The Yemenite Jews

After the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, a group of Jews settled in Yemen. They remained in exile, sometimes prosperous but frequently persecuted, until the 19th century. They then began to return to what is now Israel, first in small numbers and later in an organized wave with the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. They brought with them a rich heritage of religious, secular, and devotional (diwan) music, the last of which includes both religious and secular subjects.
Every Jewish community in Yemen had its own diwan, consisting of works from the renowned medieval Spanish poets of the Golden Age of Hebrew poetry, as well as original writings from community members. These poems, in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic languages, were intended to be sung or chanted. According to the album’s compiler Avner Bahat of the Jewish Music Research Centre, the Yemenite diwan is “the richest and most valuable of all.” Eleven poems are presented in this 1976–77 recording. Structurally, the diwan is divided into three sections: nashid (an improvisational response sung without music or dance accompaniment), shira (the primary singing section featuring dance and rhythmic accompaniment on tin cans or copper plates), and hallel (a song of praise restricted to two or three notes around the tonic).
FREE DOWNLOAD
Please enjoy a free download of the song “Ahuv Yevarech Ha-Hatan” by Menahem Arussi
Ahuv Yevarech Ha-Hatan | MP3 | FLAC |
This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available, including a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.
Track Listing
101
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Shadai Emor Na Daile-Galuteinu | Tsadoq Tsubeiri, Joseph Ozeiri | 2:34 | |
102
|
Tsur Menati | Tsadoq Tsubeiri | 3:46 | |
103
|
Ayumati Te'orer Ha-Yesheinim | Qiryat Ono Troupe: Menahem Arussi, Haïm Ozeiri, Aharon Cohen, Shalom Qeissar, Yehiel Tsabari, Shlomo Yemini | 4:05 | |
104
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Yashqef Elohim Mi-Me'on Qodsho / Yom Ezkera Het'i / Hallel | Aharon Amram, Menahem Arussi, Aharon Habshush, Israel Habshush | 8:04 | |
105
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Sar Ha-Memuneh | Tsadoq Tsubeiri | 2:14 | |
106
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Ahuv Yevarech Ha-Hatan | Menahem Arussi | 1:37 | |
107
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Ahuv Mei-Har Ha-Mor Natan Li Morasha | Aharon Amram, Menahem Arussi, Aharon Habshush, Israel Habshush | 2:56 | |
108
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Adon Hakol Mehayyeh Kol Neshamah | Tsadoq Tsubeiri, Joseph Ozeiri | 4:37 | |
109
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Adon Hakol Mehayyeh Kol Neshamah | Aharon Habshush, Israel Habshush | 4:09 | |
110
|
Yeda'atani Be-Terem Titsreini / 'Ayin Ve-Lev Yahad Merivim / Hallel | Zecharia Yitshaq, Joseph Ozeiri | 9:18 | |
111
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Ayyahu Al-Husn El-Musamma | Qiryat Ono Troupe: Menahem Arussi, Haïm Ozeiri, Aharon Cohen, Shalom Qeissar, Yehiel Tsabari, Shlomo Yemini | 5:33 |