Coplas

Home /  

Coplas

Coplas are a unique Jewish genre that developed after the expulsion from Spain, flourishing mainly in the 18th century. Written my men, this genre deals with social and historical and traditional topics from biblical sources, therefor the abundance of Hebrew words. Coplas have complex literary structures, sometimes including acrostics, rhymes, and repeated choruses. Coplas were printed in booklets dedicated to holidays or other themes.

Filters

Filters
Song
Academic title
Congregation
Genre
Life Cycle
Yearly Cycle
Lyric/love Songs
Informant / Performers
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y2931/1 A song of longing for Jerusalem, used to be sung on the night of the "mortaja", when people gathered in a feast to prepare the shrouds for the old...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y 5982a/44 Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 118, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak. This copla, connected to the circumcision ritual, recounts a Talmudic legend about...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5823b/33 Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 119, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak. This copla, linked to the circumcision ritual, retells a Talmudic legend about Abraham’s...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y2091/4 Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 120, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak. This copla, associated with the ritual of circumcision, tells the story of Abraham's...
From Merendjenas, Orit Perlman, 2023 These are two Koplas that share a melody, from Bulgaria. Both retell biblical content, the first describes the miraculous birth of Abraham, whose mother, wife of Terah, experienced pain in...
From Merendjenas, Orit Perlman, 2023 This copla, connected to the circumcision ritual, recounts a Talmudic legend about Abraham’s miraculous birth and early years. Terah’s wife gives birth to him in a cave, and like a...
From Kanta Gayiko, Judeo-Spanish songs from Bulgaria, 2025 Orit Perlman: voice  Yarden Erez : ud, guitar, gumbush; violin, keyboard and arrangements Zeev Yaniv : darbuqa, sonaja, bendir, cajón This copla, associated with the ritual of...
From Arboleras vol. 3, Sephardic songs from the 20th century, 2000 Upon arriving in Israel, there was a meeting between all the  Judeo-Spanish congregations.  The meeting center, called in Hebrew "moadon," serves as a place...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5740b/12 Based on the liturgical poem composed in the 12th century by Rabbi Judah Ibn Abbas of Fez, is chanted on Rosh Hashanah and in some communities also on Yom...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc1188/3 This is a translation of a Hebrew beloved liturgical poem for the festival of Simchat Torah, when the completion of the annual reading of the Pentateuch is celebrated, and...
From Arboleras vol. 1 - Sephardic cancionero and coplas oral tradition,1996 This is a song of good advice to the Bar Mitsvah boy as he grows into manhood: to be hard working and an early...
From Ventanas Altas de Saloniki, 2013. This is a song of good advice to the Bar Mitsvah boy as he grows into manhood: to be hard working and an early riser; he should take care...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y2994/26 Copla Admonitivas, which begins with the words:  Mis hermanos, mi queridas, is a moralistic song about the superficiality of striving for external pleasures such as wealth. This is a...
From Merendjenas, Orit Perlman, 2023 This romance is known only in the Sephardic Moroccan tradition. It retells the story of Moses, his flight from Midian, the revelation of the burning bush and his confrontation with...