parentela summoned his relatives
los puso en la cabeçera, and placed them in a seat of honor,
el día antes de Purím. the day before Purim.
Y tu mi hizho Porata And you my son Porata
vende la ropa barata sell the rope cheap
y no hables con quien trata, and do not speak with those who handle it,
en el día de Purim. on the day of Purim.
Dalfín mi hizho segundo Dalfin my second son
ansí tengas preto mundo thus you shall possess a dark world
tuerto te vayas del mundo twisted you shall go from the world,
en el día de Purím. on the day of Purim.
Calla, tú, Zerah la loca Hush, you, Zerah the crazy one
que a ti hablar no te toca it is not your turn to talk
que por ti hissieron la horca, so for you they made the gallows,
en el día de Purím. on the day of Purim.

While these verses are certainly evocative, or perhaps provocative, the more positive life-

oriented verses are more accessible to a general audience with limited knowledge of the Purim

story. In this case, I used only four verses, allowing the repetitive arrangement to be short and

simple. The main elements of Purim are included: food, sweets, drinks, Esther and Mordechai’s

achievements, and Haman’s villainy.

4.7 MODE AND MICROTONES

“Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” provides the clearest example of influence from the Ottoman

makam system. As Susana Weich-Shahak indicates in “The Traditional Performance of

Sephardic Songs, Then and Now,” the behavior of this melody best fits makam Hüseyni.167 Here

167 Weich-Shahak, “Traditional Performance,” 105-106.

85
is a comparison of scales in “Lavaba” and makam Hüseyni, with Hüseyni transposed to this

arrangement’s tonic of D (figure 28): 168

Figure 28: Comparison of Makam Hüseyni and “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” scales


   
  


      

  


 



      


The only difference in scales is the B㽇in makam Hüseyni and the Bb in “Lavaba.” In

makam practice, the B would be lowered in descending motion. Although there is no ascending

or descending distinction in “Lavaba,” keep in mind that the makam is filtered through Jewish

oral tradition. The male Jewish musicians in the Ottoman court were certainly well trained in

makams, but Eastern Sephardic music does not always show a strict adherence to makam rules.

Furthermore, knowledgeable musicians have been known to label the makams of given

Sephardic melodies inconsistently.169 Microtonal intervals and ascending or descending nuances

might be heard as certain pitches in the Western scale and transformed accordingly.

168Murat Aydemir, Turkish Music Makam Guide, ed. and trans. Erman Dirikcan (Istanbul: Pan Yayıncılık, 2010),
126-127.

169Judith Etzion and Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Music of the Judeo-Spanish Romancero: Stylistic Features,”
Anuario Musical 43 (1988): 229.

86
 The nuance that is more often preserved in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is the interval

between the tonic and the second scale tone, here D to Eñ. The characteristic Hüseyni pentachord

resembles part of the Western Phrygian scale, but the second pitch is between E and Eb.

Specifically, ñ is one koma or 1/9-step flat. In transcriptions of several singers, Weich-Shahak

identifies the E as ó (4 komas or 4/9-steps flat) in some recordings and Eb in others but marks

specific higher pitches with Í in her Regina Salem transcription. It is challenging for Western-

trained musicians to identify a clear number of komas by ear; this is particularly the case with

recordings of amateur singers. My arrangement uses ñ to match makam Hüseyni, but with the

understanding that consistently realizing any pitch that lies between E and Eb is already

challenging. In a Western choral setting, it is likely unrealistic to expect a higher level of

specificity than a quarter tone.

The cadences in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” largely follow the behavior of makam

Hüseyni as well. There is an expected half-cadence on the dominant pitch in the first phrase, A in

this key (see Appendix B for arrangement, mm. 1-2). There is also a “suspended cadence” on the

third scale tone, F, which occurs in the second phrase of “Lavaba.” “Lavaba” uses C as a leading

tone, which is often the lowest note in Hüseyni, although it is less typical to have a cadence there

87
such as the one in the third phrase of “Lavaba.” The final cadence on D is consistent with the

makam tendency to end on the tonic.170

In my harmonization of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” I chose pitches based on the melodic

structure and cadences. The opening drones are primarily tonic and dominant, and in most

verses, the first and last cadences establish the tonic-based sonority of D/A or a D-minor triad.

The suspended cadences of the second and third phrases are open to any unstable harmony, and I

chose more freely from pitches used in the mode in these cases.

“Las Kazas de la Boda” is more difficult to assign to a makam. The challenge may be due

to its genre of wedding songs or the ways it has changed through oral tradition. In the version

sung by the Moadon Tiferet club, there is a duel implication of A and G as the tonic pitch, if

referring to the pitch level used in my arrangement.171 Since A is where the melody ends in each

verse, it is a stronger choice for the tonic, with G as the leading tone. However, the cadences and

phrase beginnings on B and G add ambiguity. The makam that best approximates this character

is Pençgâh-ı Asıl (figure 29).

170 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 127-128.

171 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 39.

88
 Figure 29: Makam Pençgâh-ı Asıl Scales

   
!"#$%& %'
 



  

!"#$%& %'( 
   


 
 

!"#$%& %'(  )& *

   


 
 


Pençgâh-ı Asıl uses the Beyati, Rast, and Rast with Acem scales. The G tonic and D dominant do

not fit “Las Kazas” well in terms of cadential behavior, but the use of suspended cadences on

Segâh or Bñ demonstrates an important feature not present in many makams (see m. 15 in

arrangement). The tonic of the Beyati scale is the tonic used in “Las Kazas.” 172

For the purposes of this arrangement, I chose not to use Bñ. The source recording’s Bs

usually sound close enough to B㽇 for Western ears to have difficulty knowing whether or not it

is a true B㽇. The Bs in several parts of the melody sound flatter, which could be a trace of the

makam system’s contextual pitch changes, and I notated those as true Bbs. A choir is likely to

stumble on a piece that includes diverse microtonal shadings within a half step, and if an

arranger asks the choir to spend time on this nuance, he or she should have solid evidence to

support that interpretation.

172 Aydemir, Turkish Music, 38-39.

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 The modal duality in “Las Kazas” led me to use alternating Gs and As when the tenors

accompany the refrain (m. 21) and in analogous passages. Similarly, the D/E soprano cluster (m.

29) adds to a sense of modal instability. At other times, such as the G-tonic passage in measures

87-88, I allowed third-based harmonies to support the shift.

For modal characteristics of Moroccan Sephardic melodies like “Esta Noche de Purim,”

it is more appropriate to use the terminology of the similar Arabic maqamat system. “Esta

Noche” essentially uses the equivalent of a Western natural minor scale, which appears with

several variants in the Nahawand family (figure 30).173

Figure 30: Maqam Nahawand Scales

+ )$,-.&  " 

    


  

+ )$/ 0.1  " 

    


  

“Esta Noche” begins and often returns to the fifth scale tone of E, which supports it as a

dominant, but the brevity and simplicity of the melody makes it difficult to classify it more

specifically into a maqam. Having identified the tonic and dominant, I was able to choose

suitable drones to accompany the opening soloist and later iterations of the refrain (see m. 31).

173
Johnny Farraj, “Maqam Nahawand,” Maqam World, accessed April 11, 2018, http://www.maqamworld.com/
maqamat/nahawand.html.

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As in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” the open fifth and the tonic create stability and orient the

listener’s ear to the important tones in the melody.

4.8 ORNAMENTATION AND MELISMA

An arranger must decide not only when to include ornamentation, but also how to notate

it for singers. I deliberately chose a melismatic romance that would necessitate trusting singers to

be more agile than in most other choral repertoire. “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is sung in a florid

style by multiple Sephardim in the Maale Adumim database, and thorough transcription was the

most effective way to capture variation in melodic twists and turns. The basic outline of the

melody is shown with the reduction in figure 31, and the first two verses serve as an example of

this ornamental variation (figure 32).

Figure 31: Overall outline of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya" melody

 


                  

 

    

   


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 Figure 32: Comparison of Melismas in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya”

 56
 2 6 


                 
2 3        
.    4
     .



                
53  
   4
0   
 .     "0      .

 76  86 


        
     
  
2 3   "        .  0         3



            
             
53  "    0   ,.            4
  3


The ornamental gestures (figure 32) can be distilled into the concept of a rapid stepwise

turn from a primary pitch to both of its neighbor tones. Sometimes the melody returns to this

primary pitch, as in the last syllable of “demando” in the second verse (figure 33), but the

oscillation between three stepwise pitches can begin or end on any pitch.

Figure 33: Turn Figure in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya”

   
'


When there is a leap, such as the minor third in the opening “blanka” of the third verse, it

indicates greater melodic importance; the consistency across verses indicates that the A and C are

both essential pitches throughout the romance (figure 34).

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 Figure 34: “Blanka Ninya” Melisma

     



 & 
'


A melisma that extends beyond a third has more melodic function as well, such as at the end of

the third phrase. Though the method of reaching F-Eñ-D-C is varied, those four pitches occur at

the end of the penultimate phrase in every verse (figure 35):

Figure 35: “Lavaba” Melisma



& 
'


Recognizing the ornamental pattern can facilitate the learning process for this arrangement. The

choir can begin by singing the reduced form of the melody (see reduction in figure 31). The

singers can grow accustomed to the neighbor-tone turn with vocalises such as in figure 36.

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 Figure 36: Melisma Vocalise Based on “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya”




    
     


  
  



    
     



  
   




    
                    
   



 
    
                   



When the choir proceeds to sing the notated melody on the text, singers should focus on

synchronizing their timing on each syllable, but allow more flexibility on the melismas if needed.

In “Las Kazas de la Boda,” the transcription is more of a guide for ornamentation than an

exact replica of the singers’ decisions in each verse of the source recording. The singers’ turns

and anticipations are seamless enough to retain emphasis on the main melodic notes, and

individuals are not singing the same ornaments at a given moment. The arrangement shows many

of the figures that are audible, notated as grace notes in order to emphasize their status as

secondary to the melody. Choirs may focus on learning the melody first, as is typical when

singing ornamented music, and individual singers may be free to execute ornaments differently

once they have spent time learning the technique.

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 Different ornamentation in different verses projects a sense of spontaneity. For example,

the line para ke bailen las novias para bodas (for the brides to dance there for weddings) has two

quick turns on the word “bodas” in the soprano/alto unison verse at the beginning (mm. 12-15),

only one turn in the alto/tenor canon in the second verse (mm. 33-37), no ornamentation on the

exposed tenor line (mm. 50-54), and three turns when the altos and basses are supported by the

soprano/tenor rising line (mm. 83-86).

Out of the eight accessible field recordings of “Esta Noche de Purim,” only Isaac Ajuelos

used ornamentation.174 These turns occurred on compound beats that did not appear in other

recordings. Judith Etzion and Susana Weich-Shahak write that Moroccan Sephardic music is

often less florid than Eastern, which might be due to the greater degree of Western influence

through the Iberian Peninsula in the twentieth century.175 This arrangement is based on the

unornamented style of Marcelle Cohen.176

4.9 HARMONIC LANGUAGE

In these arrangements, I explored forms of modal harmony that departed from

conventions of Western tonal music. Devices such as triads and thirds do not need to be removed

entirely; many insider performers such as Flory Jagoda harmonize Judeo-Spanish music with

those chord progressions without hearing many objections from the Sephardic community.

Nevertheless, arrangers who wish to highlight the strong influence of Ottoman makams and

174 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 2226.

175 Etzion and Weich-Shahak, “Stylistic Features,” 224, 238.

176 Perez, “El Trezoro,” record 953.

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Arabic maqamat should listen carefully to melodies and consider how harmonic choices change

the musical impact.

“Esta Noche de Purim” has many solo and unison passages, initially using a dominant

pitch drone to accompany the bass solo. The hummed countermelodies in measure 11 encircle

the tonic and dominant pitches to provide more direction, and in measure 23, I used an inversion

of the melody in the soprano and tenor parts to define the intervals away from the melody

without any imagined triads. The resulting contrary motion in both places is a desirable

contrapuntal element. The alto harmony in measure 27 is generally more consonant, weaving in

and out of unisons in both directions. I also harmonized the melody with a tonic drone that

occasionally moves to another pitch (m. 31); this resonates with other Middle Eastern and

Mediterranean music. In measure 36, I indicated a heterophonic texture by notating specific

melodic differences in each of the four voice parts.

In addition to employing heterophony in “Las Kazas de la Boda” between the instruments

and voices, I used clusters and momentary triadic harmony to create a fuller body of sound. In

the first “lai lai” refrain, the tenor accompanies the soprano/alto melody with a drone that

occasionally moves to a neighbor tone (m. 21). The bass line was primarily intended to expand

the ambitus of this section gradually and provide a countermelody.

The second verse establishes pitch centers without being tied to a triadic chord

progression (m. 29). This verse first weaves in and out of thirds (as in the F# and A of the

soprano) and clusters (as in the D/E diad and the expanded D/E/F#/G cluster in measure 30).

While it initially highlights the A tonic, m. 33 supports a B-minor-related sonority and a landing

on G in m. 34. B and D continue to dominate until the “Lai lai” returns in m. 41, and the

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dissonant major seconds in m. 43 lead into more consonant intervals with the soprano/tenor

phrase ending in m. 44. Because of the canonic texture, most of the harmonic decisions had to

focus on the soprano line.

After presenting previous material differently in the third verse (m. 46), I set the fourth

verse in a way that would feature a Balkan tone color if chosen by the conductor (m. 79). The

sopranos and altos are mostly in contrary motion here, with one voice crossing and several

dissonant major seconds along with other incidental intervals. The horizontal melody takes

priority at this point, and the gravity of descent in the second tenor/soprano afterwards is

balanced by the ascent on “para bodas.” The soprano/alto duet and the B drone in the SATB

passage are inspired by the Bulgarian women’s choir sound (m. 83). The last section conveys a

sense of chord progression with the gradually-descending bass line, although the sustained

soprano and tenor pitches create a range of sonorities (m. 91). Because this perceived slower

harmonic movement occurs at the end of the piece, it allows the conclusion to be more

compelling.

The harmony of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is based on the behavior of the mode. D in

this arrangement’s key is the clear starting pitch, ending pitch, and highest pitch in each verse.

The A serves as a dominant; it has a prominent position as the second pitch of the melody, last

pitch of the first phrase, and first pitch of the last phrase in addition to being a target in many

other melismas. Accordingly, when the hummed drone first expands from D into a diad, the alto

part descends to an A (m. 2).

In the third verse, the hummed chords are constructed to reinforce prominent pitches and

contours in the melody. The second chord in measure 5 includes the G and Bb that circle the

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arrival point of A in addition to the D and A that frame the first phrase of the melody. The highest

soprano part ascends by step in order to echo the melody’s ascent from G to D, the second

soprano anticipates the arrival pitch of F along with the continuing D drone, and the lower first

soprano sustains the G that began in the second phrase of the melody. The overall effect is

similar to a sustain pedal on a piano or a reverberant acoustic, but with a more selective

approach. The lower alto in measure 6 shows the melodic descent in the same way as the soprano

in the previous measure, and the inner voices rest on the C before the resolution as a modal

leading tone. It is worth noting that the first respite from the D drone occurs on these chords,

accompanying the words “al k’aspero no ay venir mas” (“the one I wait for does not return,” m.

6). After that point, the D weaves in and out of the harmony.

Thirds and sixths are more present in the harmony of the fourth verse, sometimes creating

triads with the melody. A D-minor triad is at the end of the first phrase, followed by G minor, A

minor/diminished with a microtone, and Bb major. Measure 8 implies G-minor and A-minor

sonorities, though the lack of divisi leaves the progression more open to interpretation. Because

the harmony is fairly static, the melodic line retains its position of prominence, and every new

pitch of the melody changes how the listener hears the harmony.

In measures 11-12, the more open chords create drama to support the man’s claim in the

text that the woman’s husband is dead. D minor is used as a goal, with G, partially flat E, and C

creating tension along the way. The next appearance of this color is in measure 20, when the man

confesses to being the woman’s husband. Clusters and seventh chords create tension in the

middle of the second phrase, leading to unison at the end of the measure. From there to the end

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of the arrangement, the more transparent harmony reflects the dawning clarity in the couple’s

interaction.

By lack of harmonic consistency between verses of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” I avoided

the temptation of a theme-and-variations approach to a repetitive melody. Because I only used

pitches within the mode, there were limited options, but I allowed the text and drama to shape

decisions about consonance and dissonance. The overall pattern was to end the first phrase on a

fairly stable tonic sonority, the second phrase on a less stable tonic-related sonority, the third

phrase in the least stable area, and the last phrase on a unison or open fifth. At the same time,

there were some exceptions, such as the surprising Bb/D/A harmony at the end of measure 8 that

connect the concatenated phrases more smoothly. With an open-minded examination of a

melody’s movement, an arranger can reinforce the cadential patterns and gestures of a mode.

4.10 TEXTURES

Creativity with textures allows the arranger to produce a work that is engaging in a

performance setting. Although choral arrangements occasionally present a theme-and-variations

quality, mentioned in the previous section, the ideal textures build and release energy in a way

that supports the text and structure of the piece. My intention was to balance the needs for variety

and simplicity.

Each of these arrangements begins with a gradual build. In the case of “Las Kazas de la

Boda,” the unpitched and pitched instruments lead into a unison statement of the first verse by

the sopranos and altos (m. 8) who are joined by the tenors and eventually basses for the “lai lai”

refrain (mm. 20-23). The most polyphonic moment in any of the three arrangements takes place

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in “Las Kazas de la Boda” after the first instrumental interlude when the tenors answer the

unison altos and basses in canon a measure apart (m. 29). The divided sopranos provide

harmonic context and direct the energy forward with sustained seconds and thirds. Even with the

same mf dynamic as the first verse, this one continues the fuller texture begun in the first refrain.

The third verse is in solo and group unison, and the connection to the first verse creates

simplicity and unity without using exactly the same vocal color (m. 46). The listener has a

chance to hear the instruments featured in a longer interlude before the soprano/alto duet at

measure 79. This is a similar color, with homorhythmic text delivery, but the contrary motion and

voice crossing is entirely new. The three-part harmony that follows is doubled from soprano/

tenor to alto/bass, creating a thick and heavy sound that is still homorhythmic (m. 83). The subito

piano in m. 89 flows from an unaccompanied duet into a gradually-increasing texture, and the

last repetition of the refrain finally allows the sopranos to sing the melody an octave higher. “Las

Kazas de la Boda” has no ostinati other than the percussion rhythm, no sustained chords on a

neutral syllable, no imitation guitar textures, and very little counterpoint. These are all fine

techniques for choral arranging, but it is useful to focus on subtle changes and allow the few

elaborate moments to have a greater impact.

Each verse or refrain is only four measures long in “Esta Noche de Purim,” which leads

to frequent changes in texture. The beginning anchors the soloist with a hummed drone, but the

first refrain is set for the entire bass section unaccompanied. The soprano/tenor hums create more

motion with quarter-note melodies in measure 11, but the top three voices return to unison in

order to present a different color from the first bass refrain (m. 15). In the third verse, both the

verse and refrain are homophonic, but with unison in the verse and harmony in the refrain this

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time (mm. 19-26). The homorhythmic setting is expanded with handclapping in the next verse,

which returns as an interlude before the heterophonic verse in measure 36. These were inspired

by the eight field recordings, which varied certain contours and dotted rhythms. Heterophony is

uncommon in notated Western choral music; composers seem to prefer the aleatoric effect of

individual singers singing a notated melody with independent rubato. Here it evokes an effect

that I heard in Luna Naka’s recording where the singers remembered the melody differently.177

“Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” challenges the arranger to make twelve verses interesting.

There is no refrain, and I left it a cappella in order to honor the domestic tradition of romances.

My textural choices were primarily guided by the text, calling attention to the importance of the

story; audiences should perceive that orientation and make a particular effort to consult the

translation.

The drones set the tone of a florid modal melody, and the second soprano part acts as the

narrator with first a solo and then a full-group presentation of the melody. The altos sing all of

the husband’s dialogue, applying a heavier color to the melody even in the same register. Just as

the husband begins the action by asking the wife why she cries, the upper voices begin to move

the harmony more quickly (m. 5). The sopranos sing the wife’s response, making the dialogue

come alive (m. 6). At times, the second sopranos support one of the other parts on the text,

bringing out the words as well as allowing them to share the most enjoyable musical material.

The somewhat homorhythmic “Dame sinyal, mi sinyora” (“Give me a sign, milady”) adds power

to the command “Give” (m. 7). This harmony expands into a slower delivery of text in the next

phrase.

177 Perez, “El Trezoro,” 2423.

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 The purpose of the unison verse in measures 9-10 is mainly to leave space for a spike in

energy at measures 11-12, when the husband declares that the woman’s husband is dead. The

“ah” and “oh” represent her wordless anguish, and the words “a la gerra matado sta” (“he was

killed at war”) and “un ‘ora antes ke muriera” (“one hour before he died”) give the report of his

death a harsher impact. Furthermore, while the expansion into a higher register is a powerful way

of creating a musical climax, the upper voices need to deliver the same words as the alto part in

order to ensure that they are heard.

The drone’s return and unison in verses 7 and 8 embody the woman’s numbness after

hearing of her husband’s death, but she rallies in measure 17 to insist on remaining true to her

loved one. The return of harmonies from measures 7 and 8 helps to create a unified form for the

arrangement. The other crucial moment, when the husband reveals his identity (m. 20), brings

back the texture from when he claimed her husband had died (mm. 11-12). The sound becomes

more concentrated when reduced to three parts (m. 21), expressing the wife’s boldness in

insisting he also prove himself. The unison ending phrases hearken back to the opening, when

the text was purely narrative, and symbolize the togetherness of the couple at the end of the

ballad.

With changes in almost every measure, the textures react to every moment in the

dialogue. Still, the devices are limited to sustained drones, textual delivery with the melody, and

compromises between the two. In this arrangement, I do not apologize for the repetition or try to

mitigate it with ideas that are out of place.

The text informed the texture in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya,” and for “Las Kazas de la

Boda,” it was primarily the rhythm. “Esta Noche de Purim” brings out the structure of alternating

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verses and refrains with varying degrees of harmony. The texture is primarily homophonic until

the heterophonic verse. In all three, the melody is more important than the composition. Many

unison and solo verses show that the melody itself provides significant interest. The use of

instruments, canons, drones, and other elements allows the three arrangements to provide variety

if programmed together.

4.11 DIFFICULTY AND ACCESSIBILITY

Many existing arrangements of Sephardic music lie in the easy-to-moderate range of

difficulty. “Esta Noche de Purim” is tailored to fit similar types of ensembles, whether they are

high school choirs, college choirs, or community choirs. There is plenty of unison and

homophony, no ornamentation, and considerable repetition. “Las Kazas de la Boda” and “Lavaba

la Blanka Ninya” help to promote this music among more advanced groups, intentionally

pushing boundaries of vocal technique and agility. Nevertheless, these arrangements focus the

challenges in certain areas: “Lavaba” is florid, slightly microtonal, and full of divisi, but the

voice leading and mode are otherwise accessible. “Las Kazas” has a challenging but consistent

meter, a suggested vocal technique that can require careful attention to vocal health, and frequent

ornamentation, but the basic rhythm and melody are more straightforward. Future revisions will

fine-tune these arrangements for potential publication and distribution, allowing more choirs to

see the range of musical styles that are part of the Sephardic tradition.

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5. CONCLUSION

5.1 AUTHENTICITY AND UNDERSTANDING

Through an examination of published choral arrangements of Sephardic music and a re-

imagination of the arrangement process, this study has shown the importance of choral singing as

a way to spread knowledge of Sephardic Judaism. However, performers and arrangers should be

aware of the debates about Ladino culture and identity. In his 2015 article, Shmuel Refael

expresses a particularly vehement critique of the Ladino music scene:

Anyone who truly appreciates Ladino heritage avoids fast food music— junk music—and
steers clear of MacDonald’s style Sephardic music. Instead, they prefer to feed their
musical appetite at privately owned restaurants and boutiques that offer authentic fare of
Ladino heritage, but unfortunately such places are few and far between.178

To Refael, authenticity is a strict adherence to the non-performance-oriented manner of singing.

This would normally involve women singing unaccompanied, “without the need to captivate the

listener with modern musical techniques.”179

It is ideal for audiences to be aware of what authentic interpretation entails, and for that

reason this study emphasizes educating the performers and audience members about how the

musical material has been embellished. The limitations of Refael’s preferred method are that few

listeners will be drawn to unaccompanied, unharmonized music that is not designed for passive

listening. While some institutions are taking steps to preserve the language of Ladino, the

generation of Sephardim who were raised with this song tradition are aging. A middle ground

between “fast food” and authentic performance is possible and worth promoting.

178Shmuel Refael, “The Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs in Israel: Sephardic Music and Literature Between Survival and
Revival,” European Journal of Jewish Studies 9 (2015): 51.

179 Refael, “The Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs,” 49.

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 When Susana Weich-Shahak describes the approaches of modern-day performers, she

implies that the following category of musicians is ideal:

Those that choose their instrumental accompaniment according to the song, considering
its social function, its original mode of performance, and the time of its origin: medieval
instruments for epic romances, ‘ud for certain songs and coplas from the life-cycle
repertoire, guitar for the more modern canzonetta-style love songs, or just panderos
(tambourines) for the eastern Sephardic wedding songs, with the addition of castanets for
the Moroccan Sephardic wedding repertoire.180

Essentially, this study promotes a similar arrangement and performance philosophy; it is crucial

to understand the range of social contexts and performance practices associated with Sephardic

music. Refael’s critique is primarily directed at performers who revisit the most popular songs

and fail to communicate any deeper understanding of the repertoire.181 In future Sephardic choral

publications, arrangers should bring lesser-known songs to light and reflect their specific

histories in the musical fabric surrounding the original melodies. Solid background research and

attentive interpretive decisions can avoid conveying a sense of appropriation.

5.2 JUDAISM IN CHORAL MUSIC

Joshua Jacobson begins his article “Music of the Jewish People” by raising some salient

questions:

I avoid using the term “Jewish music.” How can music be Jewish? Does music keep
kosher? Is music circumcised? No—people can be Jewish, and that's why I prefer the
terminology “Music of the Jewish People.”
It is complicated. Is Jewish a religion, a nationality, a race, or ethnicity? In which
Repertoire & Standards category does Jewish music belong—Music for Worship or

180
Susana Weich-Shahak, “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs, Then and Now,” in The Cambridge
Companion to Jewish Music, ed. Joshua S. Walden (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 114.

181 Refael, “The Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs,” 51.

105
 Ethnic and Multicultural perspectives or neither? Shall we juxtapose Jewish music with
Catholic music or perhaps with French music or Hispanic music? 182

The phrase “music of the Jewish People” can be a cumbersome term to use consistently, but

Jacobson’s intention is to elucidate the many possible connections between Judaism and music.

He proposes a definition shortly after the previous passage:

Let us say that traditional Jewish music is music that has been used by Jews more than by
others and therefore has become associated with Jewish people. And let us say that a
Jewish choral composition is one that either incorporates elements of traditional Jewish
music or uses a Jewish text (a text associated with Jewish people) or is in a Jewish
language or is descriptive of Jewish people or is intended for use in a Jewish ritual. 183

Even the Sephardic music discussed here can fall into multiple categories. Some traditional

melodies are contrafacta of non-Jewish folk songs from the Ottoman Empire. Some Ladino

songs have a known composer, such as Flory Jagoda, who happens to come from a Sephardic

family. The arrangers are generally not from Sephardic background, as far as it is possible to

determine their heritage; many are not Jewish.

In any case, audiences who hear Sephardic music will continue to ask the question of

whether Judaism is a religion, a nationality, a race, or an ethnicity. Those who have only known

Jews from Russia, Poland, and Germany will realize that some Jews have an entirely different

background. Audiences will also benefit from hearing the influences of Muslim cultures in the

Mediterranean basin. Informing the public about Sephardic music will extend to deepening their

knowledge about Judaism in general.

182 Joshua R. Jacobson, “Music of the Jewish People,” Choral Journal 55, no. 2 (September 2014): 67.

183 Jacobson, “Music of the Jewish People,” 67.

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5.3 SUMMARY OF ARRANGEMENT SUGGESTIONS

Below is a list of guidelines for arrangers, all of which are discussed in more detail in

Chapter 4.

Suggestions for Arranging Sephardic Music for Choir

For examples, see Appendix B

1. Select songs that are rarely performed

To my knowledge, none of the three songs in Appendix B have been arranged for choir in the
past.

2. Seek out variety in genre, text, mode, tuning, meter, geographical origin, and social
context
My arrangements represent three different genres, modes, meters, origins, and contexts.

3. Use field recordings as main source, ideally multiple

Each of my arrangements has multiple recordings available.

4. Adhere closely to source recordings for melody, rhythm, meter, ornamentation, and
pronunciation
I transcribed all three melodies from recordings and listened for these nuances.

5. Include thorough background information that reflects both the Mediterranean and
Spanish aspects of Sephardic history
I balance completeness and succinctness in my performance notes.

6. Supply a link or citation for the conductor to hear the source recordings
I direct conductors to the Maale Adumim website, with specific record numbers.

7. Guide the performers in voicing, instrumentation, and other key aspects of the
arrangement
I address several issues of interpretation and performance in each arrangement.

8. Choose vocal registers and instrumentations that support the traditional social context
and geographical origins of each song
I suggest instrumental accompaniment for the wedding song, upper voices for the romance, and
hand-clapping for the copla.

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9. Follow the Aki Yerushalayim Judeo-Spanish spelling guidelines and include a
corresponding pronunciation guide
I use this spelling guide and include a brief key to pronunciation.

10. Research the modal influences and harmonize the melody in a way that supports the
mode’s behavior
I demonstrate microtones in “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” and harmonize each song with attention
to the tonic and supporting pitches.

11. Notate any ornamentation heard in the source recording, even if including a simplified
alternative for younger choirs
I allow choirs the challenge of singing the melismatic melody of “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” and
include ornamentation throughout “Las Kazas de la Boda.”

12. Apply textures that preserve the melody’s prominence, support the meaning of the text,
and honor the traditional context with the use of unison and heterophony
I use heterophony, unison, and other textures that retain the textual clarity.

13. Target diverse difficulty levels, in order to enable many ensembles to perform this
repertoire
“Esta Noche” is intended for novice to intermediate ensembles, and “Las Kazas” and “Lavaba”
are more difficult than most existing arrangements of Sephardic music, providing a stimulating
challenge for university and semi-professional ensembles.

5.4 DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This study delves into the arranger’s methods for informing performers and audiences

about Sephardic culture, but it can also be a starting point for future investigations into related

topics. Scholars can do more work placing Sephardic choral music in the context of other Jewish

choral music, including more discussion of liturgical Sephardic music. Another promising

comparative study would analyze Sephardic choral arranging alongside methods for Turkish,

Arabic, and Balkan choral arrangements; the parallel musical traditions would likely raise similar

questions, though some are unique to each culture. Even within the field of Sephardic music,

arrangers can focus on genres not included here or explore the heritage of Sephardim living in

Western Europe instead of the Ottoman Empire.

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 Expanding the arrangements to serve each type of voicing will aid their dissemination, as

well as creating more variety in difficulty; more advanced arrangements could promote

Sephardic music among experienced collegiate and community ensembles. More choirs will also

perform Sephardic music if there are more choral recordings available. Even the Zamir Chorale’s

live recording Sepharad 92 is only available as a cassette. This is the only full album of

Sephardic choral music that is commercially accessible.184

Between research, arrangement, performance, and recording, there are many paths to

greater understanding of Sephardic music. Professional and amateur choirs alike can participate

in the dialogue, and the existing interdisciplinary work on Sephardic culture in academia can

bring choral music into the fold. Most importantly, Sephardic culture must be recognized as a

living, breathing phenomenon that will always require an openminded approach.

184 The Zamir Chorale of Boston, Sepharad 92, recorded live, May 3, 1992, cassette.

109
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Simon, Reeva Spector, Michael Menachem Laskier, and Sara Reguer, eds. The Jews of the
Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times. New York: Columbia University Press,
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Spagnolo, Francesco. “Back to Life, Twice: The Revivals of Ladino Song in Twentieth-Century
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Weich-Shahak, Susana. “La ocasionalidad en el romancero judeo-español.” Revista de Folklore

90 (1988): 183-96.

———. Romancero Sefardí de Oriente: Antología de Tradición Oral. With accompanying

compact disc. Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 2010.

———. Romancero Sefardí de Marruecos: Antología de Tradición Oral. With accompanying

cassette. Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 1997.

———. “The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs, Then and Now.” In The Cambridge
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Discography

Cohen, Judith R. “Gerineldo ‘Mi Pi El.’ Alliance Française, Toronto. 25-11-2014.” YouTube
video, 3:06. Accessed April 6, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ0c042kKP4.

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video, 4:22. Accessed April 6, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1gZMuigUlk.

The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble. Mazal Bueno: A Portrait in Song of the Spanish Jews.
Western Wind Records 1836C, 1992, compact disc.

The Zamir Chorale of Boston. Sepharad 92. Recorded live, May 3, 1992, cassette.

Zemer Chai, conducted by Eleanor Epstein. Same Earth, Same Sky: World Jewish Folk Music.
Living Song Productions, 2006, compact disc.

113
Choral Scores Cited

Braun, Yehezkel. Dime Rozina: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance. Arranged by Joshua Jacobson. New
York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1992.

Braun, Yehezkel. Morenica: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance. Arranged by Joshua Jacobson. New

York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1990.

Braun, Yehezkel. Nani, Nani: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance. Arranged by Joshua Jacobson. New
York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1992.

Braun, Yehezkel. Por Que Llorax: A Judaeo-Spanish Romance. Arranged by Joshua Jacobson.
New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1992.

Eddleman, David. Durme, Durme. New York: Carl Fischer, LLC, 2005.

Epstein, Eleanor. Par’o Era Estrellero. New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1999.

Jagoda, Flory. Eight Candles for Chanukah. Arranged by J. A. Kawarsky. New York:
Transcontinental Music Publications, 2009.

Jagoda, Flory. Hamisha Asar. Arranged by Nick Page. New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1993.

Lazar, Matthew. Cuando el Rey Nimrod. New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1990.

Levine, Elliot. Hazeremos Una Merenda. New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 1991.

Ludwig, David. Ladino Folk Songs. New York: G. Schirmer, 2012.

Parker, Alice. Durme, Durme. New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 2001.

Parker, Alice. La Rosa Enflorece. New York: Transcontinental Music Publications, 2012.

Smiley, Moira. Si Verias a la Rana. Studio City, CA: Moira Smiley Music Publishing, 2009.

Snyder, Audrey. Durme, Durme. New York: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001.

Western Wind. Three Sephardic Folk Songs. Ft. Lauderdale: Plymouth Music Co, Inc., 1994.

114
APPENDIX A: CATALOGUE OF SEPHARDIC CHORAL
ARRANGEMENTS

Composer/ Voicing/
Title Arranger Publisher Year Instrumentation Language

Ladino and
A La Una Yo Nasi Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 TTB + piano English
World Music
Adijo Kerida Joshua Jacobson Press 1991 SATB + piano/guitar Ladino

Ladino and
Adio Kerida Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 SSA + piano + flute English
Skylark SSAB + optional
Adio, Querido Jane Peppler 2008 Ladino
Productions guitar/piano
SATB + solo + piano/
Adon Has’lichot Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 organ Hebrew

mixed chorus + SATB

Adon Olam Samuel Adler Transcontinental 2001 solos + piano Hebrew

Ah El Novio No Oxford
Mack Wilberg 2007 SATB + percussion Ladino
Quere Dinero University Press
Amen Shem Nora/
Yehalelu Shemo Simon Sargon Transcontinental 1992 SATB + solo + piano Hebrew

unison chorus + T
Amen Shem Nora/ Matthew Lazar Transcontinental 1990 solo + piano + Arab Hebrew
Yehalelu Shemo
drum
TBB + piano +
Avre tu Puerta Ladino and
Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 tambourine/hand
Serrada English
drum
Hebrew
SATB + solo voices +
Ayyalath Hhein Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1989 (Central
instruments Yemenite)
SAB + harp/guitar/
Bendigamos David Poole Transcontinental 2006 Ladino
piano/organ

French and
Bénissez-Nous Stephen M. Cohen Transcontinental 2004 SATB
Hebrew
Skylark SATB + optional
Borei Ad Ana Jane Peppler 2008 Hebrew
Productions guitar/piano
Mario
Boruch Habo Castelnuovo- Transcontinental 1951 SATB + piano/organ Hebrew
B’Shem Adonoy Tedesco

115
 Flory Jagoda/Jane Skylark
Buena Semana Peppler Productions 2008 SB Ladino

Caminí Por Altas Hal Leonard;

Torres David Ludwig Self-published 2012 SATB + solo Ladino

Cuando el Rey SATB + T or S solo +

Matthew Lazar Transcontinental 1990 Ladino
Nimrod piano
Cuando el Rey Skylark
Jane Peppler 2008 SSA Ladino
Nimrod Productions
Cuando Veo Hija Hal Leonard;
Hermosa David Ludwig self-published 2012 SATB Ladino

SATB + optional
D’Ror Yikra Alice Parker Transcontinental 2000 piano Hebrew

Yehezkel Braun/
Dime Rozina Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1992 TB + piano Ladino

Yehezkel Braun/
Don Amadi Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1991 SA + piano Ladino

Durme, Hermosa
David Ludwig Self-published 2012 SATB Ladino
Donseya

Durme, Durme David Eddleman Carl Fischer 2005 SA(T)B + piano Ladino

Skylark SATB + optional

Durme, Durme Jane Peppler Productions 2008 guitar/piano Ladino

Durme, Durme Audrey Snyder Hal Leonard 2001 SATB + piano Ladino

Durme, Durme Alice Parker Transcontinental 1995 SATB Ladino

Durme, Durme Alice Parker Transcontinental 2001 SSAA Ladino

Eight Candles for

Flory Jagoda/J. A. Transcontinental 2009 SATB + solo + piano Ladino
Chanukah (Ocho
Kawarsky + claves
Kandelikas)
Eight Candles for
Chanukah (Ocho Flory Jagoda/J. A. Transcontinental 2006 SSA + solo + piano + Ladino
Kawarsky claves
Kandelikas)
Eight Candles for
Chanukah (Ocho Flory Jagoda/J. A. Transcontinental 2006 TTBB + solo + piano Ladino
Kandelikas) Kawarsky + claves

SATB + solo + piano/

Eil Nora Alilah Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 Hebrew
organ
Tzipora H.
Ein Keloheinu Jochsberger Transcontinental 1992 SATB Hebrew

Skylark SATB + guitar/piano Hebrew and

Ein Keloheinu Jane Peppler 2008
Productions or SA + instruments Ladino
SAB + harp/guitar/
El Dio Alto David Poole Transcontinental 2006 piano/organ + Ladino
castanets

116
 Yehezkel Braun/
Esta Rakhel Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1991 SATB + piano Ladino

Éditions À
Hamavdil Oedoen Partos Coeur Joie 2004 SATB Hebrew

Flory Jagoda/Nick Boosey & Ladino and

Hamisha Asar Page Hawkes 2000 SATB Hebrew
Flory Jagoda/Nick Boosey & Ladino and
Hamisha Asar Page Hawkes 2000 SSA Hebrew
Hazeremos una Two-part + optional
Merenda Elliott Levine Transcontinental 1991 drum Ladino

Plymouth Music
Irme Quiero Western Wind Company 1994 SSA Ladino

SATB + solo + piano/

Kaddish Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 organ Hebrew

Ki Eshmerah Gladis Heda’yah

Shabbat and Bonia Shur Transcontinental 1982 SAB + piano Hebrew

Kirya Y’feifiyah Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 SATB + solo Hebrew

La Rosa Enflorece Alice Parker Transcontinental 2012 SATB Ladino

La Vida Do Por El Ladino and

Raki Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 TTB + piano English
Ladino Candle Ladino and
Blessing Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 SA div + solo + piano Hebrew
Two-part + three
treble instruments +
Ladino Suite Tamar Bronstein Transcontinental 1996 one bass instrument + Hebrew
piano
SATB + solo + piano/
Mi Eil Kamocha Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 organ Hebrew

SATB div. + solo

Mi Zeh Y’maleil Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1990 baritone + tof + Hebrew
tambourine

Morena Sid Robinovitch Transcontinental 1990 SATB Ladino

Yehezkel Braun/ SATB + optional S or

Morenica Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1990 T solo + piano Ladino

Yehezkel Braun/ SATB + S solo +

Nani, Nani Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1992 piano Ladino

Flory Jagoda/ SA (optional div) +

Ocho Kandelikas Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1997 solos + guitar Ladino

Flory Jagoda/
Ocho Kandelikas Transcontinental 1990 SATB + solos + guitar Ladino
Joshua Jacobson

117
 Eleanor Epstein,
Matthew Lazar,
Ozi Vezimrat Yah and Joshua Transcontinental 1992 SATB + tof Hebrew
Jacobson

Par’o Era Estrellero Eleanor Epstein Transcontinental 1999 SSA div Ladino

Yehezkel Braun/
Por Que Llorax Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1992 SATB div. + piano Ladino

Povereta Ladino and

Muchachika Michael Isaacson Transcontinental 2002 SATB + piano English
Lawrence Bennett Plymouth Music SSAA + recorder+
Rahelica Baila from Western Wind Company 1994 guitar + drum Ladino

SATB + solo + piano/

Sh’ma Yisrael Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 organ Hebrew

SSA + percussion +
Si Verias a la Rana Moira Smiley Self-published 2009 violin/clarinet ad lib. Ladino

Israel Music
Six Sephardic Folk
Paul Ben Haim Institute (Out of 1970 SATB Ladino
Songs Print)

Tzipora H.
Tzur Mishelo Jochsberger Transcontinental 1992 SATB Hebrew

Ven Hermosa David Ludwig Self-published 2012 SATB Ladino

Plymouth Music SSA + oud/dumbek/

Xinanáy Western Wind Company 1994 tambourine Ladino

SATB + tenor or
clarinet solo + Hebrew and
Yah Ribon Alam Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1991 mandolin + Arab Aramaic
drum
SATB + solo + piano/
Yigdal Haim Elisha Transcontinental 1994 organ Hebrew

mixed chorus + SATB

Yom Gila Samuel Adler Transcontinental 2001 solos + piano Hebrew

Yom Gila Simon Sargon Transcontinental 2007 SATB + piano Hebrew

Tzipora H.
Yom Ze Mekhubad Transcontinental 1992 SATB Hebrew
Jochsberger
Yom Zeh unison chorus + T
LeYisra’el/Yismach Joshua Jacobson Transcontinental 1991 solo + piano + Arab Hebrew
Mosheh drum
mixed chorus + tenor
Zamri Li Samuel Adler Transcontinental 2001 solo Hebrew

118
APPENDIX B: NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF SEPHARDIC MUSIC

1. Lavaba la Blanka Ninya……..120

2. Las Kazas de la Boda…….…132

3. Esta Noche de Purim……..…150

119
 LAVABA LA BLANKA NINYA

A Sephardic romance for choir SSA div.

arr. Sarah Riskind


120
Background Information

The Sephardim are descended from Jews who settled in modern-day Greece and other Balkan countries,
Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt after being expelled from Spain and Portugal in the
1490s. Due to persecution in the 20th century, many Sephardic Jews now live in Israel, France, the
Americas, and other parts of the world. The term “Sephardic” is often used to represent all Jews who are
not Ashkenazi, or traditionally Yiddish-speaking Jews from German or Eastern European background,
but there are also groups that fall into neither category.

“Lavaba la Blanka Ninya" is a monophonic romance of the Sephardic Jews, passed from generations of
mothers and daughters through oral tradition. Because Sephardic music was not notated until the 20th
century, it is difficult to discern the age of most Sephardic melodies. “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” is one of
many romances with structural similarities to medieval Spanish narrative ballads, though its text has
been traced to a Greek ballad. Most Sephardic music reflects the Ottoman and Arabic cultures of the
Mediterranean more than the Iberian peninsula, except for influences in the 20th century and beyond.
Commercial artists and composers have interpreted Sephardic music in a range of styles, but it is
important to understand that the harmonies, vocal timbres, instrumentation, and rhythms usually create
more of a reimagining than a literal presentation of tradition.

The main melodic source for this arrangement is a recording on Avner Perez’s Maale Adumim Institute
database, accessible at http://folkmasa.org/avshir/shirp.php?mishtane=1849. The singer Renée Bivas-
Sevy was born in Salonica and lived in Israel after World War II until her death in 2012. Other
recordings of this ballad are located in record numbers 1766, 832, 693, and 163, and Susana Weich-
Shahak includes transcriptions of several informants in Romancero Sefardí de Oriente: Antología de
Tradición Oral. Weich-Shahak’s video of Bivas-Sevy singing “Lavaba” in 1996 is also available on
YouTube.

Most romances are traditionally sung unaccompanied, solo or unison, by women performing domestic
activities such as caring for children. “Lavaba la Blanka Ninya” accompanies a custom in which families
wash wool for the pillows and blankets of a couple soon to be wed. It is a highly melismatic, unmetered
ballad that exhibits the microtonal character of the Ottoman makam modal system. The approximate
rhythm is transcribed from the Bivas-Sevy recording at record #1849.

Performance suggestions:
• I have adopted the ñ symbol from Turkish music because “Lavaba” is based on a scale that uses this
microtone for the second step. A ñ is technically one koma flat (1/9 step), but in this song it is often
sung lower. Singers can use the quarter tone between E and Eb as a goal for Eñ.
• Treat the rhythmic notation as a loose guide for the florid lines more than a strict depiction of timing
• Singers do not have to line up the melismatic pitches entirely
• Florid lines may be sung by 1-5 soloists if the entire section is impractical
• Listening to these field recordings is strongly recommended!
• The tempo is extremely fluid
• The conductor may experiment with a brighter and less bel canto sound, but this arrangement
prioritizes vocal agility and harmony over using a low register.
Text

The Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Sephardic Jews is most commonly called Ladino, but other
regional names include Spaniol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-spanyol, and haketía (Moroccan Judeo-Spanish).
Since it was originally written in the Hebrew Rashi script, there are now many spelling systems and
countless dialectic variations in pronunciation and vocabulary. This arrangement primarily uses Bivas-
Sevy’s pronunciation, with the spelling system from the Ladino magazine Aki Yerushalayim that is used
on the popular online discussion group Ladinokomunita (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/
Ladinokomunita/info).

Pronunciation Guide:
• Vowels: same as Spanish
• Consonants: same as Spanish, except:
• z is voiced, as in English
• j is Ʒ, as in French “jour”
• g is a hard g, as in English “gate”
• s at the end of a word is voiced, as in z

In this ballad, a husband returns after a long time at war to find his wife weeping for him. Unrecognized,
he tests her faithfulness, and in many versions she tests him in return. The last two verses in this
arrangement are not from the Renée Bivas recording, but they complete the story in a way that is more
fulfilling for an audience.
Translation

Lavaba la blanka ninya, lavaba i espandia, The fair woman was washing and putting linens out to dry,
Kon lagrimas la lavaba, kon suspiros la spandia. with her tears she washed and with her sighs she dried.

Por ayi paso un kavayero, kopo d'agua le demando, A knight passed by and asked her for a cup of water
De lagrimas de sus ojos siete kantarikos le incho. And she filled for him seven jugs from her tears.

“Porke yorash, blanka ninya, mi sinyora, porke yorash?” Why do you cry, fair maiden? Milady, why do you cry?
“Todos vienen de la gerra, al k'aspero no ay venir mas.” Everyone comes back from the war and the one I wait for
does not return.

“Dame sinyal, mi sinyora, sinyal del vuestro marido.” Give me a sign, milady, a sign from your husband.
“Alto, alto komo 'l pino, i derecho komo 's la flecha.” He is tall like a pine tree, straight as an arrow,

“Alto, alto komo 'l pino, i derecho komo 's la flecha, He is tall like a pine tree, straight as an arrow,
Su barvika roya tiene, empesando la despuntar.” his beard is blond, just starting to appear.

“Ya lo vide, mi sinyora, a la gerra matado sta; I saw him, milady, he was killed at war;
Un' ora antes ke muriera, tres palavrikas me avlo.” three things he told me one hour before he died

“Un' ora antes ke muriera, tres palavrikas me avlo: Three things he told me one hour before he died
‘Mujer ermoza tengo, ijikos komo es el sol,’ First, I have a beautiful wife, second, I have children [that
shine] like the sun,

La otra es, mi sinyora, ke me kazara yo kon vos, and third, that I should marry you.
La otra es, mi sinyora, ke me kazara yo kon vos.” and third, that I should marry you.

“Onde siete anyos l’asperi, otros siete lo vo ‘sperar, I have waited for seven years and seven more I will wait,
Si al de ocho non viene, bivdika kedara eya.” and if by then he does not come, she [I, but avoiding bad omen]
will remain a widow.

“No yores mas, blanka ninya, no yores ni kieres yorar, Do not cry, milady,
Yo soy el vuestro marido, el k' asperas de la gerra.” I am your husband for whom you waited to return from the
war.

“Si sos el mi marido, sinyal de mi puerpo dares.” If you are indeed my husband, you should have a sign from
“En el pecho de ezkiedro, ayi tenes un buen lunar.” my body.
Under your left breast you have a nice freckle.

Se tomaron, se abesaron, i a echar se irian. They embraced and kissed, and they went off together.
Se tomaron, se abesaron, i a echar se irian. They embraced and kissed, and they went off together.

Translation: Susana Weich-Shahak

“The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs” in The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music, ed.
Joshua S. Walden

 
   


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 LAS KAZAS DE LA BODA

A Sephardic wedding song

for choir SATB and instruments ad lib.
arr. Sarah Riskind


132
Background Information

The Sephardim are descended from Jews who settled in modern-day Greece and other Balkan
countries, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt after being expelled from Spain and
Portugal in the 1490s. Due to persecution in the 20th century, many Sephardic Jews now live in
Israel, France, the Americas, and other parts of the world. The term “Sephardic” is often used to
represent all Jews who are not Ashkenazi, or traditionally Yiddish-speaking Jews from German
or Eastern European background, but there are also groups that fall into neither category.

Because Sephardic music was not notated until the 20th century, it is difficult to discern the age
of most Sephardic melodies. Most Sephardic music reflects the Ottoman and Arabic cultures of
the Mediterranean more than the Iberian peninsula, except for influences in the 20th century and
beyond. Commercial artists and composers have interpreted Sephardic music in a range of styles,
but it is important to understand that the harmonies, vocal timbres, instrumentation, and rhythms
usually create more of a reimagining than a literal presentation of tradition.

“Las Kazas de la Boda” is a cantiga de novia or wedding song, specifically sung at a wedding
feast, and it falls in the larger category of lyric songs that includes the majority of well-known
Judeo-Spanish melodies. The main melodic source for this arrangement is a recording on Avner
Perez’s Maale Adumim Institute database, accessible at http://folkmasa.org/avshir/shirp.php?
mishtane=39. The singers are Bulgarian Sephardic women at the Moadon Tiferet club in Jaffa,
Israel. Other recordings of this ballad are located in record numbers 423, 505, and 736.

There is significant modal variation between each of these four recordings, but most Sephardic
melodies from the Eastern Mediterranean exhibit influence from the Ottoman makam modal
system, often including microtonal pitches. The metrical grouping of 2+2+2+3 demonstrates a
strong connection to non-Jewish Bulgarian music.

Performance Suggestions:
• Experiment with a Balkan-style belt; the soprano/alto register is intentionally low in order to
facilitate this vocal technique
• The ornamentation is based on the source recording, but performers are welcome to add and
remove ornaments. Listening to the source recording will provide the best understanding.
• The pitched instrument can be one or more instruments in the written octave or an octave
below, playing in unison or heterophony.
• Traditional instruments: tambura, oud, kanun, kaval, gadulka
• Effective substitutes could include: violin, rebec, mandolin, dulcimer, zither, harp, recorder,
flute, bouzouki, and others
• For the unpitched instruments, a low or medium-pitch drum can be used as the main
instrument, with tambourine entering as notated
• Ideal instruments would be: tupan and tarabuka/dumbek
Text

The Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Sephardic Jews is most commonly called Ladino, but
other regional names include Spaniol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-spanyol, and haketía (Moroccan
Judeo-Spanish). Since it was originally written in the Hebrew Rashi script, there are now many
spelling systems and countless dialectic variations in pronunciation and vocabulary. This
arrangement primarily uses the source recording’s pronunciation, with the spelling system from
the Ladino magazine Aki Yerushalayim that is used on the popular online discussion group
Ladinokomunita (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ladinokomunita/info).

Pronunciation Guide:
• Vowels: same as Spanish
• Consonants: same as Spanish, except:
• z is voiced, as in English
• j is Ʒ, as in French “jour”
• g is a hard g, as in English “gate”
• s at the end of a word is voiced, as in z
Translation

Estas kazas tan ermozas x2 The houses are so beautiful

Para ke bailen las novias For the brides to dance there
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai

Estas mezas tan ermozas x2 These tables are so beautiful

Para ke bailen las novias For the brides to dance there
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai

Estas kazas tan ermozas x2 These houses are so beautiful

Para ke bailen las novias For the brides to dance there
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai

Afuera bailan las damas x2 Inside the ladies are dancing

Alientro bailan las nanas And outside dance the young girls,
Para bodas, For weddings
Para bodas, la me senyora. For weddings, my lady,
Esta i otra. This one and another.
Lai lai lai

Translation: Susana Weich-Shahak

“The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs” in The Cambridge Companion to Jewish
Music, ed. Joshua S. Walden

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 ESTA NOCHE DE PURIM

A Sephardic copla for choir SATB

arr. Sarah Riskind


150
Background Information

The Sephardim are descended from Jews who settled in modern-day Greece and other Balkan
countries, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt after being expelled from Spain and
Portugal in the 1490s. Due to persecution in the 20th century, many Sephardic Jews now live in
Israel, France, the Americas, and other parts of the world. The term “Sephardic” is often used to
represent all Jews who are not Ashkenazi, or traditionally Yiddish-speaking Jews from German
or Eastern European background, but there are also groups that fall into neither category.

Because Sephardic music was not notated until the 20th century, it is difficult to discern the age
of most Sephardic melodies. Most Sephardic music reflects the Ottoman and Arabic cultures of
the Mediterranean more than the Iberian peninsula, except for influences in the 20th century and
beyond. Commercial artists and composers have interpreted Sephardic music in a range of styles,
but it is important to understand that the harmonies, vocal timbres, instrumentation, and rhythms
usually create more of a reimagining than a literal presentation of tradition.

“Esta Noche de Purim” is a copla, a genre of strophic songs often sung or led by men focused on
themes of Jewish history and culture. There are often many verses, but singers can choose from
them and change the order; this arrangement uses four verses found in several different
recordings. The text has been printed often, beginning in 1798, but many variations of the
melody exist. The main melodic source for this arrangement is a recording on Avner Perez’s
Maale Adumim Institute database, accessible at http://folkmasa.org/avshir/shirp.php?
mishtane=953, sung by the Moroccan woman Marcelle Cohen. Other recordings of this ballad
are located in record numbers 2226, 943, 2423, 2443, 1403, 2003, and 2444, all from the
Moroccan traditions. The refrain melody most closely resembles that in record 2444.

Performance suggestions:
• Experiment with a brighter, less bel canto vocal technique, using the recordings as a model.
The register is intentionally low for the sopranos and altos in order to make this possible.
• The heterophonic verse at rehearsal letter D is intended to capture the sound of a group of
singers who know slightly different variations of the melody. Instead of singing in voice parts,
performers should be divided evenly between the four staves.
Text

The Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the Sephardic Jews is most commonly called Ladino, but
other regional names include Spaniol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-spanyol, and haketía (Moroccan
Judeo-Spanish). Since it was originally written in the Hebrew Rashi script, there are now many
spelling systems and countless dialectic variations in pronunciation and vocabulary. This
arrangement primarily uses Cohen’s pronunciation, with the spelling system from the Ladino
magazine Aki Yerushalayim that is used on the popular online discussion group Ladinokomunita
(https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ladinokomunita/info).

Pronunciation Guide:
• Vowels: same as Spanish
• Consonants: same as Spanish, except:
• z is voiced, as in English
• j is Ʒ, as in French “jour”
• g is a hard g, as in English “gate”
• s at the end of a word is voiced, as in z

This copla celebrates the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates the heroic actions of
the Jewish Queen Esther of Persia and her cousin Mordechai. They prevented the King’s adviser
Haman from killing the Jewish people, which is a cause for rejoicing through food and drink.
This holiday usually falls in February or March.
Translation

1. Esta noche de Purim This Purim night

No duermen los alhalwim, The sweets makers do not sleep
Haziendo las alhalwas They are making sweets,
Para las despozadas. for the newlyweds.

REFRAIN: REFRAIN:
Vivas tu, i viva yo, Long live you, long live me,
I vivan todos los judios. Long live all the Jews.
Viva la reina Ester Long live Queen Esther
Ke tanto plaser nos dio. Who gave us so much pleasure.

2. Haman el mamzer Haman, upon waking,

Mucho mal kizo hazer Had much to do
A Mordehay el judio To Mordechai the Jew
En los dias de Purim. On the days of Purim.

3. Mordehay manda i dise Mordechai ordered and said

Todo judio ke se avise That every Jew must pay attention
En Adar katorse i kinse And on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the
Mire mucho de beber. month of Adar, to drink a lot

4. No dejis komer peskado, Do not fail to eat fish,

Kocho, frito, ni asado Cooked, fried, nor grilled
Aunke vos kostara karo Although it will be costly
En la noche de Purim. On the night of Purim

First verse and refrain:

The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times
Translation by Marilyn Mayo and Nancy Wiener

Third verse:
Susana Weich-Shahak
“The Traditional Performance of Sephardic Songs” in The Cambridge Companion to Jewish
Music, ed. Joshua S. Walden

Second and fourth verses: Sarah Riskind


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 VITA

At the University of Washington, Sarah Riskind has researched choral improvisation and

chromatic Renaissance polyphony in addition to arrangements of Sephardic music. A composer

of sacred Jewish and secular choral music, she recently premiered her Oz Cantata for chorus,

soloists, and string quartet with the UW Recital Choir (recordings at sarahriskind.com). Ms.

Riskind is the Music Director at Magnolia United Church of Christ and has been an instructor for

scholarly writing on music, Jewish Studies Fellow, and teaching assistant for choral ensembles

and music history at UW. Previously, she conducted church, community, and children’s choirs

and taught music at the German International School of Boston. Informed by her work on faculty

at The Walden School, an inspiring summer program for creative musicians, she advocates for

developing choral singers’ musicianship and improvisational skills. She received her M.M. from

the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her B.A. from Williams College.

159