Between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean: Sephardic music after the expulsion from Spain and Portugal

Significant interest in the music of the Sephardic Jews has been generated, particularly in Israel and North America, following field work l and the publication of music anthologies in the twentieth century.2 These printed and recorded collections possibly give the impression that the study of Sephardic music has greatly advanced. However, it would not be far from the truth to state that, despite the rich documentation at hand, a definitive scholarly evaluation of the historical development of the Sephardic musical culture is still far from sight. The present state ofSephardic music research can be more properly evaluated if compared with the achievements in other fields of Sephardic studies to which music is closely linked, most notably that of oral literature.