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Ensemble: Florata Album: Far Away Lands: The Medieval Sephardic Heritage Video: Add MS 14761 (XIV cent.) • The Jews of medieval Spain, the Sephardim, enjoyed the most glorious flowering of culture of any of the Jewish communities of Europe. Under the rule of the Moors especially, they prospered for seven centuries, from the Islamic conquest of Spain beginning in 711, to the final loss of Granada to the Christian forces of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. The Jews had suffered greatly under Visigothic rule, and the invading Moors in the eighth century were welcomed as liberators. Seven centuries later, in the landmark year that saw Christopher Columbus sail westward and the Muslim rulers, driven forever from Spain, the Sephardic Jews were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, and had to make new homes in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, where they were welcomed. Jewish scholars, scientists, philosophers, translators, mathematicians and musicians had been highly prized for their contributions at both Moorish and Christian courts in medieval Spain, and they continued to be valued in the lands of their dispersion. It is curious that tolerance of the Sephardim in Christian Spain in the north still coincided with the usual European prejudices. At the thirteenth-century court of Alphonso X of Castile, for example, the Jews were an important part of the structure of courtly life, particularly in the sciences, yet their portrayal in Alphonso’s Cantigas de Santa Maria is almost universally negative. Likewise, Alphonso tolerated the Moors and made use of their services, yet was actively engaged in the reconquista of southern Spain from Muslim control all of his life. Acceptance of the Jewish and Muslim presence by Christians did not necessarily indicate an equal acceptance of their differing ideologies. Nevertheless, the Jewish communities were able to survive and even flourish, producing many great works of philosophy, mystical theology, literature and music. The Sephardic Jews gave to their descendants a remarkable and vital tradition of secular and sacred song, passed down orally, mainly by the women of the Sephardic community. This repertoire was lovingly preserved and built upon over the centuries, new songs often adopting the musical practices of the ‘far away lands’ in which the scattered Sephardim found themselves. Music, like poetry, provides a means of preserving a culture in a way that is not tied to one location, as a settlement would be. With their songs, ballads, and romances, the displaced Jews could have with them at all times a reminder of the joys of their Spanish homeland, cruelly taken from them under the stern direction of the Inquisition. In Spain, elderly women have long kept stories alive by constant retelling. In Spanish the words cuenta (bead) and cuento (story) connect number and story just as the threads and knots on Jewish prayer shawls are counted and symbolic, and the rosary counts psalms or prayers. Indeed, English has the same tradition in the words ‘recount’ and ‘tell’. So we may imagine grandmothers with their beads recounting one story after another, stringing together one song after another... (from the booklet of the album) I wish you happy listening! Mirko Virginio Volpe MUSICA MEDIEVALE • 1 Siete Hijos Tiene Hanna 2 'Ay De Mí!' Dize El Buen Padre 3 Puncha, Puncha 4 Por La Tu Puerta Yo Passi 5 Oh, Que Relumbror De Novia Hermoza 6 Durme, Durme 7 Estampie: Por Qué Llorax Blanca Niña 8 Delgadina 9 La Madre D'Esta Novia 10 Entre Las Huertas Paseando 11 Porqué No Cantáis La Bella? 12 La Malcasada Del Pastor 13 Dos Amantes 14 Esta Montaña D'Enfrente 15 Yo M'Enamori 16 El Marido Disfrazado • Oud, Psaltery, Percussion, Harp, Voice - Tim Rayborn Recorder - Suzanne Hirschman Voice, Percussion, Fiddle, Hurdy Gurdy (Symphonie) - Alison Sabedoria • Buy: 🌻 The monetization of this channel is disabled to offer the highest possible listening quality. Please support the channel with a free donation: or
