Tales Forgotten Kingdom: Ladino Songs Renewed

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Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom:
Ladino Songs Renewed
GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE’S
LISTEN. DISCOVER. CONNECT
GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE
TALES FROM THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM:
LADINO SONGS RENEWED
LISTEN. DISCOVER. CONNECT
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to watch a short introduction!
Get ready for an emotionally powerful, artistic
voyage awash with warm harmonies, intricate
textures and spellbinding rhythms. Starting in
ancient Spain and winding through Sarajevo,
Salonica and Jerusalem, the award winning Guy
Mendilow Ensemble recasts traditional Sephardi
songs and legends, sung in the endangered JudeoSpanish language, Ladino. Epic tales of sailors and
love lost to the seas, fantastic dreams and the
intrigue of kings come to life in arrangements that
crackle with rich musical storytelling. Step into a
new world of Ladino song, alive with adventure and
humour and grit.
Adiyo Querida (Goodbye, My Love) (6:46)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow / Jeremy Wilmer
Cuando Veo Hija Ermoza
(When I See a Beautiful Maiden)* (6:29)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Zura Dzagnidze / Guy Mendilow
A La Nana / Levantóse El Conde Niño
(For Grandmother / The Young Count Arose) (5:51)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Tomoko Omura
Esta Montaña D'Enfrente (The Mountain Ahead Burns) (3:15)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
La Serena (The Siren) (5:01)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
Story’s a Story (1:09)
Guy Mendilow
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Guy Mendilow (Israel/UK/USA)
—Musical Director, Vocals, Guitar,
Berimbau, Overtone Singing
Aubrey Johnson (USA)
—Vocals
Tareq Rantisi (Palestine)
—Percussion
Keita Ogawa (Japan)
—Percussion
Andy Bergman (USA)
—Woodwinds, Jaw Harps, Mbiras
Tomoko Omura (Japan)
—Violin
Track 5 includes
Mark Zaleski (USA)
—Bass
Rich Stein (USA)
—Percussion
PBS Edit)* (3:34)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow / Andy Bergman
*Bonus Track
13. La Reina Xerifa Mora — PBS Edit (The Queen & Her Slave—
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
12. Por Que Llorax Blanca Niña? (Why Weep, Fair One?) (4:25)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
11. Morenica (The Dark Beauty)* (4:17)
Traditional; Arrangement: Andy Bergman / Guy Mendilow
10. Cocek* (5:31)
Una Noche Al Borde De La Mar (One Night by the Sea) (5:49)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
3.
Performers on all but track 5
GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE
La Reina Xerifa Mora (The Queen & Her Slave) (5:21)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow / Andy Bergman
Mancevo Del Dor (Modern Man) (3:06)
Traditional Sephardi; Arrangement: Guy Mendilow
2.
1.
There are three main types of Ladino song:
 Romanzas: These are many of the epic/historical stories,
tales of kings and queens, intrigue, daring escapes and,
often, treachery. Romanzas have a fixed structure similar to
the French Ballade: Each line has 16 syllables, divided to
two 8-syllable parts with an assonant rhyme scheme. Some
romanzas have 12 syllables per line, divided into two groups
of six. The romanza is a narrative in which the order of
verses is important.
In this recording, tracks 2, 6, 12 and 13 are excerpts of romanzas. The full rendition would be far longer.
The songs are sung in Ladino, also called Spaniolit, Yehuditze
or Saphardi. Ladino is a bit like a time capsule: The Spanish
Jews preserved the lexis, syntax, morphology and phonology, of
Medieval Spanish as well as idioms, pronunciation and accent of
words which have long since vanished from Spain itself.
Mingled with this are words from the various communities in
which the Jews settled, including Greek, various Slavic language,
Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew. Ladino is still spoken by pockets
of Jews, today primarily in Israel, though it is considered an endangered language.
The kingdom of Ladino song is vast and full of adventure, humour, and passion. Its treasure is the rich and diverse heritage
carried with the Sephardi Jews since their exile from the Iberian
Peninsula starting in the fourteenth century and ending with the
final expulsion from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497.
Such uprooting began a series of migrations in which the
Sephardi people eventually settled in communities from
Northern Africa and the Middle East to the Mediterranean and
the Balkans. In each adopted home, their language, food, customs and songs began soaking in local flavors of the new
cultures. Musically, this resulted in a fascinating blend of
rhythms, modes, melodies and, of course, legends.
AN ENTIRELY TOO BRIEF OVERVIEW OF LADINO
SONG
Coplas: These songs are associated with values and beliefs.
Coplas can revolve around important community figures, economic hardship, specific holidays or moral themes. The lyrics to
coplas tend to be more modern (17th-19th century).

We do know, however, that most of these songs would have been
sung by women, unaccompanied except perhaps for a drum. As
Ladino scholar Dr. Judith Cohen points, this is not necessarily
because women did not want to play more instruments but simply
because women were often quite busy with other things while they
sang, like so many household chores, or caring for children.
Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom: Ladino Songs Renewed focuses on
romanzas and cantigas, mainly from the communities of Sarajevo
and Salonica. Though some of the lyrics in these songs pre-date
1492, the music itself is primarily from the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century. This is because these songs are a true folk music,
preserved aurally and not written until recently (when dealing with
Ladino music, the 1800’s are recent). In other words while we are
fairly certain that some of these songs were sung hundreds of years
ago, we have no assurance as to what melodies, rhythms and
ornamentation were actually used back then. And with a long
history of adapting to homes across borders and languages, in most
cases the best we can do is hazard a tenuous guess.
Cantigas: These songs often deal with love, longing and disappointment. Unlike the romanzas there is often not a single, progressive, plot to the song and the form and verse order can vary
from one version to another. Cantigas can be songs of courting,
mourning, even drinking. They can be tied in with life events
like weddings and other communal occasions.
In this recording, tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 11 are examples of
cantigas of various sorts. For example, track 11 is a cantiga de
boda, a wedding song.

Ours is a deliberate artistic exploration, and my approach is first
and foremost that of a composer rather than a cultural curator.
It starts with a love affair with the melodic twists and turns and
the tales, humour and imagery these songs convey. And it is
grounded in research into the music and the cultural/historical
contexts in which it figured; field recordings, academic study
and the opportunity to work firsthand with experts on Ladino
language and culture play a necessary and ongoing role in
creating Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom. Before lifting a pen I
often spend weeks with a song, listening to the music and tale
while researching its function and cultural context. And then I
play an imaginative question game that generally leads me away
(sometimes far away) from tradition: “What is the imagery in
the song and how was it used? What can I imagine the mood of
the story, or the emotions of some of the characters, to be? And
how, given all of this, can I use the musical tools available to
me, and the expertise of the Ensemble members, to bring these
tales, moods and emotions to life in a way that will feel real to
me, and that will give audiences a vivid emotional experience?”
I must emphasize again that this is my own interpretation,
leading me to diverge from traditional ways of singing. For
example even the darkest, most gruesome romanzas (see for
example Levantóse El Conde Niño) were typically sung in a
light-hearted fashion, almost like a game that no one
It should be stated from the start that Tales from the Forgotten
Kingdom: Ladino Songs Renewed does not aim for ethnomusicological authenticity. Indeed, the entire question of
authenticity becomes a bit murky with an aurally transmitted
music that has recreated itself again and again in different
homes, tinged by the musical styles and tastes of each location
and time. In any case, so much of what passes for “authentic”
today is itself a quasi-invention, in which Ladino songs — that
would have been sung unaccompanied and that most frequently
represent the more modern European repertoire — are
performed in a “Medieval” style, with voices trained in art-song
backed by a combination of early music and Mid-Eastern
instruments.
ABOUT THE ARRANGEMENTS
I suppose this is a way of saying that whatever faults or flaws
you will find in this project are my own — not the tradition or
the songs themselves, songs that, after all, have been around for
quite a long time and will, I trust, endure. The kingdom of
Ladino song is much greater than anything I can interpret.
—Guy Mendilow, Boston MA, USA, Oct 2012
took terribly seriously.
My arrangements are intentionally more dramatic because my
aim is to make the story come alive as though it were a
cinematic experience. Yet despite this creation there is always a
tether, however tenuous and normally on more of a musical
level, back to the source material, and this sets up a constant,
delicate dance between curating traditional material and creating
music that springboards off of it. My great hope is that we
respectfully introduce new listeners to the fantastic kingdom of
Ladino song, and that we give seasoned, knowledgeable
audiences a fresh take on familiar material.
Come on, come on,
I will throw you into the well!
Sitting at the well,
Very restlessly,
Waiting for my husband,
the light of my eyes.
You are dressed in western style,
You look like an executive,
Everyone knows that you are the son of a
Thief!
Ayde ayde presto presto
T'echaré al sesto
Asentada en el pozo,
Con un grande dezrepozo,
Asperando a mi espozo,
Que es la luz de los mis ojos.
Ayde ayde touranam touranam
Ben buralarda durmam
A humourous cantiga sung in Alexandria, Egypt
among other places.
I am a modern young man,
and I behave honourably,
when I see a pretty girl,
I tremble with shyness.
Yo so un mansevo del dor,
Que camino kon onor,
cuando veio hija ermoza,
Ya me toma a mi trembelor.
A la Francia te vistites
Pareses un director
Todo el mundo ya lo save
que sos hijo de un ladrón.
Modern Man
Mancevo Del Dor
THE SONGS
I do not want to see you again.
I prefer my death
You’ve cheated my life
with your false love
I cast myself away,
for ever far from this world...
A deep dream
Beyond your desire
I began to sing
and weep out of happiness
But truly I wept in my own bed
Without being able to declare myself.
Cuando ampezaba a cantar
y de la alegria a llorar
en mi cama iba yo llorando
sin poderle declarar
One night, on the outskirts of the sea
I began to love
A maiden with dark eyes
Without being able to declare myself
Una noche al bodre de la mar
cuando ampezi' a amar
una ninya con ojos pretos
sin poderle declarar
No quero mas verte
prefiero mi muerte
me estas enganyando
con tu falso amor
Me voy ir por siempre
muy lejos del mundo
un sueno profundo
fuera tu querer
One Night By the Sea
Una Noche Al Bodre de la Mar
With the tears from her eyes she washed the
girl's face. "My daughter and my love.
quien te me diera en mi tierra,
Who sent you to me in my land and in
y en la tierra de Almeria!
Almeria! I'll name you Blancaflor,
Te nombrara Blanca flor,
the name of one of my sisters;
nombre de una hermana mia;
the Moors captured her on Easter Sunday."
la cativaron los moros
"Your sister, Blancaf1or, how would you
dia de Pascua florida.
recognize her?" "Beneath her left breast she
has a buck mole." And that is how the two
Dime, tu hermana en que la conoceras? beloved sisters recognized each other.
Un lunar negro tenia.
Y de alli se conocieron
In this excerpt of a much longer romanza, based on
las dos hermanas queridas.
a tale found in pre-1492 Jewish, Moorish and
Christian Andalusian tradition, a Moorish queen
discovers that a captive slave is really her equal.
The Queen was pregnant, the slave was also
pregnant. The Queen gave Birth to a boy,
the slave gave birth to a girl.
Here. madam, this slave, the slave that you
wanted. she is neither Moor nor Jew, nor is
evil-minded.
Tomis, senora, esta esclava,
1a esclava que vos querias,
que no es mora ni judia,
ni es hecha a la malicia.
La reina estaba prenada,
la esclava tambien ansina.
La reina pariera un nino,
la esclava una nina pariera.
The Queen & Her Slave
La Reina Xerifa Mora
Goodbye my love
I do not want this life
that you have made so bitter.
You are so beautiful
But you are dishonest
Were you to give me millions
My family would still not love you
Go look for another love
Knock on other doors
Wait for another flame
To me you are dead
When I See a Beautiful Maiden
Adío, adío querida
No quero la vida
Me l’amargsates tu
Hermosa sos en cantidad
Honestedad no tiene
Milliones si me vas a dar
Mi gente no te queren
Va, buxcate otro amor
Aharva otras puertas
Aspera otro ardor
Que para mi sos muerta
Cuando Veo Hija
Hermoza
I like to think that the beautiful maiden in this
cantiga is a metaphor for those things about which we
dream — and that we find a way to make real
whether we’ve got the means or not.
When I see a beautiful maiden I will go
to her. With pause or without pause,
whether I’m lucky or unlucky,
I will find a way to make her mine
When your mother bore you
into the world
She didn’t give you a heart
To love another
Tu madre cuando te pario
Y te quito al mundo
Corazon ella no te dio
Para amar segundo
Cuando veo hija hermoza
Ahi me voy yo.
Con las paras, sin las paras,
Si me dan, si no me dan,
Yo la va tomar
Goodbye, My Love
Adío Querida
De eya sale una paloma
y de él saliera un gavilán.
Vola uno, vola otro,
y al cielo van a juzgar.
De eya salió una toronja
y de él creciera un limonar.
La reina, con grande celo,
los mandare a cortar.
La reina, con tanta rabia,
los mandara a matar.
Muere el uno y muere el otro;
ya los mandan a enterrar.
Si a ti demanda, la infanta,
yo le mandaré a matar.
Si lo matareis, mi madre,
juntos nos han de enterrar.
This is an excerpt of a longer romanza from
Salonica, Greece
From her a dove flew.
From him,
an eagle.
They both soared.
The heavens will be the judge.
From the body of the princess grew
an orange tree. And from the count,
a lemon tree.
With great zeal, the queen had both
cut down.
With great anger, the queen
demanded their deaths.
Both died and were ordered to be
buried.
If he demands you, my daughter
I will have him killed.
‘If you have him killed, my mother,
you shall bury us both.’
‘These are not sirens, mother, nor are
they singing.
It’s the young count, mother, coming
to demand my hand.’
If you listen, my little daughter,
Whether you sleep or you wake
If you listen you will hear
the singing of the sirens of the sea!
Si oís, la niña infanta,
si durméis o despertáis,
si oís como canta la serena de la mar.
No es la serena, mi madre,
ni menos lo su cantar;
el conde Niño, mi madre,
que a mí viene a demandar.
The Young Count Arose
Grandma’s lullaby,
The child sleeps
May the great God protect
All children from sorrows
A la nana y a la buba
Se durma la criatura
El Dio grande que los guadre
A los niños de los males
Levantóse El Conde Niño
To the Grandmother
A La Nana
Give me your hand, my dove,
To come up to your nest.
Unlucky are those that sleep alone,
I am coming to sleep with you.
If the sea were made of milk
And the boats of cinnamon,
I would throw myself in entirely
To save your banner.
If the sea were made of milk,
I would become a fisherman.
And fish for pain
With words of love.
You don’t kill me with a knife
Nor with a pistol.
You kill me with your love.
I will die in your arms
Dame la mano tu palomba
para suvir a tu nido.
Maldicha que durmes sola,
vengo a durmir con tigo.
Si la mar era de leche,
los barcitos de canela,
yo me mancharia entera
por salvar la mi bandiera.
Si la mar era de leche
Yo me haria un peshcador
Peshcaria las mis dolores
Con palavricas d'amor.
No me mates con cuchillo
Ni menos con revolver
Matame con tu amores
En tus brasos murere.
A cantiga fsung in Salonica, Greece, among other
places
In the sea there is a tower,
In the tower there is a window,
In the window there is a maiden
That all the sailors call.
The trees for pen
to write my sorrow.
No-one knows my pain
neither strangers nor kin.
Los arvoles por pendola
para escrivir mis males
No hay quien sepa mi dolor
Ni ajenos ni parientes
En la mar hay una torre,
en la torre una ventana.
En la ventana hay una niña
que a los marineros llama.
There are secrets I would discover
Secrets of my life
I would have the sky for paper
and the sea for ink.
Secretos quero descuvrir
secretos de mi vida
El cielo quero por papel
La mar quero por tinta.
The Siren
The mountain ahead is on fire
It burns.
It was there I lost my love:
and there I sit to weep.
Esta montaña d’enfrente
se aciende y va quemando
alli pedri al mi amor
M'asento y vo llorando.
La Serena
The Mountain Ahead Burns
Esta Montaña D’Enfrente
You are dark, and graceful
Dark and graceful
With dark eyes.
Morenica, graciozica sos,
Morenica y graciozica
Mavramatia mou.
This cantiga is an example of a wedding song
from the Turkish zones.
Ask the dark one
Whether she wishes to come.
For the ship has hoisted sail
and is ready to depart.
All the world’s ships sail
And return with secrets of love
And the ship of my eye sails
And never returns.
Todas las naves del mundo vayan
Y abolten con secretos d’amor
Y la nave de mi ojo
Vaya y no abolte mas
This is an excerpt of a much longer romanza from
Sarajevo. The longer ballad actually tells a much
darker story, in which the gentleman in question
actually has another family with children.
If they ask where their father is, what am I to tell
them? He gives the young maiden he is leaving a
hundred dubloons and promises to return again in
seven years. On the eighth he promises to return and,
if she is unmarried yet, to wed her.
Why do you weep, fair maiden?
Why do you cry fair flower?
I cry because of you sir
You are going away and leaving me
Porque llorax blanca niña?
Porque llorax blanca flor?
‘Lloro por vos cavallero,
que vos vax y me dexax.’
Porque Llorax Blanca Niña? Why Do You Weep, Fair Maiden?
Dezlilde a la morena
Si quere venir.
Ya nave ya está en vela
Que ya va partir
The sailors call me, “dark beauty”
If they call me once more
I will go with them.
They call me “dark beauty.”
I was born fair.
The summer sun
Made me this way
Morenica a mi me llaman.
Yo blanca nací.
El sol del enverano
Me hizo a mi ansí.
Morenica a mi me llaman,
Los marieneros.
Si otra vez me llaman
Me vo con ellos.
The Dark Beauty
Morenica
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
© ℗ 2012 Guy Mendilow / Mendilusian Music, BMI
Track 11 recorded By Andy Bergman in his living room on January
21, 2012.
Mixed by Matt Malikowski at Dimension Sound, Jamaica Plain MA
USA
Mastered by Mark Donahue, Sound Mirror, Jamaica Plain MA USA
Produced by Guy Mendilow
Track 5 recorded by Todd Winmill at the Regent Theatre, Arlington
MA USA on July 20, 2009
Mixed by Todd Winmill at Futura Productions, Roslindale MA USA
Mastered by Mark Donahue, Sound Mirror, Jamaica Plain MA USA
All tracks except 5, 11 recorded by Antonio Oliart and David Shriver
at the Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport MA USA on
November 11, 2011
Mixed by Matt Malikowski at Dimension Sound, Jamaica Plain MA
USA
Mastered by Mark Donahue, Sound Mirror, Jamaica Plain MA USA
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
AUDIO
The Guy Mendilow Ensemble is an award winning sextet comprised
of world-class musicians representing a variety of national backgrounds: the USA, Israel, Palestine, Japan and the UK. Formed in
2004, the Ensemble has been enthusiastically received in venues
ranging from world and traditional music festivals to performing arts
centers, progressive Jewish organizations and universities.
Alongside touring with the Guy Mendilow Ensemble, members are
on the faculty of leading music schools like Boston’s Berklee School
of Music and New England Conservatory and tour/record with the
likes of Bobby McFerrin, Yo Yo Ma, the Assad Brothers, Christian
McBride and Simon Shaheen. The Ensemble is currently based in
Boston, MA and Brooklyn, NY.
This recording is dedicated with love to
Master Avery Nahum and Sir Basil the Beloved.
Thanks to: Shari Mendler, Shlomit and Jonathan Mendilow, Joey Baron and the Boston Jewish Music Festival, Brendan Cooney, Matt Malikowski and Dimension Sound, Tony Beadle and David Shriver at the
Shalin Liu Performance Center, Antonio Oliart, John Tomma and
Extraneous Noise, Deanne Benson and Lesley Ellis School, Meeska
House, Patrick Coman, Jeremy Wilmer and of course Aubrey, Tomoko, Tareq, Keita, Rich, Mark and Andy.
GRATITUDE
Performance footage filmed, edited and produced by Extraneous
Noise, Boston MA USA
Micro-documentary produced by Micro-Docs, co-directed by Guy
Mendilow
VIDEO
www.guymendilow.com
LISTEN. DISCOVER. CONNECT
GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE
Booking:
Patrick Coman : Tel. +1.918.850.6780
patrick@guymendilow.com
Management:
Guy Mendilow: Tel. +1.857.222.0235
Fax +1.617.524.1463
guy@guymendilow.com | www.guymendilow.com