hi, WHERE does Sharon Isbin say she learned this Tarrega piece is based on a Sephardic melody? The original title from 1899 was "Improvisation !A Granada! Cantiga Arabe " ("Improvisation - to Granada! Arab Song") which doesn't seem terribly Sephardic, but in any case, where the composer would have found a traditional Sephardic melody in Spain in 1899 is an interesting question. Or, for that matter, a traditional Arabic one.
If she claims it is from around 1492, there is nothing whatsoever to substantiate this; we haven;t any Sephardic music from this time. I cou;dn't access the sound file Joel indicated, but have heard the piece many times and did have another look at the score; can't imagine what would be either Sephardic-ish or 1492-ish about it. Besides, the people who are most famous for "recuerdos de la Alhambra" (Memories of the Alhambra) are the "Moors" (especially the famous last Moorish Sultan Boabdil, whose mother apocryphically chided him for weeping as he left it, in 1492) and Washington Irving... Judith > Sharon Isbin, the classical guitarist, claims that this originates from a Sephardic > melody. As someone familiar with Sephardic music, do you have any knowledge of this? > T. J. Steenland ---------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash ---------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------=