Songs of Grief and Hope: Ancient Western-Sephardi Melodies of Qinot for the Ninth of Av

The repertoire of qinot melodies for the Ninth of Av (the date on the Jewish calendar that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem) constitutes one of the most ancient musical repositories in the Sephardi liturgy. Of particular musical richness are the qinot of the Sephardi communities of the Western Hemisphere. Perhaps the intense attachment of the founding fathers of these communities, the conversos from Spain and Portugal, to this holiday of mourning, remembrance and hope for redemption can explain its solemn observance until the present.

Qinot are dirges which were added after the Geonic period to the synagogue services of the Ninth of Av. In the Sephardi rite, they are sung after the 'amidah. These are strophic poems treating the central topics of the Ninth of Av: the mourning over the destruction of the Temple, and the recount of the tribulations of Israel in the exile and the expression of messianic hope for the restitution of the Temple. Most of the texts in this genre included in the Sephardi liturgy were written in medieval Spain and Italy. The Sephardi order of qinot for the Ninth of Av is printed in a special prayer book which includes the prayers for the four traditional fast days. The book is usually entitled Seder arba' ta'aniyyot, 'the liturgical order of the four fasts.”