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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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From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020 Typical of cancionero, this song has stanzas of various unconnected themes: one stanza presents the three carnations (the red one, for the beginning of love), another,...
From Arboleras vol. 1 - Sephardic cancionero and coplas oral tradition,1996 Typical of a cantigas the verses are not necessary directly related to each other nor in a specific order, though the topic circles around...
From Ventanas Altas de Saloniki, 2013. This theme is known from the Spanish tradition, a beautiful woman entering the church who is besotted by the priest. She has been faithfully waiting for her true love...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y5671/56 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 78, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. Lyrics: Tres hermanicas eran,       tres hermanicas son. Las dos eran casadas,   la chica la...
From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020 The title given to this romance is Hero and Leandro, from an ancient legend (in poems by Ovid, Virgilio, Horacio and other poets) about the loved...
From Arboleras - De las altas mares, Ecos Sefardies de la isle de Rodas, 2009 The title given to this romance is Hero and Leandro, from an ancient legend (in poems by Ovid, Virgilio, Horacio...
From Arboleras Vol. 2 - Romances Sefardies Tradicion Oral The ballad tells of a young maiden who is gambled away by her father in a game of kings, likely chess, and won by a Frankish...
From Arboleras - De las altas mares, Ecos Sefardies de la isle de Rodas, 2009 The ballad tells of a king’s daughter who is gambled away by her father and won by a foreign Moor....
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc Y4508/22 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 73, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a partial version of a Romansa that describes the sadness of...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Yc Y4508/22 Referenced and notated in: Romancero Sefardi de Oriente, pg. 72, Editorial Alpuerto, 2010 Susana Weich-Shahak. This is a Romansa that describes the sadness of King David on hearing...
From Morenika Izmirlia, 2021 This is a Romansa that describes the sadness of King David on hearing of the death of his son Avshalom. Used as a dirge for personal mourning or for collective mourning...
From Arboleras Vol. 2 - Romances Sefardies Tradicion Oral
From Ventanas Altas de Saloniki, 2013. Lyrics: Tristes muevas, tristes muevas,    se decían por Sevilla, ke se kasa el konde de Alba ,   konde de Alba y de mi vida. Se paseaba por su kuarto   ...
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y6188d/8 This song of love and despair, has the melody of an aria from Verdi's opera, La Traviata.