"Sephardic Romancero" for Flute, Oboe, Guitar and Piano, in three movements, was composed in March 2007. It is dedicated to Joseph Bachour, a dear friend and one of my most talented students, whose family is of Sephardic origin. Only ten percent of the Sephardic Jews, a people whose ancestors were from Spain, remained after the Holocaust. Their language, Ladino, is the oldest variant of Spanish.
The composition has a definite ethnic (Middle Eastern) flavor. The 1st movement - more exotic, is lush and sensuous; the 2nd has a pensive, melancholic beginning, that develops into an intense drama; the 3rd and final movement starts in a serene, pastoral way, that in the second section, becomes impetuous and dramatic, precipitating to a mournful ending.
Alla Elana Cohen
