Sephardi liturgy and its body of music are not always easy to define. Even the concept of what is Sephardi liturgy is often hazy as the terms Sephardi and Mizrachi (FarEastern) are often interchangeable. One common definition has Sephardi liturgy as being that directly descended from Spain only, though many Sephardim, define themselves as such without any conclusive proof of Spanish origin. The researcher Alexander Knapp states that of all the types of music in existence,from that of worship to semi worship, art and entertainment; that it is worship orliturgical music that is best able to survive the ravages of existing in a culturally diverse world.
This is supported by some basic similarities between all the great traditions of Jewish Liturgical expression, Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi / “ oriental” as it has been sometimes classified. All liturgical music is a basic descendent of the Temple chant as performed by the Levites, especially the singing of the books of the Bible, for which we can give the term cantillation, a term that is attributed to Ezra in the 5th Century BCE. (Knapp 1989: 1).
Sephardi services date back to the same root as Ashkenazi services, Rabbinic Judaism and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. After the destruction the rich and successful Babylonian community became paramount and its influence spread over the ensuing centuries. Babylonians provided financial funding for Jewish expansion, and a proselytising religion was paramount for much of the next 3 centuries. Sephardi liturgy and culture was undoubtedly influenced by the great revolution of Jewish worship that took place during this time. The concept of a central religious institution ended conclusively, and the role of sacrifice as communal worship also ended. The role of music also changed dramatically, and instrumental music was banned for all occasions save weddings. (Isaacs 1997: 65-6).
Further the Tribal affiliations that had governed worship were also broken down, and singing could be led by non –Levites for the first time. Though versions of synagogues had been in existence for hundreds of years before the Temple’sdestruction they quickly took precedence and new worship rituals were devised, not just from the Psalms and Torah, but also from contemporary writings and commentaries. It is unclear how long this took, and it is mysteriously paralleled by the demise of instrumental music as part of the worship ritual in Israel and the Diaspora. The role of the shaliach tzibbur (one who is sent by the congregation), the precursor to the cantor also expanded to bringing out the Torah scrolls for reading, and to sound the ritual trumpet (shofar). (Isaacs 1997: 87).In both Sephardi and Ashkenazi services the only instrument to survive the ancient world was the Shofar or Keren (Ram’s horn). Sephardi shofars are often larger than those of Ashkenazi’s, and players do not use the mouthpieces that are sometimes found on Ashkenazi instruments. (Saul 2000: 1).
Origins
The origins of Jews in Spain are not entirely known, but it is possible that Jews reached the Iberian Peninsula in Biblical times. Possibly the most romantic legend of Sephardi heritage states that some of Jerusalem’s early aristocratic families were deported by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and then again by the Roman conqueror Titus in 70CE. After this ordeal they were said to settle on the Spanish shore. (Gerber1992: 2).
Josephus wrote regarding the Jews of the time, drawing on the Greek Strabo who pointed out that “Jews had made there way into all parts of the habitable world”, (Antiquities, XIV, 115). He stated that Jews had travelled frequently with Phoenician and Syrian traders, and took up residence in their colonies. Moreover Rome accorded Jews a special status even after the destruction of the 2nd Temple. Judaism was a legal religion (religio licita), and Jews throughout the empire were able to maintain contact with the community of the Holy Land and Babylon. (Gerber 1992: 5).
Liturgy was most likely defined through dialogue between Sephardi communities and leaders in Babylon and Palestine. There is no archaeological evidence showingsacrifice in Sephardi worship though it is possible. Jews thrived in Spain and theliturgy was left to develop in a state of free worship until the 5th Century. Sephardileaders should have been aware of the basic history of the service from the Talmud’s Tracate Tamid 7:3-4, which described many of the actions of the Priests and parts of the ancient service.“They pronounced benedictions, and recited the “Hearken Israel”, The TenCommandments, and two passages from the Pentateuch – Deut 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41. Lastly the High Priest, solemnly received by the Priests, came in to give the blessing and to burn the offerings.” (Sachs 1943: 61).
The conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity left Sephardi Jews in an increasingly isolated existence where many of their basic rights were threatened. They had only a limited interaction with other communities until the rule of the IslamicUmayyad Caliphate, which officially started in 756. It was under Islamic rule that great dialogues between Sephardic, Arabic Jewish and Islamic communities became a way of life. It is this legacy that is still paramount today. There is little evidence to prove either way as to whether Christianity influenced Sephardi liturgical music, though researchers such as Abraham Idelsohn were sure that that early Jewish chant bore a strong resemblance to that of the Gregorian modes.
One of the great liturgical innovations that had a strong Sephardi input was thewriting and recitation of the Piyyut. These are prayers that are not from Biblical or Talmudic sources that have been inserted into the common calendar of services still inuse today.Piyyut means poetry in Greek and the form is ornate, borrowing on the conventions of the Talmud. The aim of these prayers was to reinforce and support those prayers already in existence, and to add weight to a communal beseeching that God put an end to the suffering of the Children of Israel. They started in Israel in the 6th Century and one of the main early writers was Solomon Ibn Gabriol of what is now Spain.
Other Piyyut writers of the time are from Israel, Germany, Italy and North Africa,which points to some kind of loose pan -Jewish mode of organization anddissemination of information. (Isaacs 1997: 69,70).The declamation of the Piyyutim, which included famous works such as Adon Olam,Yigdal, and Ma ‘Oz Tsur has inspired a search for appropriate tunes, and it is in these texts that we often see offer greatest divergence of tunes. It was the shaliach tzibbur, in the more modern guise of a chazzan (cantor), who was responsible for this. By medieval times some chazzanut were paid a wage and even exempted from the tax obligations of the community. (Isaacs 1997: 89).The liturgical practices of so called Sephardi and Babylonian / Baghdadian communities (the two terms are often interchangeable), bear a great resemblance.
The basic structures of services are the same, though declamation, tune structure and pronunciation can differ. We do know that Sephardi liturgical tradition has been more stable than secular tradition, which was constantly involved in hybridisation with other cultural forms of expression, particularly the Arabic poetic prose forms of writing and song construction. The Sephardi singing that we hear today still retains some Arabic influences, which can be comparatively notated to Baghdadian émigré traditions. Both liturgical traditions share some melodies and melodic structures that have survived in oral tradition. (N. Cunio, Jacobs 2000: 1).
It is a pity that little record exists of Sephardi liturgical music. Perhaps the bestknown surviving examples are fragments that were found at Cairo’s Genizah, a storeroom in the synagogue of Old Cairo. The texts, which are all Hebrew, have tunes with surprising similarities to Church chant. (Isaacs 1997: 65).
Sephardi style and syntax has evolved over the centuries, and some differences toBabylonian chant can be readily observed. Melody is important in Sephardicantillation whereas it is subservient to the text in Babylonian chant. The use ofmicrotones (particularly a sliding quarter tone in ascent or descent), is common inSephardi chants that have survived in Arabic lands, though in European countries temperament (the spacing between notes) has evolved to a relatively equally spaced tonal system. While some Sephardi tunes can be very similar to those of the Babylonian Jews it is usually in the older passages such as the recitation of the Torah.
The underlying music syntax and spacing between notes can still sometimes show an observable difference. A Sephardi Hacham of a hundred years ago would have been able to travel and recognise similarities between the tunes of many countries, and one of the fathers of modern musicology, Abraham Idelsohn undertook such fieldwork.
The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 was a watershed for Sephardi music as well as for the culture of the whole region. Popular law says that most Sephardis would have refused to return even if there was an offer or repatriation. Instead those who remained either converted to Christianity or converted and practiced their religion and cantillation in secret. Sephardi chant and liturgy spread to much of Europe where it still survives, including Holland, Greece, the former Yugoslavia, Britainand France. Sephardi émigré communities travelled greatly, often becoming intertwined with the communities of the Ottoman Empire. Places such as Alexandria and Baghdad were Jewish hotspots where traditions mingled and co-joined. Sephardi liturgy also became intertwined with that of later Baghdadian émigré communities from the 18th Century onwards. These communities thrived in China, Burma, India and much of South East Asia until the mid 20th Century.
Sephardi and Ashkenazi tradition
The majority of these liturgies are similar. All services have the same names and are started and finished at the same points of the lunar calendar. The words of the prayers are basically the same though some Sephardi traditions have worshipped in Baghdadian émigré environments where a parallel Aramaic text is written next to the Hebrew for cantillation. Sephardi scholars were certainly aware of this and kept Aramaic as a living language. Some Sephardi services, particularly those in the home have been sung in Aramaic for generations.
Broadly speaking Sephardi worship is part of the Rabbinic tradition, though the title of Rabbi is less used to denote the leader of a Sephardi community. Since the 16th Century more Rabbis have existed in Sephardi culture, particularly in communities such as North Africa, where dialogue with Jerusalem led the Maghrebi community to institute semikhah (rabbinic ordination). (Gerber, 1992, p. 274).
Sephardi communities without Rabbis still debate and read portions ascribed to the Rabbis.This includes the Pesach Seder service, where commentaries by famous Rabbis form a centrepiece of the so-called Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the prized artefacts of Sephardi history. Tradition and the mingling of culture set the finer points and interpretations of liturgy, and the travelling nature of Sephardi expression makes a completely unified expression impossible. It is remarkable how similar Sephardi services can sound from places such as North Africa, Yemen, Syria and Yugoslavia, yet each has its own distinct flavour.There are some major differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi liturgy.In most Sephardi communities the chazzan has a smaller role, or a multiplicity ofroles. Generally more chazzans have existed in European Sephardi communities, and the concept of what a chazzan does is different in Eastern countries. In the Eastern countries a Hacham (Holy Man), is commonly sought by the congregation. The Hacham often has three roles: One is to read the Torah, and other parts of the service, in short to be the shaliach tzibbur. Another is to be the Mohel, taking responsibility for the ritual slaughter of animals for the community. A third role is that of the Millah, performing circumcision for the community.The idea of a professional Chazzan / Cantor; a position funded by the community was and still is less prominent than in Ashkenazi culture. Sephardi singing is far morecommunal and the role of a tune leader bears similarity to the shaliach tzibbur of antiquity.
There are a number of additional prayers in Sephardi liturgy. One example is in the High Holydays. Erev Rosh Ha Shana has a service sung in the home that has many differences. This Sephardi service is significantly longer that that of the Ashkenazi, and includes broad prayers which are repeated many times. This includes the wellknown tune Va ama tem Kol L’chai (a ritual of singing for peace) that is repeated ten times. Some of the blessings are also different. Some Sephardis, like the Babylonians, bless Halech (a succulent date spread) instead of apples, though this is still a predominantly Baghdadian custom. In the Rosh Ha Shana service a number of texts are sung that do exist that do not exist in Ashkenazi liturgy. These include Eth Shareth Ratzon, and a number of verses, which accompany the blowing of the Shofar.In the Yom Kippur Neilah service a well-known piece is sung that is unique to Sephardi and Babylonian Jewry. The plaintive prayer El Norah Alilah beseeches God to open the gates of heaven. It is sung at sunset, at the termination of the fast whilst the congregants breathe the aroma of sprigs of myrtle handed out by the children. This custom has an element of Biblical transformation, and relates to the land of Israel and the tropical climates that have historically hosted Sephardi communities.
Musical language and custom
Like most traditional music of the world, Sephardic chant and liturgy is oral. Thedifficulty in analysing oral history is that it is almost impossible to pinpoint how and when a change in form or style occurred. It is important to be aware of the dominant nature of text when considering Sephardi liturgy. Texts have changed relatively little compared to tunes, which have often been given a local flavour or colour. Sephardi communities probably took tunes from popular culture and set their more contemporary synagogue texts to them.
Researchers like Dr Edwim Seroussi are confident that some melodies have greatantiquity. Comparative notation or tune comparison can reinforce the case. The High Holyday melodies are remarkably similar across Sephardi communities today, and were also similar to their present forms when first notated in the 19th Century.There are written sources describing the adaptation of secular melodies from a number of cultures for the recitation of sacred texts. This has occurred in Spain, many Arabic countries and the Far East, and was prevalent well into the 20th Century. Scales and modes from these cultures have also been adapted including Turkish and Arabic maqams (music modes), which readers and cantors have certainly used since the 16rth Century. This also includes Arabic Andalusian modes from Morrocco, the Turkish makam and maqams from Syria to Egypt. (Seroussi 2003: 1-2).
Sephardi music has had less access to musical notation than its Ashkenazicounterpart. As such it has been relatively shielded from contact with the Westerncomposition styles and harmonies that have transformed Ashkenazi tune and melisma in the last 300 years. The concepts of a key based system and harmonic invention (a second, third, or even fourth line composed around the melody line) are relatively recent, though there have been some standout exceptions to this rule. This includes the Liturgical music of Salamone di Rossi, the great Venetian Jewish composer who wrote many works for the synagogue in the broad baroque styles, which his compatriot Claudio Montiverdi proudly described as “new music” in the early 1600’s.Rossi, a Sephardi, is also the first Jewish choral composer whose work is extant. He wrote for four, six and even eight part ensembles in a style that is a fresh today as at its first showings. The use of his name as a composer was also an exception to the rule of anonymity that has dominated Sephardi liturgical music.Choral music does exist in the Spanish Portuguese tradition though generally it has been arranged during the last few centuries in Western Europe, most notably Holland and England. Harmony can be quite idiomatic in these pieces. There is a greater propensity for pedal point harmony (the use of one sustained note in the choir, from which other harmony is derived), and also similar motion within any secondary vocal lines. Similar motion is defined as independent parts moving in parallel. In western art music similar motion is only used for a certain period (rarely more than a phrase), after which contrary motion (parts moving in opposite directions – an indicator of Western counterpoint), is substituted. The use of the octave in secondary vocal parts is common in these harmonisations or arrangements.
Sephardi tunes are rarely over an octave in scope. If they are it is usually a maximumof a 10th, though many fall well within the octave, sometimes having as few as four notes. Sephardi tunes lie somewhere between the austerity of Baghdadian Gimell (a non-musical recitation centred on one note that much of the service is conducted in. Gimell also allows rapid reading and accenting of phrases), and the towering melodies of Western cantorial expression. (N. Cunio 2004: 1).
Most tunes are communal and are sung by a leader and the congregation. There are a number of common sub forms of this: The following order does not reflect an order of importance on the forms. The code is used to reduce these forms into a simple code.A = text 1 reader,a = text 1 congregationB = text 2 readerb = text 2 congregation etcWithin the letter names the numbers 1,2,3 and 4 represent lines of a four linestanza. The first is where text sung by the reader and repeated by the congregation, orpart of the congregation. The High Holyday blessings of the Cohannim(Cohens) are an example of this. Aa Bb Cc etc. A second is a two part form where the A section is sung by the reader, withthe B section by the congregation. An example of this is the PesachThanksgiving Tune Hodu L’adonay Ki Tov, where the community sings therefrain Ki L’olam Has’do after each line of the reader. This tune has a range ofonly four notes and has a wonderful simplicity and trance like quality. Ab CbDb Eb etc. A third is when the congregation repeats the final line of a four or five linestanza, and this cyclic repetition is used for a larger body of text. The Rosh HaShana tune Adonay B’chol Shofar is an example of this form.ABCDEa FGHIJa etc. A fourth form is when a metrical four-line stanza is sung by the reader, thenrepeated by the congregation. A continuation of the original text is then sungby the reader after which the initial stanza is repeated by the congregation.This continues until the text is finished. The Yom Kippur tune El RahumSh’mah is an example of this. A1A2A3A4, a1a2a3a4, B1B2B3B4,a1a2a3a4, etc. A fifth is when reader and congregation repeat a phrase multiple timestogether. Many of the Erev Pesach and Rosh Ha Shana home blessings aresung this way.A and a together, B and b together, etc.Tunes are learnt by an oral method of constant reinforcement. Visual aids such asneumes do not exist, though individual Sephardis would have encountered suchdevices and the growing science of notation in Spanish Christian courts and City States of the 11th and 12th Centuries. In Sephardi culture a voice is no passport to a career in liturgical singing. Readers must observe Shomrei Shabbat (observing the disciplines of Sabbath observance) and be a vital part of their community.
Sephardi communities have rarely imported readers, though many congregations have imported Hachamim who have also read the liturgy.Women are not heard in Sephardi liturgy. The reform movement, which gave women the right to participate fully in an Ashkenazi service, has still not penetratedmainstream Sephardi culture. Many Sephardis now worship in reform synagogues and consequently many synagogues have made an effort to incorporate some Sephardi customs and tunes. The Renewal movement in America is one example.The role of women in non – liturgical Sephardi music is extremely strong; heavilyinfluenced by the culture of Arabic love song and poetry that Sephardi communitieswere exposed to during the reign of the Umayyad Caliphate in Spain and it subsequent disillusionment into Taifa (City States). This huge body of songs ranges across the whole Sephardi diaspora, and while it is impossible to conclusively prove its medieval origins, it is a diverse and vibrant scheme of romances, romaceros and other popular styles from medieval times to the 19th Century.
Until very recently the concept of a composer of liturgical Sephardi music did notexist. Music was inherited and anonymous. Sephardi musicians were certainly exposed to the beginnings of medieval troubadour and trouvere song in Europe, and were also living in the Castilian court of Alfonso X who oversaw a great codification of medieval Spanish music. It was in poetry and secular expression that this passion for creativity was turned, and poets such as Yehuda Halevi took the Hebrew language of worship and turned it into a living language for the first time in Centuries. Hebrew became a great vibrant language, capable of a full range of thought and expression, as subtle and provocative as Arabic, and the services remained a foundation from which innovation was sought. Halevi himself died in a venture to return to the Holy Land in his later life. To Halevy the liturgy and what it represented was sanctity.
The underlying meaning and spiritual objectives of Sephardi and Ashkenazi liturgies are extremely similar. The daily prayer book for both is almost identical, though sometimes the translations are different, and many older Sephardi prayer books offer no English translation. Broadly speaking both share an affirmation of faith through observance and prayer, supplication to the will of the All Mighty, and the absolution of sins and evil deeds committed against the natural order symbolised by God, the Angels, and the human world.
In the recent history before the founding of the State of Israel few Sephardis have learnt the Hebrew language in an academic sense. Sephardi tradition has historically been the very opposite. In Al Andalus (Spain), Baghdad, Alexandria, and the Ottoman Empire Sephardi learning was well structured in languages, science, medicine and politics. In these places Sephardim could complete a classical education, speaking Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and even Aramaic, as well as a number of vernacular languages, that included Judeao Espanole (Ladino), and Castilian. In the glory days of Al-Andalus Sephardi scholars worked on huge translation projects across the Islamic world that translated classical works such as Plato and Aristotle to European languages such as Latin. The great early Islamic Caliphates; the Abbasids of Baghdad and the Umayyads of Cordoba had translated these from Arabic. Much of the “golden” period of Sephardi Kabbalistic writing stems from this contact, both to classical written mysticism, oral wisdom of the far East, and dialogue with the Islamic sufi (mystic) tradition. (Menocal 2002: 89).
Pronunciation and syntax
Sephardi readers do not add much melisma to the text. There is little room forimprovisation, and a cult of personality does not exist around a reader. It is rare for a reader to be a trained singer, though many readers pride themselves on their knowledge of tunes and their ability to recite them in the manner in which they were taught. Rhythm is important in Sephardi singing. Most pieces have a rhythmic syntax, usually an 8 beat cycle that is repeated for the duration of the text. The reader must learn how to articulate the words within the cycle, in order to preserve the movement and delicacy of the words. As with all Jewish cantillation the legibility of the phrases is extremely important as the sacred and transformative message is contained in the text.
There are several idiomatic pronunciation characteristics that exist across all Sephardi communities, and a number of important words and phrases are completely different to Ashkenazi liturgy. There are hundreds of instances where pronunciation and emphasis is different; the following is only a guide to the basic principles with a few examples. The bolding and underlining of changeable vowels illuminate major points of difference.
In the Friday night home Kiddush service, and indeed all other Kiddush blessings, the end of the prayer is declaimed as B’rai P’ri Hagephen not Hagaphen. The use of the word Kosher is derived from Kasher – the original Hebrew word still pronounced as such by Eastern Sephardi communities.Most Sephardis pronounce the vowels of Hebrew in an unadulterated manner. Many Ashkenazi communities have followed a broad pronunciation system that issomewhat confusingly called Ashkenaz. This involves mutating the sounding of some vowels and consonants so that they appear to be totally different, while not affecting the written word at all. Ashkenaz is a mystical as well as an aural concept. A notable example of this is the word Baruch (Bless), one of the most used words in the whole liturgy. Sephardis say it with an open ah (similar to the ah of Spanish, Portuguese and Ivrit), while Ashkenaz pronounces it as Boiruch, a concept that can be likened to the European concepts of adding acutes, graves, umlauts or other pronunciation devices to change the declamation of a vowel.
Another example of this difference is in the pronunciation of the consonant tet (t). The pronunciation of Ashkenaz often substitutes a sin (s) for this. The phrase Yit Gadal V’ Yit Gadash sounds as it is written when spoken by Sephardis, whereas in Ashkenaz it will sound as Yiss Gadal V’ Yiss Gadash. When the state of Israel was established in 1948 a decision had to be made as to which pronunciation would be used. This decision had important ramifications in many fields including education, conversation and worship. The government chose the Spanish Portuguese pronunciation.
Some Sephardi pronunciations provide interesting features of their own. In countries influenced by the Babylonian tradition, Sephardis will sound the consonant W at the beginning of a number of vowels. This is not done all the time and is a matter of individual custom. An example of this is in the Yom Kippur tune El Norah Alilah.
One phrase from it is written Ke Ke dem ut hillah but pronounced Ke Ke dem Wut hillah, with an emphasis on the W, which gives the word a more Aramaic sound.
Cultural destruction and pluralism
The path towards pluralism in evaluating and maintaining Sephardi culture has had to overcome both recent and historical setbacks. The removal of western colonialgovernments from many Sephardi enclaves in the 20th Century has hastened the destruction of longstanding cultural and worship traditions within Arabic and Muslim host countries. Many Sephardim were suddenly refugees, forced by circumstance to leave their countries without anything. Contrary to popular opinion many Sephardim also suffered the devastating effects of fascism’s war on the Jews, In Greece and Yugoslavia the Sephardim suffered almost total extinction, Salonika’s 60,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz in 1943 with few survivors, and the communities of Thrace, Macedonia and the Ionian islands were completely destroyed. Sephardis lost a faith in the West that they had since the British Empire opened up unparalleled opportunities in commerce and administration of the Empire hundreds of years before. (Gerber, 1992, p. 233).
At the end of WW11 there were approximately 1 million Jews who identified asSephardi, living in the Islamic world. It became obvious to local and Zionist leaders that these longstanding proud communities would have to end. Brutal pogroms, changes to the laws governing Jews, and the whole political relationship between Arabs and Jews ended the last vestiges of harmony in the Arab / Jewish world.Between 1948 and 1951 much of the Sephardic world migrated to Israel and to alesser extent some Western democracies, which included a large influx to France.
Sephardi culture in Muslim countries has now ended, and the cross-cultural influences between Islamic Arabic and Sephardi Jewish culture have essentially ended except for those dialogues now taking place within Israel. Israel is the pre-eminent Sephardi enclave, and the return of these prodigal communities to their ancient homeland was accomplished with almost messianic zeal (Gerber, 1992, p. 257, 273).
Many Sephardis and their worship rituals have been caught between a longing fortheir old identity and a desire to be a part of the greater banner of Jewish life. Until the 1970’s many Sephardis were encouraged to be a part of a fairly monochromatic expression of Jewish culture. Recent trends towards pluralism in both Israel and diaspora communities have significantly increased awareness of Sephardi custom and practice. In Western democracies Sephardi communities are recovering from generations of cultural destruction. New cultural institutions and groups are being formed, which previously could only be supplied by Ashkenazis.
Sephardi festivals are now more accepted in Israel, cultural diversity is now taught in the education system and detailed courses on the Sephardim are available in the universities. For their part communities have galvanised and formed associations designed to keep their cultural practices alive. The ramifications for this on the diaspora are huge, as Sephardis can now study their culture and worship traditions in Israel.
Western academia has also taken steps to ensure the survival and cataloguing ofSephardi culture. Musicologists and anthropologists have travelled to see the last generation of remnant communities not living in Israel. Stories, customs and pictures are providing a greater sense of worship and liturgy. In Australia Sephardis are also benefiting from an upsurge of interest in their culture. Though this interest is centred on the secular tradition of Ladino music it provides a springboard of self-affirmation and cultural preservation. In Sydney three formal Sephardi communities meet regularly, and for the first time in Australia’s history Sephardi boys are taught their Bar Mitzvah according to their own customs and tunes.
While it is far too early to see what the future of Sephardi liturgy will be it has entered the 21st Century in the form of a phoenix, rising from the ashes of wholesale destruction to proudly declare its myriad selves, as it has time and time before. It is much more than an exotic accompaniment to mainstream Jewish expression, it is a mirror of another age, still cloudy but reflecting in its own lustrous luminosities the heritage of a world almost past.
References:
Gerber, Jane The Jews of SpainA History of the Sephardic experience,New York, Free Press, 1992Hacham Eliyahu Ben Yitzhak Three collected books of prayers,Shanghai, Unpublished, 1900.Heskes, Irene Passport to Jewish Music,USA, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994.Idelsohn, Abraham Jewish Music in its Historical Development,New York, Schoken Books, 1967.Isaacs, Ronald Jewish Music, Its History People And Song,Jerusalem, Jason Oronson, 1997.Josephus The Jewish War, Antiquities,London, Penguin Books, 1981.Knapp. Alexander Cantorial Song,The Blackwell Companion to Jewish CultureUnited Kingdom, Oxford Press, 1989.Leon Ben Hacham Eliyahu Haggadah Shel Pesach,Shanghai, Unpublished, 1920.Menocal, Maria Rosa The Ornament of the World,Boston, Little Brown and Company, 2002.Raynour, James A Social History of Music,London, Barrie and Jenkins, 1972.Sachs, Curt The History of Musical Instruments,London, J.M.Dent and Sons Ltd, 1968.Sachs, Curt The Rise of Music in the Ancient World,New York, Norton and Company, 1943.Seroussi, Edwim Sephardic Music, (from kit “Exile 1492”)Israel, Bwn Zvi Institute, 2003.Sendrey, Alfred, 1969. Music in Ancient
Israel,
London, Vision Press, 1966.Sterling Publishing (ed) Musical Instruments of the World,New York,
Sterling Publishing, 1997.Wellesz, Egon (ed.) Ancient and Oriental Music, London, Oxford University Press, 1957.
Oral
Nissim Cunio: Interviews and transcriptions: April-May 2000, May 2001, Feb2004Ellis Jacobs: Interview and transcriptions: April – June 2000.Reuben Saul: Interview and Shofar recording: June 2000.
