The psalms of the Jews from Constantine

COLLECTION PATRIMOINES MUSICAUX DES JUIFS DE FRANCE, VOL. 11

Throughout the during centuries, Constantine was home to an important Jewish community. According to traditional sources, the town had 26 synagogues from which could be heard the prayers in a style inspired by Andalusian music. In Constantine, the recitation of the psalms was a unique art in which each singer, respecting the biblical text and the Arab-Andalusian modes, competed in its delicate improvisation to move the hearts of the greatest number of worshippers.

In this 11th volume from the collection Patrimoines musicaux des Juifs de France produced by the Foundation for French Judaism, the Great Rabbi René Guedj, André Taïeb, Yohan Bismuth and Ylane Zerbib present to us a selection of these psalms in the Constantine tradition. Concerned by playing them in their original form and with its original spirit, they offer an interpretation without any instrumental accompaniment. Their style sometimes evoking the voices of Flamenco makes us recall the vocal tradition of the Arab courts in medieval Spain in an astonishing way.

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Information (+33) 1 45 82 20 52 ; contact@iemj.org

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