The Middle Ages in Spain were an important chapter in the Jewish people's history.
After they had partaken in the Golden Age of classical Arabic culture in the Middle East,
Jews played an essential role in medieval Spain as intermediaries between Arabic and Christian culture.
But on August 2nd, 1492, their exodus began:
In the course of a few months, more than 600.000 of them were forced to leave Spain and the Spanish dominions under degrading conditions. They found an exile mainly in the various parts of the Ottoman Empire.
Be it in Constantinople, Saloniki, Egypt, Syria, Palestine or the Balkans,
the Sephardim were stimulated by prevailing local traditions and thus further developed their "imported" culture.
The characteristic traditional songs of the Sephardim were and still are 'romanzas' in the Jewish-Spanish language called 'judezmo'.
These songs narrate about Jewish-Spanish life and Spanish history.
This living, mostly female tradition, in which the exiles transmitted ancient epic tales in medieval Castilian Spanish, was significantly influenced by contact with the various languages and musical cultures of the regions where the Sephardim lived.
The change- and painful exile history of the Sephardim is at the same time the story of uniquely fruitful intercultural encounters.
Fadia el-Hage (Lebanon): Voice / Ahmet Kadri Rizeli (Turkey): Kemençe / Bahadir Sener (Turkey): Kanun /
Vladimir Ivanoff (Bulgaria / Germany): Percussion, Ud, Musical Director
"The audience was enchanted by the music … - especially the interpretation by Sarband is worth hearing."
Brigitte Heeke, Westfälische Nachrichten, 04.11.2009, 27.10.2009
„… This symbiosis made an exceptional master concert a successfully integrated work of art with a highly instructive background.“
B. Hoeltzenbein, Neue Westfälische (Germany), 03.11.2006
„ … magical evening … extraordinarily fascinating pieces, full of colour and warmth … „ Renato della Torre, Messagero Veneto, 17.07.2004
„Music that explores emotion“ Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star, 02.03.2000
„ … a particularly delicious program … as much for the refinement and accomplishment of the ensemble's players as for the experience of hearing music that is unquestionably «other», yet somehow familiar. There's much to take away from such a concert …
Their performances were uniformly engaging, striking these unaccustomed ears as being of the most exquisite, subtle inclination.“
Michael Mann, Montréal, 22.02.2000
