SEFARAD ŞARKILARINININ TARİHÇESİ, OLUŞUMU VE YAPISI1

Year 2015, Issue: 7, 111 - 119, 15.02.2016

Linet Şaul

Abstract

THE HISTORY, FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF SEPHARDIC SONGS

Abstract

In order to look into the Sephardic culture, it is most important to review the history

of the coutries where the Sephardic people have lived. Sephardic Culture originates

from Andalucian Muslim Kingdom where Sephardic Jews have been in very

important positions and became part of the culture. After the slow transfer of

hegemony in Spain from Andalucian Kingdom to Spanish Kingdom, Sephardic

people have lived in Spain for some time and this experience has enabled them to

be a cultural and commercial bridge between Islamic and Western world.

With their expulsion from Spain, Sephardic Jews have dispersed to many countries

such as American continent, Northern Europe, Middle East, Ottoman Empire and

Morocco. Their culture was preserved among the ones who emigrated to the

Ottoman Empire and Morocco. During the 400 years in the Ottoman Empire,

Sephardic culture has adopted many aspects of the Turkish culture in the same time

preserving the Spanish origins. Spanish language continued to be spoken and a

new Mediterranean music was created with styles from Turkish and Spanish music.

It is possible to examine Sephardic music in two parts: Religious music and Folk

songs. We can also examine Sephardic Folk songs as Cantigas and Romances.

Cantiga songs have been passed on orally generation after generation and they

have not been written down for long time and have evolved all the way. Different

Sephardic societies in different places in the world have sung these songs in parallel

to the culture of the countries they have lived in.

In order to keep this music which is being sung rarely nowadays from getting lost,

some new musical arrangements are being done in Turkey as in other countries to

enable the preservation of these songs and transferring them to future generations.

I, as an opera singer, am so happy to be part of this effort.

Keywords

Key Words: Sephardic, Ladino, Cantiga, Romance, Jewish

References

• TARANÇ, Berrak. (2007). İki Kıyının Müziği, Ankara: Ürün Yayınları.