I was trying to follow Guest Volgadon's links, as well as Azizi's fixes, but couldn't - so hopefully corrected links below. I'll have a listen now and hopefully add some more of my own later! Note that to get the Piyut links to play I had to click the "Quality sound" link (but that might just be my computer).

Pete.


Subject: Blues But Not
From: GUEST,Volgadon - PM
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 11:03 AM

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread about the 'blues' of different cultures around the world. I think that every culture has something similar. Music that expresses pain and longing, that grips and doesn't let go.
Rebetiko and fado are probably the best known, but I'll leave them to more knowledgeable posters.
The first kind of music I want to talk about is probably the most unusual, as it has no criminal or underworld connections.
Piyuts are Jewish paraliturgical songs, mostly written by medieval poets, but the tunes are folk tunes. The same tune could be used for many other songs as the words are what is important.
The main thread running through all of them is a sense of yearning, as well as a longing for forgiveness.

El Adon Al Kol Hamaasim.
A song extolling the virtues of the Lord.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/192.html

El Nora Alila.
Lord of Mighty Deeds is sung in supplication, to beg forgiveness on the Day of Atonement, before the Book of Life is sealed.
Sort of a last chance affair, the song expresses abject humility, that you know what you've done and don't even dare ask for forgiveness on your own merits, but beg that your brothers may be forgiven.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/110.html

Yedid Nefesh.
One of the most important. Excellent information in English in that link, so I won't repeat it.
http://www.piyut.org.il/textual/english/16.html

Ye'iruni Ra'ayonai.
A man cannot sleep, but ponders the ways of the Lord and prays that the night will stand still and the dawn wait so he can continue to pray and ponder, pouring his heart out before it is time to deal with all the daily affairs.
The whole song is about longing for the Lord, longing to be in his presence.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/2584.html

Ana Ve'ana Hoshia Na.
A Libiyan piyut, it pleads the Lord to save and bless.
Each verse uses a different title (Mighty, Blessed, Compassionate, that sort of thing) for the Lord, which ascends alphabetically.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/2475.html

Im Ninalu.
A yemenite songwhich goes: even if the gates of the generous are closed, the gates of heaven are still open.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/117.html

Mezulzelet.
A Morrocan song.
http://www.piyut.org.il/tradition/english/662.html

Finally, here is an example of a modern day piyut, that is, the melody is contemporary, the words I've mentioned above.
El Nora Alila - Meir Banai.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P0tnSgv-EE

This site is unbelievable. Hundreds of authentic recordings on top of all the texts.
http://www.piyut.org.il/english/

Subject: RE: Blues But Not
From: GUEST,Volgadon - PM
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 06:05 AM

Shanson is the Russian underworld and prison music.
The style owes a lot to French Chansons and to the Russian art music of the 19th century, as well as to tango and klezmer.
These are very popular, becuase at one point or another, a large segment of the Russian populatin has spent time behind bars, often for trivialities.

Taganka.
A love-hate ballad to the Taganka prison, one of the worst in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, until Khrushchev tore it down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFARFG4RYSQ

Here is a scene from the movie "Shtrafbat" about a penal battlaion in WW2. The penal battlaions were temporary formations made up of criminals, political undesirables and the disgraced. In the clip they found some moonshine and one of the Jews sings a shanson.
Here is a fuller version, slightly different.
(Couldn't do this link because the file isn't there any more)