ballads 2

[Judith R Cohen <judithc...>]

hi again, I think Batya was referring to songs officially classified as
ballads not in the general sense but in the specific sense of a certain
corpus of narrative songs such as the famous "Henry Martin" and other
Child ballads many of us of my geenration first heard as sung by Joan
Baez. But I'm quite intrigued by David's comment about a sea-shanty
Yigdal - why do you think it sounds like a sea shanty? Where is it from
("Sephardic" isn't a very specific term in temrs of culture or
geography) And why "MUST" that particular "lejay olamim" be a halyard
shanty? Where is it sung? WHich Sephardim?
English and Spanish sailors had contact but didn't necessarily serenade
each other... and their songs didn't necessarily make it to Spanish Jews
- who tended not to be sailors (though when exiled, probably spent an
awful lot of time huddled miserably on ships, not necessarily in earshot
of shanties, and probably not desiring to hear them any more if they
managed to land in one piece!) - and by the time of the Armada were, in
any case, Crypto-Jews if they were still in SPain.
Shantily, Judith


> Yigdal" that sounded as if they might be a sea-shantee. The "lechay
> olamim" 
> sung on Simchas Torah HAS to be a halyard shantee as well. But I can't
> prove 
> it. Rest assured, English and Spanish sailors had contact, usually not
> so 
> friendly--remember the Spanish Armada episode.

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