“Ethnomusicological research of the Judeo-Spanish song tradition is relatively recent and scarce, and has tended to focus on the romance (ballad) repertoire, often neglecting newer material and including little or no analysis of the socio-cultural context. This emphasis on older forms and, or many cases, on internal musical (as opposed to ethnomusicological aspects) seems to go hand in hand with laments for a heritage seen to be on the verge of disappearance. Andrea Hamos, for example, asserts that “the process is not one of transformation and substitution of old forms by a more modern, but still Sephardic culture, but one of rapid extinction” (1982:259). This bleak picture, typical – indeed symptomatic – of many ethnomusicological and ethnographic studies, is accurate to a certain extent: it is undeniable that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find informants raised in the circumstances in which singing romances or wedding songs was a commonplace occupation. But the emphasis on those parts of the Judeo-Spanish song repertoire which form a tantalizing link to medieval Spain has in many ways overshadowed the need for a balanced study of the material. Processes of change and adaptation are present in every culture, and perhaps especially in this one, which has existed and thrived in so many different geographical and cultural environments.” (Cohen 1989, 3)

“People will always choose for themselves those parts of their tradition which best serve their current needs. We may sometimes prefer them to choose different parts, but our personal preferences are not a justification for hastening a tradition along the road to demise in the very process of documenting it for posterity, by implying the value of certain forms over others. My project is to a certain extent a salvage operation, and I make no apology for that, but it seeks to go beyond that aspect, hopefully to confirm a continuing active musical life in the community.” (Cohen 1989, 5)