290 r Efrat E. Aviv
especially those sung on the High Holy Days, became a necessity. Liturgi-
cal songs reached the height of their popularity during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.^21
Secular Songs
Sephardic Jews adopted several literary genres from their surrounding
culture; stories, parables, and proverbs were added to their repertoire of
prose; romances and chansons enlarged their cadre of poetry.
During the centuries that Judeo-Spanish communities existed far from
their Spanish homeland, romances became a symbol of their roots, deeply
seeped in Spanish culture. These romances evolved as Ladino singers made
their additions and changes. Thematically, romances resembled dramas,
with topics ranging from historic events to love, hate, war, and betrayal.^22
Musically, Judeo-Spanish romances were Middle Eastern in structure,
containing scales with melodically flowing tunes with no repetitions in
the song. Romances often had more than thirty stanzas consisting of four
lines each. In contrast to Judeo-Spanish folk songs, which were cheerful
and primarily composed with Mediterranean tunes after the Expulsion,
the romances were composed in European scales, contained little text,
and often repeated the second half of the song.
Despite the risk of Judeo-Spanish music becoming highly “Ottoman-
ized,” much of the Spanish character and style were retained, thanks to
liturgical songs and other singing traditions that were passed down for
generations.^23
Spanish vs. Ottoman/Turkish Influence
Researchers disagree regarding the extent to which the Ottoman Jews
clung to their Spanish cultural roots. Some Judeo-Spanish folk music
researchers believe that many elements found in Ottoman Jewish mu-
sic originate from the Iberian Peninsula. Others claim the distance from
Spain caused Levantine Jews to disconnect from Iberian musical tradi-
tions. During the nineteenth century, when Western culture had a great
influence on Jewish Levantine music and the French, Italian, Greek, and
English styles of song impacted the music of the time, a new approach was
created. The Jewish-Spanish community maintained an ongoing cultural
dialogue with their Ottoman Muslim hosts.^24