The Sephardic culture originates from the Jewish population of Spain that was banished at the end of the 15th century and afterwards spread to the whole of the Mediterranean area, the Balkan and North Africa. Its unique Spanish dialect Ladino was preserved, finding musical expression in ballads, lyrical and paraliturgical songs for the most part.
The choir conductor and composer Ohad Stolarz took eight of these Sephardic Folk Songs and arranged them as a cappella settings for four-part mixed choir. These arrangements may be performed both as a cycle and individually, being also suitable for non-professional choirs due to their lack of difficulty. The musically and harmonically colorful, partly also exotic pieces therefore present an enrichment for the program of every interculturally interested choir.
The informative preface and the translations of the lyrics into German and English enable the content-related engagement with Sephardic culture, too.

Further choral literature on this topic can be found in the volumes Sepharad and Aschkenaz by Alon Wallach.

Audio samples: RIAS Kammerchor, dir. Justin Doyle, recording by Deutschlandfunk Kultur


“The melodies are often quirky, the vocal ranges are unchallenging and there is plenty of material at the back of the volume to help with translation and pronunciation. A group of these a cappella pieces in a concert would be a most attractive proposition.”
(Jeremy Jackman, Choir and Organ)