Sephardic Significance Essay

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While it is uncertain what Jews were singing in Iberia, it is certain that within Jewish culture, music has always played an important part of everyday life. Unfortunately, there are no available records of the music Jews played or who sang the songs. As a result, historians and musicologists are unable to trace the exact history and origins of Sephardic music. Thus, Sephardic music has always been an oral tradition. Sephardic music was born in medieval Spain, being performed at the royal courts. Iberian Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497. As a result, Sephardic music dispersed around the globe picking up outside influences. Since then, it has picked up influences from across Spain, Morocco, Argentina, Turkey, Greece and various popular tunes from Spain and further abroad. There are three types of Sephardic songs -- topical and entertainment songs, romance songs and spiritual or ceremonial songs. Lyrics can be in several languages, including Hebrew for religious songs, and Ladino. These song traditions spread from Spain to Morocco (the Western Tradition) and several parts of the Ottoman Empire (the Eastern Tradition) including Greece, Jerusalem, the Balkans and Egypt. Sephardic music adapted to each of these locales, assimilating North African high-pitched, extended ululations; Balkan rhythms, for instance in 9/8 time; and the Turkish maqam mode. What I think makes Sephardic music interesting is the same element that makes it so complicated. The Jewish Sephardic musical traditions were carried with the Jews as migrated throughout the world and musical experts still argue whether or not Sephardic music is as representative of its Jewish roots as some believe In Sephardic music the most common instruments heard accompanying songs include the plucked lutes, mandolin, hammered Middle Eastern zither, violin, and hand drums from the

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