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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From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020 The romance about The Deceived Woman (La mujer engañada) is formulated like a lullaby. The protagonist, in the first person, tells about the betrayal of her...
From Arboleras - De las altas mares, Ecos Sefardies de la isle de Rodas, cd1, 2009 The romance about The Deceived Woman (La mujer engañada) is formulated like a lullaby. The protagonist, in the first...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2325/38 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 226, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. In this romance from North Morocco Cidi prays in sorrow because...
From Arboleras Vol. 2 - Romances Sefardies Tradicion Oral This beautiful romance is unique to the Sephardic tradition. It tells the story of a king who envies his nephew (in most texts, as in ours,...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5627a/24 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 240, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. Polo, sunk in melancholy, meets a page who reveals a scandal...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc22641/41 Polo, sunk in melancholy, meets a page who reveals a scandal at the royal court: the queen’s daughter has secretly borne children with Count Vergico. The queen confronts the...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y2856/4 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 140, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. The theme of the husband going off to war, leaving his...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y2093/1 Referenced and notated in: Romansero Sefardi de Oriente pg. 169 Editorial Alpuerto S.A. 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a partial version of a romansa that was written in...
From Ventanas Altas de Saloniki, 2013. This is a version of La doncella guerrera, The warrior maiden, which is widely spread across Spain and within the Sephardic diaspora. In all versions, a dialogue takes place...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc5540 This is a version of La doncella guerrera, The warrior maiden, which is widely spread across Spain and within the Sephardic diaspora. In all versions, a dialogue takes place...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: 2287/10,11       Although known in some versions from the Canary Islands and Portugal, in no tradition has this romance been preserved with as much vitality as in the Sephardic one (from...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: YCD2980/9 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 133, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. Another ballad on the universal theme of the adulterous woman discovered by her husband...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y2093/14 Referenced and notated in: Romansero Sefardi de Oriente 17c Editorial Alpuerto S.A. 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak La vuelta del marido chronicles the familiar motif of a husband’s homecoming, widely...
From Arboleras Vol. 2 - Romances Sefardies Tradicion Oral Here we find a common occurance, a fusion of two romances, both from the French epic tradition, El cautiverio de Guarinos, lines 1-10, and El sueño...