HADASS PAL-YARDEN

The comcert is devoted to the repertuar from Hadass new CD called Yahudije (KALAN MÜZIK, ISTANBUL). Yahudice is one of the names given to the Ladino(Sefardic) language in Turkey. Yahudice represent the way turkish people percived this language as the language of the Jewish people. The repertuar of this concert consist of Judeo-Spanish music from four former ottoman centers:

Jerusalem, Istanbul, Izmir and Thessalonica. It will include also a spoken introduction to Sephardic culture especially music and language. Every song that is collected has its little story and all the songs different colors, textures and fragrances gather to a beautiful garden that will represent the colorful atmosphere of ottoman cultural centers.

Hadass had learned all the songs from different informants such as Berta Aguado (Chanakkale), Jozeppo Burgana (Izmir), Davico Saltiel (Thessalonica), Victoria Hazan (Izmir) and other influential Ladino singers from the Balkans.

Yahudije, the name used for the Ladino (Judeo- Spanish) language of the Jewish population in the Ottoman times, reflected a simple reality: most Jewish people in the Ottoman Empire were of Spanish origin and spoke Ladino. By the same logic Rumja (and not Yunanja) was the language of the Ottoman Greeks, and Ermenije was the language of the Armenians.

This album presents Ladino repertoire from a different perspective. It deals with urban music from Istanbul, Izmir, Thessalonika, and Jerusalem. Its difference is embodied in a combination of three main characteristics: the song repertoire, the musical interpretation and the importance given to the documentation of those songs. I give this album as a gift to lovers of music, to people interested in a less familiar but very beautiful repertoire and to those who want to know more about the stories behind the songs to see through them the world those songs once represented.

Over a long period, I collected these songs from Sephardic informants, which I was lucky to meet, and through access to several archives of field recordings. The fruits of long hours of listening are given in the lists of recorded sources provided for each song.

A note about the musical arrangement: since most of the songs emerged in the former Ottoman Empire and since all the recordings I heard revealed makamic influence, it was only natural for me to choose traditional Ottoman instruments and musical arrangements that would help expose the original character of each song.

This is the reason why we did not use any tempered instruments. It is true we cannot define the makam of each song, but in most there is a seyir (makam's melodic progression) that implies heavy dependence on the Turkish makam system.

Hadass Pal-Yarden - Vokal and musical management

Yurdal Tokcan- Ud

Goksel Baktagir - Kanun

Selim Güler - Kemençe, vocal

Emrullah Sengüller- Cello

Yinon Muallem - Percussions

Amit Pal - Percussions, vocal

Guests participators: Stelyo Berber- vocal

2 July, Friday - Othello Tower - 9.00 pm.0