Música sefardita

A música sefardita e o seu rico repertório representam uma singular conjunção entre uma tradição que tem a sua origem na Península Ibérica Medieval, e uma excepcional capacidade de adaptação aos ritmos, melodias e instrumentos de diferentes culturas. RANIA mantém a sua fidelidade aos textos (cantigas, romances, canções de embalar, canções de amor, etc.) da rica tradição judeu-espanhola e, igualmente incorpora melodias e instrumentos pertencentes a outras culturas do Mediterrâneo, onde as comunidades sefarditas na sua larga diáspora assentaram raízes. Daí, as músicas terem sonoridades com ritmos turcos, andaluses, gregos...A adaptação de textos e melodias nos espectáculos de Rania, conformam um exercício não só de beleza e lirismo, como também, de recuperação de uma memória cultural demasiado tempo esquecida.

By the late 15th century, Spain had become a unified kingdom. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconquered Granada and took back the Alhambra Palace, expelling the Moors. Also in that year the Edict of Expulsion decreed that the Spanish Jews too, were to be banished from the land.
In the 15th century, the area that is now Portugal and Spain was referred to in the Bible as "Sepharad".

Many of the Spanish Jews, Sephardies, welcomed into the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Bayazid II, settled into the area that is now Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. They considered themselves Spaniards, bringing with them their cultural heritage, Castilian dialect and the literature, poetry and music of their beloved homeland. Much of this both influenced, and became influenced by, the cultures of their respective host countries.

New and original songs were created manifesting a continuously evolving Sephardic culture in which, for example, old Castilian songs emerged with ornamented melismatic Turkish melodies, and Spanish words were sung to Greek melodies.

The language of these songs, Judeo Spanish (commonly referred to as "Ladino" by Sephardies today), is an archaic Spanish dialect which retains many features that characterized 15th century Spanish. For this reason the songs are of value to historians and scholars of the Spanish language.

Sephardic Spanish was both a spoken and a written language, incorporating the Hebrew alphabet, and written from right to left. The written tradition, which died out at the end of the 16th century, focused on Bible translations and religious issues. It was referred to then as “Ladino”. Contemporary “Ladino”, spoken in the 20th century, has evolved from this earlier dialect and includes vocabulary learned in the post-explusion Diaspora: words in Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, etc.

Los primeros asentamientos parece que tuvieron lugar en la costa mediterránea y su presencia se ha detectado en ciudades como Ampurias, Mataró, Tarragona, Adra, Málaga, Cádiz y Mérida. Uno de los primeros restos arqueológicos con que contamos es la estela funeraria del samaritano Iustinus de Mérida, fechada en el siglo II.

Este epitafio, así como la lápida de la niña Salomónula o la del rabí Lasies, permite asegurar la llegada de judíos en los primeros siglos de nuestra Era. Los judíos de la España romana debieron ser simples trabajadores o incluso esclavos y fueron medrando poco a poco en las ricas ciudades comerciales de la costa. La importancia de las comunidades judías debía ser tal en el siglo IV que el Concilio de Elbira, Granada.
no de los vestigios más antiguos de la península ibérica: un candelabro de siete brazos en un relieve del siglo V (Ronda, Málaga).
Las primeras invasiones bárbaras de la Península supusieron notables convulsiones tanto en la sociedad hispano-romana como en la judía. Los hebreos habían ido creando una tímida explotación agraria para subsistir, produciéndo se la conversión forzosa de los judíos de Mahón. propietarios y se dedicaban al comercio, contando con la tolerancia de los visigodos.
También es de gran interés una estela del siglo VI-VII decorada con pavos reales y arranque de menorah.