While it is a bit remote from the specific topic of pilgrimage, in our meeting on Tuesday a question was asked about Ladino music, and I was intrigued enough to do a little research.
Ladino, a romance tongue closely related to medieval Castellano (Spanish), was carried from its homeland in Spain, especially in Andalucia and Castilla, to various parts of the Mediterranean shores when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. It was then spoken in a number of Jewish settlements scattered from Turkey and Greece westward to Morocco well into the 20th century. It is now rapidly fading as there are very few remaining native speakers. A website called "Jewish World Review" has a good summary of the history of Ladino. Another useful website (from Australia no less) is called "Hebrew Songs" and despite its name has some links to Ladino music.
Ladino music, especially those songs originally written in Spain is usually cataloged under the heading Sephardic (there are various other spellings sometimes encountered including "Sefardic") music. A number of good recordings are available including several by the estimable Jordi Savall and his wife the soprano Montserrat Figueras, the preeminent interpreters of early music currently working. Most of their catalog is available from Alia Vox (the website is in French) and can be purchased at good music stores (of which, sadly, the Washington Area has few). A representative recording on the Alia Vox label is titled Diaspora Sefardi, but it is only one of several excellent recordings by Savall and Figueras including Sephardic music.
While Wikipedia is often a dubious source, it does offer a quick way to get some basic information about a subject. A search for Ladino music links one immediately to the online encyclopedia's page on Sephardic music. When I originally posted this I recommended a website called Klezmershack which includes a bibliography and discography of Sephardic music, but subsequent doubts about the quality of that site lead me to withdraw the recommendation.
Ladino music, while I appreciate the link to my article, is NOT about "songs originally written in the 15th century." As this appears to be a course, perhaps a little more than superficial what passes for "research" these days would be in order. Several of the TEXTS of certain genres, especially the romance, or narrative ballad, originate in 15th century Spain. NONE of the music. And the Sephardic songs usually heard today are mostly from the late 19th-early 20th century. Savall and Figueras are wonderful musicians but their interpretations of Ladino songs are, like many others, so far away from tradition that they may as well be new compositions. Dr Judith Cohen.
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