Frequently Asked Questions
Throughout our years as a group we have been asked many questions about how we work, how we found each other, and more! If you have further questions, you can email us at: email: VOTurtle@comcast.net
1. Where
does the name Voice of the Turtle come from?
"The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing is come, and the
voice of the turtle(dove) is heard throughout the land." Song of Songs
2. How
long have you been together as a group?
Voice of the Turtle was founded in 1978. The original four members performed together for nearly 30 years. The current lineup of Lisle Kulbach, Jay Rosenberg and Ian Pomerantz has been together since 2011.
3. How
did you get together?
All four 'Turtles' met while performing with a group called "The
Quadrivium" -- a school and performing group which focused on
medieval, renaissance, and European folk traditions. Each member
continued to perform with Quadrivium, and began to meet regularly
to explore medieval and renaissance repertoire as a quartet (a quintet
for a while with Rosalind Brooks). During the early months of its
inception, we heard some Sephardic music which was brought to the
attention of Quadrivium by Aviva Rosenbloom, now a cantor in Los
Angeles. She introduced us to "Skalerika de oro" --Ladder
of Gold, which became the catalyst for our exploration into this
repertoire.
4. What
keeps your interest over all of these years?
Judy: I have been surprised by the staying power of this repertoire
for me -- and I don't see any end to it. This music continues to
inspire my intellect, my musical creativity, and my interest in
Jewish history, in a way no other repertoire has. It is, as I often
say in concert, a magic carpet, which takes the listener, performer,
over time and through borders. I have always loved what is now
called 'world music;' these melodies, representative of a rich
tradition which encompasses so many worlds, hold me hostage in
the most positive sense.
5. How
often do you perform?
This varies from year to year, and depends upon our recording schedule,
upon which we are focusing at the moment.
6. Where
do you perform?
We have presented concerts in almost every one of the contiguous states,
and have heard from fans in Alaska and Hawaii from public radio broadcasts.
We have also played at festivals in Holland, Israel, England, Scotland,
Spain and Hong Kong.
7. Who
are your audiences?
Lovers of music of all kinds have appreciated our work, since it
encompasses such a broad range of genres, e.g., medieval, as represented
by the Romancero, folk music as represented by traditions from all
parts of the Sephardi Diaspora, Jewish music, most of which was virtually
never heard outside of the Judeo-Spanish communities themselves before
Voice of the Turtle began public performances in 1978. We have given
concerts at concert halls, (for audiences up to 2000 people), museums,
synagogues, churches, universities, elementary and high schools,
special occasion private concerts, and homes for the elderly.
8. Are
all of you Jewish?
To our surprise, this question comes up quite often, as people are puzzled
about our long term commitment to the world of the Spanish Jews. Not
all of us are Jewish. We are artists first, who have chosen to focus
on the pleasures of this music for the art and creative challenges which
working with oral tradition present.
9. How
do you find your music?
Our Artistic Director, Judith Wachs, travels to Jerusalem several times
each year to work with Israeli musicologists, who are generous with
their guidance and suggestions, and with the librarians at the archives
at the Jewish Music Research Center. From these wonderful resources,
we have access to the original field recordings made at weddings, celebrations,
informal gatherings, community centers -- and at the studios, where
people are brought for interviews and recordings. Thus, we have the
option of learning this repertoire 'first hand' --i.e., from the tapes,
or directly from the informants themselves. We also have access to
notated collections which are difficult to find.
10. How
do you decide how a piece should be performed?
This repertoire comes largely through oral transmission. For the
most part, these songs were sung by the women, unaccompanied by instruments.
But often, singers were accompanied by percussion, and by bowed and
plucked string instruments from the surrounding region. In Bulgaria,
for example, it was often the case that a 'Turkish Orchestra' would
be hired for a wedding -- consisting of Turkish instruments, 'ud,
kamanja, dumbelek; often, the musicians were Jewish. In Morocco,
it was not unusual for some Sephardim to play the 'ud. In Bosnia,
folk instruments of the area were used, as were some of the melodies
with Ladino texts adapted to fit.
Voice of the Turtle listens, when possible, to several versions of
songs from people whose traditions these are. We listen over and
over again, until we actually learn the melody by oral transmission.
When we have all learned a melody, we collaboratively decide on the
sound we are looking for -- whether a western or eastern mode, whether
it will be accompanied at all, which instruments from our considerable
pool of resources will reflect the sound we are looking for. Further,
we decide whose vocal quality will best represent the piece. No arrangement
has ever been evolved of which all four members have not approved.
Based upon the information we have on function, text, origin, and
our own 'creative conjectures' which we add to the mix, the result
is the signature sound of
Voice of the Turtle.
11. What's
the difference between Ladino and Judeo-Spanish.
The medieval Castilian Spanish spoken by the Jews of Spain at the time
of the expulsion is called Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-español, Djudezmo, Spanyolit,
Spaniol de mosotros, and Sephardí; in Morocco it was called
Haketía, and in
Yugoslavia, Djidyó. The language was spoken and written, first in Hebrew characters (Rashi script) and
recently, in the Latin alphabet. It was preserved in exile largely by
the women, whose insulated life protected the language and maintained
its vitality. The language, which uses many Hebrew words and roots, is enriched by the environments which became new homes,
with words from the Arabic, Greek, Turkish, French, and Italian languages,
among others. It is often called Ladino which, historically, was the
language, emerging from Latin, into which liturgical Hebrew texts were
translated.