On September 5th Mara Aranda was invited to perform at the Palacio Ducal (Béjar, Salamanca, Spain) as part of the Tenth Anniversary Celebrations at the David Melul Jewish Museum. Thanks go to Museum Curator Antonio Avilés and his management team for extending the invitation for Mara to perform a snippet of her work on the Sephardic tradition.
The patio slowly filled with people, and as the performance began, so we brought to the 21st Century an insight into the history of this Iberian Peninsula; not only Sephardic history -the name given to the Jewish population long since expelled from these lands-, but of the connections between the various peoples and beliefs that inhabited these lands in the mediaeval age. It was a journey back through time, and a reminder once again of the incalculable importance of a shared heritage; a heritage that goes beyond borders, politics, flags, and race or religion. The message is timeless: one of a people’s suffering, but also of its joy. It’s a message that has been transmitted down through the generations from the very people who composed and sang the music we recreate today, and who sowed the seeds from which sprang our colourful history.
This tiny chronicle is a dedication to those people and artists who continue to sow the seeds today, that future generations might know this knowledge, this culture, this shared history, our common legacy.
