IN THEIR OWN VOICES
WOMEN IN THE
JUDEO-HISPANIC SONG
AND STORY

by HENRIETTA YURCHENCO

In Memoriam
To the singers of Tetuán
Alicia Benassayag
Flora Benamor
Ester Cadoch Israel
And her family

PART I: THE SONGS AND BALLADS

Note: Ballads and songs in this collection are crossreferenced by volume and page number in Él romancero judeo-español en el Archive Pidal – Catalogo indice de romances y canciones compiled by Samuel G. Armistead. Menendez Pidal’s categories are given in parenthesis

A: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN


• 1 Rosa Blanca (White Rose)
• 2 La doncella ultrajada (The Abused Maiden)
• 3 Disfrazada de mujer (Disguised as a Woman)
• 4 Soldados forzadores (Soldiers of Violence)
• 5 Andareto
• 6 Un hijo tiene el Rey David (King David Has a Son)
• 7 La adultera (The Adulteress)
• 8 Preso llevan a Verjico (Verjico is Imprisoned)
• 9 Brillana (Briana)
• 10 Gerineldo
• 11 El marido disfrazado (The False Husband)
• 12 Persona soy yo (I am a Human Being)

B. WOMEN OF INDEPENDENCE AND POWER


• 1 La infanta dishonrada (The Dishonored Princess)
• 2 ¿Porque no cantais la bella? (Why Doesn’t the Beauty Sing?)
• 3 La bella en misa (The Beauty at Mass)
• 4 El pretendiente burlado (The Disappointed Seducer)
• 5 Yo me levantara un lunes (I Arose on a Monday)
• 6 La doncella guerrera (The Maiden Warrior)

C. VIOLENT ACTS BY WOMEN


• 1 La infanticida (The Child Killer)
• 2 La Gallarda (La Gallarda)
• 3 El veneno de Moriana (The Poison of Moriana)
• 4 Los amantes perseguidos (The Persecuted Lovers)
• 5 Belizera (Belizera)
• 6 Mala suegra castigada (The Bad Mother-in-law Punished)

D. WOMEN AND MOORS


• 1 Cantar de Juliana (Song of Julia)
• 2 El cautivo del renegado (The Renegade’s Prisoner)
• 3 Al pasar por Casablanca (On Passing Through Casablanca)
• 4 El Moro cautivo y la infanta (The Princess and the Moor)
• 5 Romance de Sol or La martir hebrea (Ballad of Sol or The Hebrew Martyr)
• 6 La muerte de Roldan (The Death of Roldan)

E. BIBLICAL BALLADS


• 1 Cuando el Rey Nimbrod (When King Nimbrod)
• 2 Un pregón pregonó el Rey (The King’s Proclamation)
• 3 Mosé salió de Misraím (Moses Left Egypt)
• 4 Al monte de Sinai (To Mount Sinai)
• 5 Nuestro señor Elohenu (Our Lord Elohenu)

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RITUAL SONGS: AN ESSAY (click to read)

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F. WEDDING SONGS


• 1 Aunque le dí la mano (Although I Gave Him My Hand)
• 2 Dicen que lo verde... (They Say That the Green)
• 3 El baño de la novia (The Bride’s Bath)
• 4 Levanteisme, madre (I Awakened, Mother)
• 5 Que si te fueres a bañar, novia (If You Go To The Bath, Bride)
• 6 De veinticinco escalones (The Twenty-five Steps)
• 7 Duelos y alegrías de la esposa (A Wife’s Sorrows and Joys)
• 8 Alabanza de la novia (Praise to the Bride)
• 9 Desde hoy has, mi madre (From Today On, My Mother)
• 10 Alabanza de la casa (Praise of the House)
• 11 A la puerta del río (At the River’s Source)

G. SONGS FOR THE HOLIDAY CYCLE


• 1 Cantar de las flores (Song of the Flowers)
• 2 Imposición de los tefelím (A Bar Mitzvah Song)
• 3 Los trece actos de fé (The Thirteen Acts of Faith)
• 4 Esta noche de Purím (Tonight is Purim)
• 5 El cabrito (One Kid) A Passover Song

PART II: THE STORIES

A: Tell Me a Story, Mother. Stories as told by the Sephardic Women of Morocco.

B. Muslim and Christian Stories and Proverbs

INDEX OF STORIES


• Revived by Love
• Leaves of the Plant
• The Man Who Wanted a Son
• The Widow
• Three Grapefruit
• The Envious Sisters
• The False Wiseman
• A Heavenly Marriage
• The Foolish Husband
• A Good Fate
• The Prince of Argel
• A Bad Fate
• The Good Daughter
• The Enchanted Dove
• The Banished Queen
• A Clever Woman
• The Girl Without Arms
• The Widowed Doctor
• The Wastrel
• The Hundred Dollars
• The Thieves
• Three Gifts
• Three Burdens
• Three Wise Men

PART III: BIBLIOGRAPHY

   In Their Own Words: Bibliography