VOICE
Table of Contents
The
flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing is come,
and the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard through the land.
Song
of Songs 2:12
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The
turtle is actually a turtledove the symbol
of exile, the harbinger of spring and of peace. It is familiar to English
speakers from the King James Bible, where the Hebrew word tor (Song
of Songs ) translates as "turtle dove."
A musical ensemble
known as Voice of the Turtle has been studying and presenting
the beautiful and compelling musical repertoire of the Spanish Jews
since 1978. Whether
a mistranslation or simply the poetic form of the word, "turtle"
is used in the group's name to encompass an array of images.
Voice of the
Turtle's logo, an ancient lyre with the shell of a tortoise as its
resonating box, is decorated with the Star of David and the Arabic crescent,
both ancient symbols. The juxtaposition evokes a significant part of
Sephardic history.
Enjoy
"Skalerika de Oro,"
a Sephardic wedding song, sung by Voice of the Turtle. Lisle
Kulbach, lead singer accompanied by guitar, dumbek and
tambourine
played by Voice of the Turtle. (song
text)
If
you don't already have the Real Audio plug-in for your browser,
you can download
the free RealPlayer from Real
Networks in order to hear the broadcast.
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Enjoy:
* an interview
with Judith Wachs, Artistic Director of Voice of Turtle,
conducted in March 2000 by JHOM Managing Editor, Jennifer Turvey
* an
abridged transcript of the interview
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From:
Voice of the Turtle: " Full
Circle: Music of the Spanish Jews of Jerusalem."
© 1997by Titanic Records. Permission of Voice of the Turtle
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Voice
of the Turtle's new CD "The Sword of the Dove--A Judeo-Spanish
Purim Fantasia" will be published in December 2000. |
VOICE Table of Contents
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