Cherie Hughes & Roberto Limon - On My People (CD)

Soprano Chérie Hughes and guitarist Roberto Limón present three works inspired by the music of Spain and the Sephardic Jewish diaspora. The opening title work, composed by Samuel Zyman and commissioned in 2013 by the duo, sets an English translation by Issac Jack Lévy of a poem by Henrietta Asseo. Asseo's family was almost completely lost in the Holocaust and the poem captures both the poignant loss of life and the hope for renewal. "Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra," Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's monumental 19-song cycle based on poetry of the exiled 11th-century Sephardic philosopher, explores the ephemeral nature of love, life, and faith. Written between 1974-1976, Matilda Salvador's cycle, "Endechas y cantares de Sefarad," sets well known traditional Sephardic melodies with a more contemporary harmonic language.

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. On My People
2. When the Morning of Life Had Passed
3. The Dove That Nests in the Tree-Top
4. Wrung with Anguish
5. Sorrow Shatters My Heart
6. Fate Has Blocked the Way
7. O Brook
8. Drink Deep, My Friend
9. Dull and Sad Is the Sky
10. The Garden Dons a Coat of Many Hues
11. Men Are Children of This World
12. The World Is Like a Woman of Folly
13. Only in God I Trust
14. Where Are the Graves
15. Let Man Remember All His Days
16. I Have Seen Upon the Earth
17. Come Now, to the Court of Death
18. Peace Upon Them
19. I Behold Ancient Graves
20. Wouldst Thou Look Upon Me in My Grave?
21. Avridme Galanica
22. A la Una
23. Morena Me Yama
24. Endecha
25. Los Bilbilicos
26. Cantar de Amanecida
27. Yo Me Levanti Un Lunes
28. Arvolicos D'almendra
29. Cantar de Marinero