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Sephardic songs accompanied life from beginning to end—love and courtship, pregnancy, childbirth, weddings, and mourning. They also marked the yearly cycle with songs rooted in Jewish traditions and historical events.
Ladino, originating from 15th-century  Spanish, was the language of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. As they dispersed across the Mediterranean, Ladino song absorbed local linguistic and musical influences.
There are two main dialects:
Ladino (Español) – Spoken in Turkey, Greece, Sarajevo, Bulgaria, Rhodes, and beyond.
Haketia – The dialect of northern Morocco.

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Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: YCD 2979/3 Typical of the cantigas genre, the order of the strophes are not necessarily important. The text speaks of the sand paths in Sirkigi, where the lover walks to...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y4550/8 Referenced and notated in: Moroccan Sephardic Romancero, pg. 118, Gaon Books, House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. The story of Don Bueso y su hermana develops a theme that appears in...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: YCD2799b/2  Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 158, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak.
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5434/4 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 157, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a version of La doncella guerrera, The warrior maiden, which is widely...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 2325/15  Referenced and notated in: Moroccan Sephardic Romancero, pg. 243, Gaon Books, House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. In this romance a count is ordered punished, not for crimes like theft...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2486/1 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos pg. 241, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. This somewhat strange and rare romance borrows themes from other romances....
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: NSA Y6006/3
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc 1332/21 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 63, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. The ballad recounts the mysterious murder of Giovanni (Juan) Borgia, Duke of Gandia,...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5539/2 Referenced and notated in: Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle, pg. 36, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1989 Susana Weich-Shahak. This song was sung at the swing, where...
This is a parody of an Argentinian tango as sung by renowned singer Emperio Argentina. Originally the song recounts his lost joy when his horse died. In this Haketiya version, written by the informants's relative...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y 6357b/1 Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 172, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak. Mati Mandil sings this abbreviated version, which reflects a mother's doubts about...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y2854/8 Referenced and notated in: La Boda Sefardi, Musica, texto y contexto, pg. 145, Editorial Alpuerto, 2007 Susana Weich-Shahak. "The Husband in Disguise" (El Marido Disfrazado), a ballad preserved among...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y286/7 Referenced and notated in: Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle, pg. 75, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1989 Susana Weich-Shahak. "The Husband in Disguise" (El Marido Disfrazado), a...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc2486/12 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Marruecos, pg. 215, Editorial Alpuerto, Pardes Publishing House, 2018 Susana Weich-Shahak. "The Husband in Disguise" (El Marido Disfrazado), a ballad preserved among...