(Klezmer) Hadass Pal-Yarden - Yahudice (Yahudije) - 2003, MP3 (tracks), VBR 192-320 kbps

Historical Background
The Spanish Jews, known as the Sephardim, were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. After they were sent away from Spain and Portugal by King Fernando and Queen Isabella of the Aragones dynasty, they dispersed mainiy to the eastem and southcm Mediterranean. There were also communities, most of them of Portuguese origin, who came to Europe: mainiy to London, Amsterdam and Vienna, in the eastern Mediterranean, they established their communities under the protective wings of the Ottoman Empire, later to become Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. And in the south they settied in Spanish Morocco (For more information about the history of the Sephardic Jews see Diaz-Mas, Sepharadim).
Their communities prospered culturally and economically. Thanks to the Ottoman law allowing ethnic minoritiesto continue their life asan independent ethnic unit, the Jewish community was enabled to preserve its religion and tradition, that is its language and all the rituals connected to its cultural heritage. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish community was exposed to European influences, especially from France and Italy, European-oriented education pushed youngpeople away from Ladino language and French tooka prominent place amongthe bourgeoisie. The Paris-based schools of Alliance Israelite Universelle became the main education vehicle for Jewish youngsters.
The three largest Sephardic communities in the 19th and 20th century were Istanbul, Thessalonika, and Izmir, in Thessalonika there were approximately 75,000 Jewish people, in Istanbul 50,000 and in Izmir 20,000.
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 traditional 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 whom I was lucky to meet, and through access to several archives offield recordings. The fruits oflonghours oflistenin gare 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 (the makam's melodic progression) that implies heavy dependence on the Turkish makam system.
Ladino music is a world which has come alive for me duringthe time I've spend in each of those traditional Sepharadic music centers: I have lived in Jerusalem for seven years, traveled many times to Thessalonika, made field recordings there, was strongiy affected by the hmirian informants Jozeppo Burgana and Palomba Aroch, and am deepiy involved in Istanbul, where I chose to settie during the last three years. I do not think of my attachment to this music as devotion to my research, and long ago I stopped looking for a logical explanation: l can only say it is a passion, and I pray it will never diminish. - Hadass Pal-Yarden
About Hadass Pal-Yarden
Hadass Pal-Yarden is an Israeli Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) singer and a doctoral student of Ethnomusicology. During her Master's studies, she researched the subject of Contemporary Performances of the Ladino songs' Corpus in Jerusalem and devoted her thesis to this subject. She graduated in 2002 from the Music Department of Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
She spent 2 years in the Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University (Vocal Department) as a researcher, studying folklore, classical Turkish music, and Turkish Music Makam, in 2002 she started doctoral studies in the Ethnomusicology section of Istanbul Technical University's Advanced Music Studies Program (MIAM).
Hadass studied Turkish Music Repertoire and Theory with Reha and Selma Sag(bas, (TRT musicians) and participated with them in a concert made in the music workshop Mediterranean Dialogue (together with Yair Dalal, Ross Daly, Taisir Elias and others (29.11.01).
She has performed in Israel and collaborated with the Ladino singer Ruth Yaakov in several performances in Israel and with the Turkish informant of Ladino music Berta Aguado. She gave concerts in Thessalonika, Turkey and Israel and collaborated with the leading Turkish musicians Yurdal Tokcan (Oud) and Göksel Baktagir (Kanun).
Hadass participated in several musical projects of Cihat As,k?n (among them, she sang in his CD "Ege'nin Türküsü" as a soloist of the Turkish Zeybek "Ferahi" [KALAN 2000]). She also participated with Yinon Muallem in his CD, "Changing Moments", as soloist of the song "Shir La'Yakinton" (Beyza 2003). She recentiy produced and recorded, together with Stelyo Berber, the song "Kanario* in Ladino, Greek, and Turkish in a showcase album of MIAM.
Among her solo concert programs are: "Selanik'ten I.zmir'e-Sefarad S,ark?lar" (Istanbul, 2002-2003); "I tu en los Flores - A homage to the ladino researcher and composer Isaac Levi" (Jerusalem, 2003); "V?nyas I Kampos" - Together with the actor Vitali Ferrera (Israel, 2002); "Ladino from Spanish Morocco" (Israel Museum, 1999)