Search - Sephardic Traditional, Anonymous, Ulrich Balss :: Ballads of the Sephardic Jews

Ballad of the Sephardic Jews

Lynden C. Rodriguez | San Bernardino, CA USA | 01/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Taking traditional songs characteristic of the Sephardic Jews dispersed during the Spanish Diaspora, Sarband has produced a very beautiful musical ensemble. The music is a distinctive blend of the Sephardic Jews, Spanish language, and Islamic influence. It is at once Medieval, yet full of Spanish flavor and Islamic nuance. There were times that it reminded us of French Medieval sounds.In the literature provided in the CD, the word Sarband is from Persian and Arabic, denoting an improvised joining of two parts of a musical suite. Vladimir Ivanoff founded the ensemble in 1986. The group combines European music with that of Islam and Jewish musical cultures. This CD, I must say, was an extraordinary surprise and delight for our family. It comes highly recommended."

Sarband celebrates a blending of cultural influences

Brianna Neal | USA | 11/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This exceptionally rich and sonorous recording of Sephardic music features the sultry voices of Fadia El-Hage and Belinda Sykes with a host of early western and traditional eastern instruments, such as shawm, bagpipe, Renaissance lute, ud, ney, kudum, kemenge, kanun, cura and dumbek. The tone of the music ranges from mournful and lyrical to joyful and percussive. The word "sarband", stemming from Persian and Arabic, means the improvised joining of two parts of a musical suite. Under the direction of Vladimir Ivanoff (also director of Vox), this ensemble of Turkish, Italian, English, Bulgarian, Arab and German musicians likewise strive to blend authentic musical elements from European and Near Eastern cultures into a harmonious whole--a nice thought these days. One might dare to hope that life can imitate art. In the meantime, inspiration can be taken from projects such as this. Other renditions of music of the Sephardim can be heard extensively on the recordings of Lauren Pomerantz, Voice of the Turtle and Ensemble Accentus, while selections are also featured on "Secular Music from Christian and Jewish Spain: 1450-1550" by Hesperion XX, "Kalenda Maya" by Kalenda Maya, and "1492: Music from the Age of Discovery" by the Waverly Consort.""

A moving collection ...

Midasin | London, England | 02/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found these songs very moving. The impact is greatly helped by the traditional vocal styles and instrumentation. Highly recommended."