UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A New Song: Emerging Sephardic Music in Serbia Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8t8797vz Author Wiens, Kathleen Ruth Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles A New Song: Emerging Sephardic Music in Serbia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Kathleen Ruth Wiens 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A New Song: Emerging Sephardic Music in Serbia by Kathleen Ruth Wiens Doctor of Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Timothy Rice, Chair A unique moment in Sephardic music is emerging in the Republic of Serbia. Since 2000, a small but vibrant Sephardic music scene has been formed through the efforts of a small group of individuals. The scene keeps alive a repertoire that has survived many upheavals: the Holocaust and the near-total extermination of Sephardic sacred music practitioners from the region; a half-century of religious suppression under the Yugoslav government; and the political turmoil of the 1990s and the establishment of the Republic of Serbia from what was once Yugoslavia. Each of these major socio-political shifts had an impact on how today's musicians learned and contributed to the creation of Sephardic music. Since 2000, the maintenance and reworking of the Sephardic music scene in Belgrade has taken place almost entirely because of ii small group individuals. The Sephardic music scene that has emerged is now made up of one concert stage ensemble, Shira u’tfila [Song and Prayer], and a collection of synagogue singers. Though the scene comprises only a small number of musicians, these individuals exercise considerable power in determining how broader categories like Sephardic and Jewish are represented and contribute to the civic, state, and international public imagination. The expression of being Serbian, Sephardic, and Jewish is shaped and transmitted by this small group of musicians as they actively engage in a variety of discourses. These discourses concern the role of technology in the transmission of their practice, historical consciousness and nostalgia, and personal and social identities. By looking at how musical and social domains are established and promoted through performance, I show how personal taste and individual creativity play a role in representing Jewish culture in Serbia and Serbian-Jewish culture to an international audience. Ultimately, Shira u’tfila helps redefine ideas of Serbian Jewishness, and articulates an understanding of music in Jewish life as behavior that embraces both sacred and secular, both Jewish and non-Jewish, repertoire. iii The dissertation of Kathleen Ruth Wiens is approved. Ali Jihad Racy Münir Beken Sarah Abrevaya Stein Timothy Rice, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents v List of Figures viii List of Musical Examples ix Acknowledgments x Vita xi Pronunciation Guide xiii A Note on Transliterations and Transcriptions xiv Glossary and Acronyms xv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Parameters 3 Situating the Study 8 Research Challenges 13 Research Methods 15 Historical and Current Context 16 Introducing the Musicians 19 Today’s Synagogue Singers 21 Shira u’tfila 22 Structure and Chapter Summary 23 Chapter 2: Synagogue: Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah 27 Services 27 Musical Content 28 Saturday Morning 34 Roš Ašana 42 “Jewish New Year” with the Filharmonija – 22 September 2011 43 Evening Service – Wednesday 28 September 2011 44 Media Coverage 48 Community Supper 49 Morning Synagogue Services – Thursday 29 September 2011 50 Chapter 3: From Synagogue to Concert Stage 53 Belgrade Filharmonija, 22 June 2010 58 Chapter 4: Learning Tradition: Transmission and Technology 67 v Motivation #1: “Relearning” Repertoire 77 Motivation #2: Learning and Committing to Memory 80 Motivation #3: Expanding the Tradition 82 Motivation #4: Promoting the Scene 85 Motivation #5: Preservation 86 Motivation #6: Teaching 90 Understanding Oral Tradition 93 Chapter 5: Agency and the Individual 98 Creating a “Local,” “Sephardic” Scene 99 Authority for Creativity 101 Making it Local 105 Geography 105 Temporality 109 Making it Sephardic 110 Ladino 110 Experiencing the Practice 119 Maqams 121 Chapter 6: From Individual Impulse to National Music 127 Staged Performance and National Agenda 129 Being Musically Jewish in Belgrade 132 Religious and Secular Repertoire 133 Meaningful Connections 135 Serbian and Jewish 137 Community 140 Fitting the “National Minority” Template 142 Chapter 7: Local Performance, Global Engagement 154 Emergence of Transnational Dialogue 156 Assimilation 157 Zionism 160 Communism 162 Transnationalism since 1990 164 From National to Transnational 164 Jewish Transnationalism 165 Musical Transnationalism 167 Engaging Israel 168 Transnationalism: Europe and the United States 174 Transnationalism in the “World Music” Scene 179 Chapter 8: Historical Consciousness and the Ottoman Legacy 189 Historical Consciousness and Heritage 192 A Contentious Legacy 193 Understanding the Ottoman Jewish Sound-scape 196 Performing Perceptions of the Past 203 vi Intercommunality 204 Regionalism 210 Why Remember? 214 Sephardic Collective Memory 216 History as a Marketing Tool 218 Countering Anti-Islamic Narratives 219 Between and Within East and West 220 Chapter 9: Conclusion 224 Appendix 1: Album Cover Images 229 List of References 233 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Stefan Sablić, Isak Asiel, and Isak Papo prepare for Rosh Hashanah service in the Sukkat Shalom synagogue (2011) 22 1.2 Isak Asiel, Stefan Sablić, Isak Papo, and guest artist Elad Gabbay perform as Shira u’tfila (2010) 23 2.1 Synagogue Exterior viewed from within walled courtyard 35 2.2 Synagogue Interior 37 2.3 Shaharit Service 38 2.4 Torah Ceremony 40 2.5 Guests and Singers Prepare for Rosh Hashanah 45 2.6 Rosh Hashanah First Evening Service 47 2.7 Rosh Hashanah Thursday Morning Service 51 3.1 Shira u’tfila: Pre-concert Rehearsal at the Filharmonija (2010) 59 4.1 Shira U’tfila’s Homepage, “Albums” Link 86 4.2 Video of Stefan Sablić and Ruth Yaakov, Featured on piyyut.org 88 4.3 Shira u’tfila’s YouTube Channel 90 5.1 Early Publicity Photo of Shira u’tfila (2001) 114 5.2 Website Publicity Photo: Shira u’tfila’s “Updated” Image 114 6.1 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Era: Jewish Community “Maccabi” Club (1935) 127 6.2 First (left) and Second (right) Pages of Jevrejski Pregled [Jewish View] 145 7.1 The Jewish Community of Belgrade’s Community Jazz Band 160 7.2 Makkabi Marsch 161 7.3 “Zimski seminar za omladinske aktiviste i vaspitače 15.02-20.02 1985” 164 7.4 Flamenco Fan-shaped Concert Program (2009) 185 8.1 Concert Notice for Members of Shira U`tfila (2007) 190 8.2 Concert Notice for “Sounds of God/Love: Melodies of My Soul” (2010) 208 8.3 Compact Disc Image from Biviendo en Kantando 214 viii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES 2.1 Vocal Techniques in segments of the half Kaddish 30 2.2 Melismas 31 2.3 “Ahot ketanah” 46 3.1 9/8 rhythmic pattern showing emphasis 61 3.2 4/4 time 61 3.3 Doyek rhythmic pattern 62 3.4 11/8 rhythmic pattern showing emphasis 63 3.5 7/8 rhythmic pattern showing emphasis 64 3.6 6/8 rhythmic pattern showing shifting duple-triple emphasis 65 4.1 “Cena Urena” based on Cadik Danon’s melody 80 4.2 “Tseena urena” melody from Camhy’s book 80 4.3 Pizmon za Purim, as performed by Shira u’tfila 89 4.4 “En keloenu/Non komo muestro dio” 91 5.1 “Baruh še amar” major mode 124 5.2 “Baruh še amar” maqam Sabá 124 8.1 “El djo alto” 201 8.2 “Who Knows One” 202 8.3 “Mi kamoha” 206 8.4 “El Adon” 209 8.5 “Semehim becetam” setting by Stefan Sablić 212 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research for this project was made possible through the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the UCLA Graduate Division, and the Roter Research Travel Fund. I am grateful to the musicians who participated in this research, and that they agreed to my presence at their events. I extend particular thanks to Isak Asiel, who allowed me access to his collection of rare recordings, and to Stefan Sablić, who spent many hours patiently explaining the musical details of synagogue and concert repertoire. Several employees of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Serbia and the archive of the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade allowed me to access information and documents that contributed greatly to my research. I extend my deepest appreciation to members of the Danon and Levi families who provided windows into their fathers’ personal and musical lives. Finally, I am grateful to my support network in Morden, Manitoba, Canada. And most of all, to John and Sharron Wiens. x VITA Education (May 2012) Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology, University of California, Los Angeles Dissertation: “A New Song: Emerging Sephardic Music in Serbia” (Chair: Dr. Timothy Rice) 2008 M.A. in Ethnomusicology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Thesis: “Music and Politics in the Croatian-Canadian Community” (Advisor: Dr. Beverley Diamond) 2005 B. Mus., McGill University, Montreal, Canada Publications 2012 with Linda Earl. “Economic Narratives Revisited: Female Contributions to Family Sustainability in Omsk.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 30: 189-199. 2005 “Croatian-Canadian Youth and Their Traditional Music and Dance.” Institute for Canadian Music Newsletter 3.2: 4-7. Conference Papers 2012 “Migration and Metaphor in ‘New Canadian’ Mennonite Music.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music. Toronto, Ontario. 2012 “Independence and Dialogue in a Localized Jewish Music Scene.” Presented at the McGill Graduate Students’ Society Symposium. Montreal, Quebec. 2011 “Strategies of Transmission and Integration of Ottoman Jewish Heritage in a European Setting, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’” Presented at the 41st World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, St.