Judeo-Spanish is the vernacular language of the descendants of Jews chased from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 and 1497
Following their expulsion, the Sefardi Jews (the word Sefarad means Spain in Hebrew) established new communities around the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in regions attached the Ottoman empire: Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Syria and Palestine.
Since the end of the 1960’s, the repertoire of popular Judeo-Spanish songs is in fashion in Europe, North and South America, and in Israel. But the major part, if not the whole of it, of the discs put on the market are recordings done by professional musicians from musical transcriptions picked up from anthologies and rearranged. There are very few recordings of these songs in a purely traditional version.
The playlist we propose here is representative of the variety of interpretation.
- Learn more about the Judeo-Spanish singing
- Visit Joël Bresler’s website : SEPHARDIC MUSIC: A CENTURY OF RECORDINGS
- Listen to the radio show: The renewal of Judeo-Spanish music, hosted by Hervé Roten (in French)
- Learn more about the CD : Judeo-Spanish Songs for the Life Cycle in the Eastern Mediterranean
- Listen to the playlist : Judeo-Spanish songs, 1st part
- Listen to the playlist : Judeo-Spanish songs, 2nd part
