3. Hermanos mis queridos (Jacob Algava)

A song referring to the 1908 reenactment of the 1876 Ottoman constitution. It is an abridged version of “Cante nuevo por la constitución, compuesto por se[ñor] Joseph Pinto, cantado a la misma voz del cante en turko Yaşasın Hürriyet adalet…” (“New song for the constitution, composed by señor Joseph Pinto, sung to the same tune as the Turkish song Yaşasın Hürriyet, adalet [Long life freedom, justice]”), published in the Judeo-Spanish periodical El Djugueton (Istanbul) of November 10, 1908. The second stanza of this recording is similar to the third stanza of Cante nuevo por la constitución. Other Judeo-Spanish songs related to the Young Turks’ revolution share the same refrain (Romero 2008, nos. 62, 63; Havassy 2011a, pp. 125-126). This refrain is a translation of the Turkish for “freedom, justice, equality,” the call of the Young Turks’ revolution that echoes the similar cry of the French revolution. Various stanzas of Pinto’s poem appear in other recorded versions and literary sources, such as Haim Effendi’s Esta nueva historia (NSA Y 09487(2)) and Emily Sene’s version of the same song (Havassy 2007, Appendix, ES no. 157). See also Romero, 2008, no. 65, entitled Niazî, Enver Bey y el sultán (only one stanza).

Hermanos mis queridos

entonosos hoy fuemos.

Es cosa de cantar

non venimos a contar.

Viva la libertá.

Viva la hermandad

con la justedad.

Trenta años pasaron

muchas almas mataron.

A la mar los echaron

muchas madres lloraron.

Viva la libertá…

Niazí y Enver Bey

conversaron con el rey.

Demandaron la libertá

por tener la hermanda.

Viva la libertá…

Ellos se acumparon[?]

la liberta tomaron.

Non es cosa de burlar

la devemos de alabar.

Viva la libertá…