Re: Spanish-Jewish Romance Songs

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

I am in the enviable position of being someone whose interests vastly 
outstrip his knowledge <G>

I am preparing a comprehensive discography of commercial recordings 
containing at least one Judeo-Spanish song. The scope is worldwide, 78 era 
to the present. I have it all in a database now approaching 1,000 
recordings and 6,000 song performances. Ultimately the research will go up 
on a long-threatened, long-delayed website, <www.sephardicmusic.com> along 
with articles about the culture, music and history of the Sephardim.

I am also trying to collect as many of the recordings as is possible, with 
something over 500 in hand currently.

I welcome all correspondence about recordings with Sephardic music, the 
more arcane the better.

Best,

Joel

At 08:45 PM 7/14/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Joel,
>
>Tell me what YOUR interesy is and enlighten me with what you know, please.
>
>Lori
>
>At 08:33 PM 7/14/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >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
> >Home Office:    781-862-4104
> >FAX:            781-862-0498
> >Cell:           781-622-0309
> >Email:          jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com
> >
> >
> >
> >
>



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

Home:           781-862-2432
Home Office:    781-862-4104
FAX:            781-862-0498
Cell:           781-622-0309
Email:          jbresler (at) ma(dot)ultranet(dot)com

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