Re: Spanish-Jewish Romance Songs

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

Welcome, indeed.

Please tell us more about your interest in Romances and whether it extends 
to the Sephardic repertoire.

Buena fortuna,

Joel

At 07:40 PM 7/14/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Sholem Aleykhem, everyone,
>
>I'm new here and you just happen to have hit upon something I know a bit
>about!  Unfortunately, I'm not familiar yet with the lyrics to La Rosa
>Enflorece (Los Bilbilicos), however, I can tell you something about the
>Romance form of the end of the 14th century and beyond.
>
>The Romance is a poem originally recited or sung accompanied by a musical
>instrument to entertain an audience or for a dance, or unaccompanied in a
>more intimate setting.  It is comprised of an indeterminate series of
>octosyllabic verses with asonant rhyme (vowels, not consonants, in the
>ultimate and penultimate syllables) in the even-numbered lines.  The odd
>lines are free rhyme (that is to say, they don't necessarily rhyme).  There
>are other forms with 6, 7 or 11 syllables.  Since the 16th c.  the Romance
>tended to group the verses in four line units, but the rhyme scheme
>remained the same.  It is the most typically Spanish form of versification,
>living in popular tradition, as well as in erudite poetry and in narrative
>poetry such as is used in the theater.
>
>You have to take into account the joining of proximal syllables where one
>ends in a vowel and the next begins with one; they are counted as one.
>Does the pattern fit with the above?  If so, there you have it!
>
>Lori
>
>At 04:09 PM 7/14/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
> >La Rosa Enflorece is one of the most widely recorded Sephardic songs. It is
> >also known by its alternate opening stanza, Los Bilbilicos (The
> >Nightingales.) I know of 120 examples, and this is just of the Ladino
> >version. I don't begin to attempt a count of its use as a melody for Tzur
> >Mishelo. BTW, I believe "La Rosa Enflorece" is not actually a romance
> >(which is a ballad which always comes in a particular format) but rather a
> >lyric song.
> >
> >Anyway, happy surfing! Let us know what you uncover.
> >
> >Best,
> >
> >Joel
> >
>



Joel Bresler
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420 USA

Home:           781-862-2432
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Email:          jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com

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