Carey Averbook Moroccan Music Mini-term 2008 NCSSM

The Language

• Judeo-Spanish in essence • Ottoman Empire • Spoken primarily by Sephardic Jews (Modern Day) • “preserves many old words, proverbs, songs, legends, and romances.” Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Various Names of ‘Ladino’

• Called Ladino in Balkans and Turkey, to distinguish from Latin • Known as Yahudice (Jewish language) in the

Ottoman Empire

• Called Haquitiya in Tangier and Tetuan (both cities in Spanish Morocco) •

Northern Africa

This is a map of the Ottoman Empire, early 1920s: Comprised of N Africa, Mediterranean, Balkans, and Middle East

Who are Sephardic Jews: The primary speakers of Ladino

 Originally referred to Jews living and expelled from Iberian Peninsula from 1492-1496  Expelled from Spain in 1492  Expelled from Portugal in 1496  Iberian Peninsula is present day Portugal and Spain  It now refers to the Jewish exiles and their descendants who settled in the Ottoman Empire as well as indigenous Jews who already lived in the countries.

 Some of these Jews fled to the New World

History- Origins

• Origins in 1492, when Jews were expelled from Spain; they took their language with them: • To the Ottoman Empire • Regional dialects • It was the common language of Salonika (a city in Northern Greece) during Ottoman rule. • Ladino remained widely spoken

History- 20

th

Century Carey averbook

• Number of speakers declined due to the Holocaust. • Ladino is in danger of extinction •

Olim

• However, there has been a minor revival in Sephardic communities • Various countries in Latin America still use the Ladino language

History- Modern

• Some Sephardic families have lived in Jerusalem for centuries, preserving Ladino, even though they use Hebrew in everyday life.

The Language Today

 About 200,000 speakers in the world, mostly in Israel  Number of speakers has diminished:  Pre WWI: 770,000 spoke Ladino in Greece alone  Other countries with native speakers include Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel, Romania, Greece, Morocco, and Latin American Countries 

The borrowing of other languages is so heavy; about 30% Ladino is of non-Spanish origin.

The Writing of Ladino

 Written using the Hebrew alphabet  Retains much of 15 th Spanish spellings Century Spanish vocabulary and  Mediterranean influences

Ladino Literature

 Focused on religious services and philosophy up to the 18 th Century:  Literature in Ladino appeared in the 18th century  Three major categories:  Translations of sacred texts  Rabbinic literature  Folk tales, fables, proverbs, poems, and short stories

Examples of Ladino Literature

 Translations of Hebrew Bible, High Holiday prayer book, Passover Haggadah  Poetry of Shmuel HaNagid (993-1056), Shlomo ibn Gabirol (1021-1058), and Yehuda Halevi (1075-1141), and treatises by Yehuda Halevi, Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), and Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410/1411) 

Me'am Loez

 Ejoha, otherwise known as Joha

Ladino Literature Today

• In 2001, the Jewish Publication Society • Matilda Koén-Sarano • Writers are struggling to keep Ladino literature alive • Ladino is not usually published alone, but with a Spanish or Hebrew work

Ladino Music

• Songs are divided into • Romansas/ ballads (dramatic narrative poems) • Kantigas (lyric songs,) • Muwashshahat (poetical forms) • Survived for centuries • In The Sephardic Experience, there are many “references to foods which were staples of the Ottoman Sephardic diet” • The Ladino music embodies themes of “Sabbath food, tragic births in the royal palace, joyous, wicked, seductive, rejected and spiritual love, and mischievous, intoxicated, boisterous pre– and post–nuptial hijinks.” http://www.harmonies.com/releases/13169.htm

Comparison

• This audio clip is a Ladino version of the Mourner’s Kaddish/ Yitgadal ve-yitgadash  The Mourner’s Kaddish: Hebrew Text • Try to hear the Hebrew Influences English Translation : Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

 http://www.613.org/cantor/kadish s.ram

MUST USE FIREFOX AND VLC PLAYER

 Una Matica De Ruda:  Una matica de ruda Una matica de flor Hija mia mi querida Dime a mi quen te la dio Me la dio un mancevico Que di mi s'enomoro Hija mia mi querida No t'eches a la perdicion Mas vale un mal marido Que un mancevo de amor Mal marido, la mi madre Un pilisco y la maldicion Mancevo de amor, la mi madre Una mansana y el buen limon

Kantigas

  MUSIC!

A sprig of rue, a flowering sprig My dear daughter, tell me, who gave it to you It was given me by a lad who fell in love with me My dear daughter, don't fall into ruin It's better to have a bad husband than a young lover A bad husband, mother, is a pinch and a curse A young lover, mother, is like a (ripe) apple and a (fragrant) lemon

    Por Una Ninya (For One Beautiful Girl)

Romansas

 Por una ninya tan ermoza l'alma yo la vo a dar un kuchiyo de dos kortes en el korason entro.

No me mires ke'sto kantando es yorar ke kero yo los mis males son muy grandes no los puedo somportar.

No te lo kontengas tu, ijika, ke sos blanka komo'l simit, ay morenas en el mundo ke kemaron Selanik.

  For a beautiful girl I would give my soul a double-edged knife pierced my heart.

Don't look at me singing, crying is what I want to do, my sorrow is so great I can't bear it.

Don't hold your sorrow, young girl, for you are white like bread, there are brunette girls in the world who set fire to Salonika.

Muwashshahat

 Includes a typical musical ABA form, intricate melodies that are based on traditional rhythmic modes, and performance by a chorus, with or without soloists  Information and Music

  

Popular Song:

Cuando el Rey Nimrod

When King Nimrod walked through the fields Looking into the skies, reading into the stars, He saw the good star shining onto the Jews They where to give birth to Abraham Avinu...

Abraham Avinu, beloved father, Blesssed is thy name, light to Israel...

Terachs wife knew she was pregnant day to day he would ask her - Why do you have such a full blessed face She was well aware the good she was given.

   http://www.savethemusic.com/ladi no/bin/music.cgi?Page=reynimrod& Singerbio=reynimrod_ncastel “is a Ladino song that celebrates the birth of Abraham. It incorporates many elements taken from the Nimrod midrashim. This song is sung as a Shabbat z'mira (table song) and at circumcisions. The exact date of its origin is unknown but it probably dates from the 16th or 17th century.” Romansa http://www.savethemusic.com/ladino/bin/music.cgi?Page=reynimrod &Song=about_reynimrod

Example of Sheet Music

Bibliography



Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 http://www.sephardicstudies.org/images/grandees ladino2.jpg  http://www.goldenland.com/pictures/sons_sepharad.j

pg  http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyofspanish/f/ladin o.htm

 http://www.library.fau.edu/news/images/110707a.jpg

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladino_language

Bibliography Cont.

 http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Ottoman.jpg

 http://www.jewishgen.org/Sephardic/sephardic_roffe.

HTM  http://www.ou.org/yerushalayim/kadish.htm

 http://myjewishlearning.com/culture/literature/Europ eanLit/LadinoLiterature.htm

 http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&Mo duleId=10005422  http://www.harmonies.com/releases/13169.htm