Romancero

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Romancero

Romancero, akin to the ballad, originated in medieval Spain, often depicting royal intrigue, betrayals, and war captives, though not always tied to Jewish life. Some, however, have biblical themes from Jewish sources. Structurally, it consists of consecutive rhyming lines, with every two forming a repeating musical unit. Passed orally from mother to daughter, Romancero served various roles—accompanying women’s work and functioning as lullabies. Their soothing melodies calmed infants, while engaging narratives held older children’s attention. Often texts traveled between Moroccan and Balkan Jewish communities.

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Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y 3994/6 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 224, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. Text: A cazar iba el caballero, a cazar como solía,...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y5479/3 Referenced and notated in: Romansero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 83 Editorial Alpuerto S.A. 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak This is one of the themes about captives and prisoners typical of...
Placement in the Jerusalem National Sound Archives: Y2093/4b This is a Copla-Romance, depicting the story from Exodus when Moshe goes to Pharaoh's palace to demand that he release the people of Israel, is sung on...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 1097/13+16 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 132, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a partial version of the romance, La reina adúltera ("The Adulterous...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2774/9 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 97, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This Romansa, titled La vuelta del marido ("The Husband’s Return"), tells a story familiar...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y 3994/7  Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 66, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. Count Alvarez (Grimaldos, Grismale,  Prismare, in other versions), was...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: YCD2981/1      This is one of the numerous version depicting the return of the husband, a well known pan-European theme, where the faithful wife awaits her husband, and when...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2774/3,9 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 98, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. The medieval story of the long gone husband who returns and, without making himself...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc1097/33 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 124, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a partial version of a humorous Romansa about adultery. Text: - Burjula,...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement:Y5756b/16 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 103, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. The ballad is found only in the Sephardic tradition of Morocco. It...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 2325/2  Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos pg. 208, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. We know this romance exclusively from the Sephardic versions from...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement:Y 3995/3  Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 88, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. This romance recounts the death of the son and heir of...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5982a/40 This is a fragment of the Romance of the Captured sister, Hermana Cautiva, but a few borrowed lines another romance. Text: De las altas mares   traien a la niña...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5842b/27   Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 70, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. Another ballad about prisoners and captives, this one widely spread among Sephardic Jews in...