RE: Oriental Jewish Music

[Galeet Dardashti <galeet...>]

Hello All,

 

Since I'm currently conducting my doctoral dissertation fieldwork in
Anthropology here in Israel on contemporary Middle Eastern music, I'll put
in my two cents.  Obviously, I could go on forever with academic mumbo
jumbo, but don't worry, I won't.  As Ari mentioned, I tried to state things
really clearly and simply in the liner notes on the Divahn album so I'll
first include the relevant passages here:  

 

"While the terms Sephardic and Mizrakhi are often used synonymously, this is
not always accurate. The Sephardic or "Spanish Jews" flourished in Spain for
several centuries. They spoke Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish (a Hebrew-flavored
dialect of Spanish), amongst themselves and, of course, composed songs in
Ladino. Their music reflected the Spanish as well as the Moorish influences
to which they were exposed. When the Sephardim were expelled from Spain in
1492, many of them settled throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East and
North Africa, which is why Sephardic music and culture is so often linked to
the Middle East. 

 

Aside from the Sephardim, however, Jews have had a strong presence in the
Middle East in the areas of countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Syria since
the destruction of the first Temple in 586 BCE. Due to Islamic restrictions
on music in many periods, Jews were the primary group permitted to serve as
professional musicians. Throughout history, therefore, Mizrakhim (Middle
Eastern and North African Jews) played an important role in perpetuating the
musical traditions in their respective countries, influencing and being
influenced by the cultures with which they resided for thousands of years"
(Divahn 2002).

 

But, Eva is absolutely correct in pointing out that when attempting to
define "Oriental" and "Mizrakhi" music in Israel, things get a bit
complicated. Muzika mizrakhit" (literally "Eastern or Oriental Music") is
the term most often used by Israelis to refer to the pop style created by
working class Mizrakhim in the 1970's.  The genre is sometimes referred to
in Israel by more highly pejorative names including "muzika takhanat
merkazit" (Central Bus Station music), "muzika cassetot" (cassette music),
and "muzika shakhor" (black music).  The politically correct name for this
music is "muzika yam tikhonit yisraelit" (Israelis Mediterranean Music), but
almost no one calls it that here.  

 

Though I wrote quite a bit about this type of music in previous work, my
dissertation focuses more on the revival of more traditional types of Middle
Eastern and Arab music here during the last 10 years.  In order to get
Israelis to know what I am talking about when they ask me about my research
here, I usually tell them that I'm studying "ethnic music" (muzika etnit)
here and then they understand.  "Ethnic music" here generally means here
that a musical style has some Middle Eastern musical elements and that it
uses some traditional instrumentation.  If I tell them that I'm studying
"muzika mizrakhit," they will assume that I'm studying the Middle
Eastern/Greek/Latin/rock pop style that Eva well described in her email.  

 

I'll stop there.  There's a lot to say here.  At least I think so.  That's
why I'm writing a whole dissertation on it!  I'm happy to provide further
references on this topic for anyone who asks, but I think other people on
the list have provided most of the citations in previous emails.

 

Shana Tova,

 

Galeet Dardashti

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) 
shamash(dot)org]
On Behalf Of Bronia Kornhauser
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 10:09 PM
To: World music from a Jewish slant
Subject: Oriental Jewish Music

 

I have come across some problems in my work as archivist for our Jewish

Music Archive and am seeking help from this wonderful list. 

I am trying to categorise our material into Ashkenazi, Sephardi and

Oriental Jewish music and would like your opinions on the following:

When one is referring to the music of Oriental Jews, which

geographical/cultural/stylistic groups does this cover? 

And would you use the term Sephardi interchangeably with Oriental for

some (all?) of those groups?

Many thanks in anticipation

Bronia