Re: Rabbi Louk and the Catalan National Anthem(!)

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

OK, as long as we're talking about the good Rabbi...

Cantor Louis Danto does a version of the Ladino version of Ein Kelohenu,
"No Hay Como Nuestro Dio" on his "I heard a voice from heaven" CD. In the
program notes he writes: "The melody has been popularised in Toronto by
Cantor Armand Moyal from the singing of Rabbi Haim Louk, who heard it as a
child in Casablanca."

Here's the kicker - the melody is most definitely that of "Els Segadors",
which was adopted hundreds of years after its composition as the Catalan
national anthem. If anyone out there knows something about this admittedly
obscure piece of Sephardic lore, please share it with the list.

Best,

Joel



At 08:56 PM 5/19/99 , you wrote:
>Rabbi Louk is an astounding, charming performer who is, indeed, world 
>famous.  I attended a 
>concert by him at UCLA May 9.  He was backed by 4 instrumentalists, at least 
>2 of whom were not 
>Jewish, but are Moroccan Moslems.  I am told that about 1/3 of the audience 
>for this Sunday 
>afternoon concert were Moroccan Moslems.  He is the rabbi of the Moroccan 
>synagogue in North 
>Hollywood, an area of the San Fernando Valley suburbs of LA(the dreaded 
>"Valley" as in "Valley 
>Girls").  He has a beautiful clear singing voice and is an absolutely 
>virtuosic performer.  His 
>love of the music and the texts pours out of him in a totally engaging way.  
>His command of the 
>maqam improvisational style is immediately apparent even if you aren't that 
>familiar with that 
>style of music. I have forgotten the name of the synagogue, but if you email 
>Prof. Edwin 
>Seroussi at UCLA (seroussi (at) ucla(dot)edu) he can give your friend specific 
>contact information.  The 
>Moroccan Jewish liturgical style is most beautiful and heavily influenced by 
>the music of 
>Andalusia.  If any list subscribers ever have an opportunity to hear Rabbi 
>Louk - no matter what 
>your own background is (I'm a secular Yiddishist) - drop everything and go!
>
>Shira Lerner
>
>PS - Prof. Seroussi is a marvelous speaker on sephardic (including Moroccan) 
>Jewish music, by 
>the way.  Your friend might want to consider involving him in some way.  I 
>expect that he'll be 
>back in Israel after the end of spring quarter (mid-June)at UCLA.  He was 
>only here for 2 
>quarters as a visiting professor.
>
>
>


Joel Bresler
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