Description
One of the rarest and least known songs. It is mainly found in the Sephardic tradition of Turkey, but according to the researcher and writer Aristomenes Kalyviotis, it was also recorded in 1911 in Thessaloniki. The heroine of this song comes from the city of Prusa and settles in Galata (the Peran of Constantinople), where Pasha sees her and wants to kidnap her. There she refuses and for this she is tried and her fate is decided. The heroine turns to her elderly mother and asks her to save her, but the mother cannot save her. This rare song is mentioned in the research of several researchers such as Moshe Attias and Samuel G. Armistead in numerous variations. There are several archival recordings available (see Archival Recordings) Commercially, it was released in 1911 by the Gramophone record company in a performance by Miss Mariette. In 2022 it was released with the album Unknown Musicians of the Greek Jews performed by Mariantzela Hadjistamatiou.
Archival recordings
- From the National Library of Israel https://soundcloud.com/nationallibrary-of-israel/yo-so-venida-de-brusa-la
-From the archives of Samuel G. Armistead, Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews at the University of Illinois
https://sephardifolklit.illinois.edu/FLSJ/BalladTitleDetails/148
Audio with permission https://open.spotify.com/track/0mCo1BWmg4aNz3Zd3Kn8hn?si=cac4175b52454362
Version 1
Text in Ladino
Yo so venida de Brusa el pasha turko me vido dia de Lunes de manyana djuzgos negros me djuzgaron. Dia de Martes de manyana kon el ferman en la mano. Una madre vieja tengo, madre mia, mi kerida. Ija mia mi kerida, ni kon malas ni kon byenes, apozi en Balata kon el me keria yevar. El djuzgo ya me salyo non los pude deportar Otro djuzgo me salyo, dos delante, dos detras. La ire a saludar eskapame de este hal. no te puedo eskapar, al goral te vo echar.
Translation
I have come from Prussia the Turkish Pasha saw me. Monday morning Bad judges try me Tuesday morning With the firman in hand. An old mother I have, my mother dear. My daughter dear, with neither difficulty nor ease, I stopped at Ballata, with whom she wanted to take me. The fight I couldn't avoid, another fight came out, two from the front, two from the back. I went to say hello to her, Get me out of this mess I can't save you, I'll throw you to the animal.
Music Guide
BibliographyAttias, Moshe. “Yo so Venida de Brusa – La Condenada Del Bajá.” Web.nli.org.il, web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/music/Compilations/attias/Pages/Track2.aspx. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.
Καλυβιώτης, Αριστομένης. Θεσσαλονίκη, η μουσική ζωή πριν το 1912: η διασκέδαση, τα μουσικά καταστήματα, οι ηχογραφήσεις δίσκων. Καρδίτσα, Α. Καλυβιώτης, 2015.
“FLSJ: Ballad Title Cautivo Del Renegado.” Illinois.edu, 2024, sephardifolklit.illinois.edu/FLSJ/BalladTitleDetails/148. Accessed 22 Sept. 2024.
Σκαρλάτου, Χρυσούλα, “Λίγα λόγια για τα τραγούδια”. Άγνωστοι μουσικοί θησαυροί των Ελλήνων Εβραίων. Μαριάντζελα Χατζησταματίου, Pellegrinaggio al levante Ensemble. 2022. Jewish Community of Thessaloniki
“Yo so Venida de Brusa – La Condenada Del Bajá.” SoundCloud, SoundCloud, 2019, soundcloud.com/nationallibrary-of-israel/yo-so-venida-de-brusa-la. Accessed 22 Sept. 2024.
