https://youtu.be/S5BE2QQT2JsA dear friend of mine from Amsterdam once asked me: how do we know that Giuseppe Verdi was Sephardi? His answer: if he had been Ashkenazi he would have written ‘La Travioso’. More about Verdi later…There are some selections within the Spanish and Portuguese tradition which can be sung to a variety of melodies. Sometimes the choice will be determined by the occasion, while at other times the matter is entirely at the discretion of the Hazzan or choirmaster. The list of such pieces includes: Adon Olam, En Kelohenu, Mizmor LeDavid (Ps 29), Lekha Dodi and Yigdal Elohim Chai. By contrast, there are other selections like Nishmat Kol Chai and Yotser which are confined to one single, standard chant.What I am about to ask maybe a heresy for some of you, but is there a case to be made for the introduction of new melodies to broaden the canon? At one time that was a view that clearly found favour. For over 200 years, from the end of the seventeenth century until the early years of the twentieth, communities within the Spanish and Portuguese tradition had a not inconsiderable appetite for new musical repertoire. Pieces were written by their ministers: de Sola, Artom, Pereira Mendes, Duque; they were commissioned from from the likes of de Casseres, Lidarti, Schlesinger, Moss, Lyons, Jonas and Kramer; and settings by composers such as Naumbourg, Waley, Salaman, Verinder, Wasserzug, Sulzer and Mombach were commandeered from other traditions.So, what about an alternative to the melody for ‘El Adon’ from the Yotser of Shabbatot and Mo’adim? (or in the case of the P.I.G. how about having a melody in the first place?) One possible contender that has quite stolen my heart is the tune of the romanca ‘Adio Kerida’. This melody’s appeal has extended well beyond the boundaries of the Ladino speaking communities from which it hails; and according to some, was the inspiration for that well known Sephardi - Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Addio del passato’ from La Traviata.I’d like to hear what y’all think. But keep it classy….Please share.Hodesh TobThe background shot in the video is the exterior of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue on the Island of Rhodes.