Sounds from the South

In the 50 years since that event, the muses have not fallen silent in the southern part of the country. The region is home to a musical community that includes performers, practitioners, and proponents who have enriched it and Israel enormously. Their story parallels the development of Israel itself. It is one of settlement, idealism and a pioneering spirit, of immigrant absorption, of various groups which give the country its unique quality and special vitality. It is to their credit that their relatively peripheral location vis-à-vis the geographical centre of the country has not lessened the impact they have made on Israel's musical scene. They are active in a region that makes up more than half of Israel's land area but contains only some ten per cent of its population.

A combination of circumstances has made the major cities in the south - Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Eilat - fertile ground for musical development. The immigrants - overwhelmingly but not only from the countries of the former Soviet Union - who settled there, brought with them much artistic talent and tradition from their countries of origin.

Beersheba, the capital of the Negev, is the home of the Israel Sinfonietta, one of the country's premier musical ensembles. Since its founding in 1973, the core of the group has always been immigrants from the former Soviet Union and English-speaking countries. Over the years, the Sinfonietta developed a national and international reputation for its wide repertoire of symphonic works, concerti for solo instruments, and large choral productions such as Handel's "Israel in Egypt," masses by Schubert and Mozart, Rossini's "Stabat Mater" and Vivaldi's "Gloria." A number of world-famous artists have appeared as soloists with the Sinfonietta, including Pinhas Zuckerman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Shlomo Mintz, Gary Karr and Paul Tortelier. The Sinfonietta gives nearly 100 concerts a year in a subscription series in eight cities in Israel, records CD's, and travels abroad, and brings classical music to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to hear it. This task is accomplished through "open-house" days and youth concerts.

Almost 20 years after the Sinfonietta was founded, and following the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the Ashdod Chamber Orchestra was established. The group was formed to channel the newcomers' musical talents and assist in their absorption. In the nine years of its existence, the orchestra has performed works by a wide range of composers, from Mozart, Telemann and Pergolesi to Copeland, Vaughan-Williams, and Gershwin. It has given concerts in Germany, Spain, Hungary, Rumania and in Britain, where it appeared at the International Festival of Jewish Music in London, with the participation of soprano Larissa Tatuyev and baritone Victor Chernomortsov, two Israeli singers from the former Soviet Union. In the 1997-98 season, it joined the Chamber Opera-Ashdod, founded in 1996 by recently arrived artists, in a production of Verdi's "La Traviata."

The Beersheba-based amateur Light Opera Group of the Negev (LOGON) was founded in 1980 by Dr. Edward Spitz, a doctor at the local Soroka hospital, and an immigrant from the USA. Despite the burdens of their work and family life, LOGON players find the time to rehearse twice a week. Most of the doctors, professors, and other academics have some theatrical or musical background from their countries of origin and the company's repertoire of light opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, operettas by Offenbach and Léhar, and Broadway musicals such as "Oklahoma," "Fiddler on the Roof," "The Most Happy Fella," "Pajama Game," "Carousel" and "The Music Man," provide them with an excellent opportunity to display their latent talent.

The Israel Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod brings an ethnic flavour to music in the south. Andalusian music had its origins in the 10-11th centuries in Moslem Spain, and it arrived in North Africa after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Like lyrical Arab music, song and music in the Andalusian style are interrelated and form one entity, and Andalusian musicians and singers are trained in the oral tradition. While the music arrived in Israel with the immigration from North Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, it was neglected as the new immigrants became absorbed into Israeli culture. Only in the 1970s and 1980s did Andalusian music enjoy a reawakening. But it faced two impediments. First, there was a lack of professional musicians and singers. Second, there was an absence of written musical notation.

It was one of the founders of the Andalusian Orchestra, a Moroccan-born musicologist, Dr. Avi Eilam-Amzaleg, who realized that Andalusian music would vanish if solutions were not found to these two problems. Eilam-Amzaleg, who himself has composed many works based on Jewish sources from Morocco, began to write the notation and arrangements for pieces to be played by the orchestra. Today the orchestra includes many musicians from the former Soviet Union who play violin, cello, double-bass, flute, clarinet and bassoon alongside their Moroccan-born counterparts who play the ûd, Moroccan violin and darbouka. The orchestra gives some 50 concerts a year before 3,000 subscribers in ten towns. It has also produced a CD and a video.

Two outstanding southern composers are Dr. Max Stern from Beersheba and Shimon Shalal from Ashkelon. Born in the USA in 1947, Stern immigrated to Israel in 1976. He is an accomplished conductor, double-bass player and music critic. In the words of Uri Mayer, a former conducter of the Israel Sinfonietta, "(Stern) is Israel's most soulful composer his works are beautifully crafted and expressive."

Soon after his arrival in Israel, Stern chose to live in the Negev and one of his first projects was to establish a music conservatory in the development town of Yeruham. Since the mid 1990s he has created single-handedly a music department at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and generated active musical life on the campus. Stern derives much of the inspiration for his symphonic and choral works from biblical sources. Many of them have been recorded on CDs and include "Baalam and the Ass," for which the composer was awarded the Lieberson Prize in 1990; Bereshit ("Creation of the World"), a full-length cantata for soprano, flute, percussion and strings; "The Song of Hannah," based on the account in Samuel I. and Magnificat Hebraica for baritone and a cappella choir, based on the liturgical responses, Hallelujah, Amen and Kaddish. The Israel Sinfonietta commissioned the composer's "Song of the Morning Stars" for chamber orchestra, and has performed several of his works, including "Jacob Struggling with the Angel" for piano and orchestra, and Yovel, a symphonic piece written in honour of the 50th anniversary of Israel. In recent years, Stern has also become interested in sacred songs sung by the Sephardic Jewish communities from Morocco, Yemen and Turkey, as well as Beduin from the desert. The latter are the subject of his "Beduin Impressions" for solo string instruments.

Shimon Shahal was born in Morocco in 1934 and is a scion of a famous family of singers of sacred songs. A long-time resident of the coastal city of Ashkelon, Shahal is a prolific composer who has written a variety of compositions, many of them commissioned works which have been performed on Israeli radio and television, and in the concert hall. They have been written for various combinations of instruments and choral groups. They include an oratorio ("Song of Songs,") concerti for oboe and clarinet, a rhapsody for symphony orchestra and chamber music. One of Shahal's future projects is an opera based on the tragic journey of the immigrant ship "Egoz," which foundered with the loss of all its passengers and crew on its way from Morocco to Israel in 1961.

A clarinetist by training, Shahal is also an educator and conductor. He is the founder of the music conservatory in Ashkelon and served as its director for many years. He lectures at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba and several regional colleges. He has conducted the Lod Chamber Orchestra which is mostly composed of musicians from the former Soviet Union.

Two international music festivals are held annually in the southernmost city of Eilat. The city's mild climate has enabled it to host the Red Sea International Music Festival in the winter for the past four years. Maestro Valery Gergiyev has led the 270-member St. Petersburg Kirov Opera Orchestra and Choir in several of the festivals.

To date, 14 Red Sea International Jazz Festivals have been held in the last week of August. The concerts are held in four open-air structures constructed from colourful shipping containers against a background of giant cranes, the flickering lights of Eilat and Aqaba, and the surrounding mountains.

Jazz pianist Leonid Ptashka was born in the USSR in 1965 and immigrated to Israel in 1991. He has made seven CDs and has participated in jazz competitions in Warsaw, Paris and Los Angeles. He has served as the musical director of the International Winter Jazz Festival in Ashdod since its founding in 1994. Israeli jazz artists such as Arieh Kaminsky, Danny Gotfried and Baldi Olier have participated in the festival as well as personalities from overseas, including Tommy Regis and Igor Gutman (USA), and Dave O'Higgins (Britain). In addition, an international music festival entitled "From Classical to Rock" is also being planned for Ashdod.

South of Ashdod, Ashkelon organizes and hosts the Briza International Music Festival. Sponsored by a large brewery, it is also a festival of food and drink. The first festival was held in August, 1995. The main performances take place in the amphitheater of the Ashkelon National Park, while some groups appear on the street. Popular Israeli singers, including Shlomo Artzi, Rita, Rami Kleinstein, Yehuda Poliker and Gidi Gov have appeared.

The cities in the south are not neglecting the musical education of their youth. Conservatories have been established, and the ones in Beersheba and Ashdod are of special note.

In Ashdod, the Acadma Conservatory was founded in 1966, just ten years after the first houses sprouted from the sand dunes. As in Beersheba, branches were built to serve residents in all parts of the growing city. The results are impressive. There are jazz, wind, brass and chamber ensembles. In 1993, the Ashdod Youth Orchestra won first prize in a competition held in Valencia, Spain and in 1995 it was Israel's representative at the International Peace Festival for wind and brass orchestras held in Beijing. An interesting aspect of the conservatory's activities is the involvement of its students in a programme to introduce musical appreciation to children suffering from Down's Syndrome.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Israel instituted a policy of establishing development towns in outlying areas of the country. Like the cities, these towns have put emphasis on making music an integral part of the community. Arad, in the Negev, was one of the earliest towns to be launched in this framework, in 1963. The town has become synonymous with its Hebrew Song Festival, now in its 19th year. Arad takes on the air of a "happening" as special stages are set up for young talent, performances of new immigrants are held, large public songfests in the light of bonfires and a mini-festival of food, arts and crafts take place.

Another development town, Sederot, in the western Negev, has been dubbed the "Liverpool of the South." Several of Israel's leading vocal groups had their beginnings here. The trailblazer was Sfatayim ("Lips"), which was founded in 1985. Its brand of music is based on the tenet that the text is more important than the music. The five Israeli-born group members are all from families of Moroccan origin and their repertoire is based on 300 year-old songs and stories on which they grew up as youngsters. "Our aim," says Haim Oliel, "is not to produce popular hits but to preserve Moroccan traditions for future generations." The end result is Israeli music with a Moroccan flavour, or as Oliel puts it, "an Eastern heart with a Western head." Sfatayim led the way for other popular vocal groups which originated in Sederot. The most outstanding are "Sahara," "Tanara" and "Tippex." Like their progenitor, they add a distinct eastern flavour to their music. In their ethno-rock, they do not neglect their North African roots while at the same time they employ western elements such as blues, soul, Afro-Cuban and jazz.

Sederot is the home not only of popular Israeli vocal groups with an ethnic orientation, but also of an aspiring classical pianist and world-class conductor. Albert Mamriev, 26, arrived in Israel from Moscow in 1995 after studying piano at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the Russian capital. In 1998, Mamriev won first prize at an international piano competition in Madrid in which he faced 28 competitors from 20 countries.

André Szekely conducted leading orchestras in Bucharest, Bratislava and his native Budapest before arriving in Israel in 1967. His first years in the country were spent conducting the Tel Aviv Chamber Orchestra. In the mid-1970s, he established the first music conservatory in Dimona, and in 1985, he set up a conservatory in Sederot, with the aim of providing youngsters with the tools to appreciate classical music and he introduced music lessons in the elementary school curriculum. In 1991, he assembled 12 new immigrants and called the group of string, wind, brass and percussion players, Sederot Camarata 91. The Camerata brings classical music to Sederot. Thus, it has introduced concerts with commentary into the schools. Its programmes include the easier works of such composers as Bach, Mozart, Albinioni, Beethoven, Bizet, Grieg, Offenbach and Strauss as well as Israeli music.

In the six years up to 1996, Sederot doubled its population due to the arrival of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Most of these newcomers came from the Caucasus region. In 1994, the Zori ("Sunrise") Folklore Troupe was founded as a joint effort of the Sederot municipality and the local workers' council. Dressed in colourful costumes, the 40 dancers and musicians of Zori illustrate the customs and folklore of the Caucasus Jewish community, with the aim of raising the self-esteem of the new generation of the community while providing it with a creative outlet.

In the mid-1960s, many immigrants from India settled in the newly-founded development towns, especially Yeruham, Dimona, Ofakim, and Kiryat Gat, where they wished to maintain their traditions and culture. Rahamim Dan was one of these immigrants. Born in Bombay, Dan played the tabla, an Indian drum, with leading Indian artists. Dan established a six-member ensemble which specializes in instrumental and vocal music in the raga style. Its repertoire includes works taken from Jewish and Hindu tradition.

Kiryat Gat, on the edge of the northern Negev, is a development town that has grown into a city. More than 3,000 Ethiopian Jews settled there in the two large immigration waves of the 1980s and 1990s. With the support of the local municipality and other organizations, a group of 22 youngsters aged 11-15 was formed in 1993. Ababa ("Flower" in Amharic), presents a programme of songs in Hebrew and Amharic. Well-known Israeli songwriters, such as Ehud Manor, Ya'acov Naveh, Arkadi Dukhin and Shlomo Gronich have written pieces especially for Ababa, and the group has performed throughout the country.

Meir Mindel was born in Lvov, Soviet Union in 1946. He arrived in Israel in 1958 and settled on Kibbutz Negba. His works, both vocal and orchestral, express his concern for social problems and relate to philosophical questions such as creation and man's place in the universe. An example is "A Maya Prophecy," which was commissioned by the Tel Aviv Philharmonic Choir and has been performed in both Israel and abroad since its première in 1985. Sugihara, a work for a bamboo flute called a shakuhachi, oriental percussion and orchestra, was the first attempt to integrate the Japanese flute in a western symphony orchestra. Mindel composed it in 1995 in honour of Chona Sugihara, who served as the Japanese consul in Vilna, Lithuania during the Second World War and risked his life to save 6,000 doomed Jews by issuing them Japanese passports.

Mindel is also the musical director of the Golden String Quartet, composed of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and they have made a CD with Mindel's arrangements of traditional Hebrew songs.

Michael Wolpe is a member of Kibbutz Sde Boker. Born in 1960 in Tel Aviv, and after completing agricultural high school and army service he combined two boyhood dreams: to compose and to work the land. He chose the kibbutz which Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, joined in his desire to serve as an example in settling the unexploited expanses of the Negev desert. Wolpe believes it is not enough to be just an artist in Israel, but one must also be involved in building society. Wolpe does so by teaching music to youth in the Negev region and in Jerusalem. He is a founder of Caprisma, a Jerusalem chamber ensemble, and he conducts and sings with the Kibbutz Movement Choir.

Wolpe is considered one of the outstanding representatives of the third generation of Israeli composers and his work is influenced by the first generation represented, for example, by Paul Ben-Haim, whom he commemorated in his Homage No. 2 for viola solo. His primary interests are Renaissance and pre-Renaissance music, Israeli folk music, and the influence of Jewish songs on contemporary Israeli music. His compositions take their inspiration from the desert surroundings, biblical and religious themes, and current events.

Wolpe has also received international recognition. His concerto for cello which is a descriptive piece about his family's life in Europe until its immigration to Israel had its première performance in Frankfurt, Germany in 1998, to mark Israel's 50th anniversary, with cellist Julius Berger. "The Return of the Jackals," for accordion, mandolin and the sounds of live jackals was first performed in 2000 in Amman, Jordan, and in 2001 in Beersheba by the Israel Sinfonietta.

For the past three years, a festival called "Music in the Desert" has been held in December at Kibbutz Sde Boker and sites in the vicinity. The founder and musical director of the festival in Wolpe. His idea is to offer the music-loving public a blend of popular and artistic Israeli music and music in the classic European tradition. Veteran and young Israeli composers are encouraged to write and present their works especially for the festival.

Yair Dalal comes from Kibbutz Samar, in the Arava. He was born in 1955 to parents who immigrated from Iraq. In the early 1990s, Dala formed an ensemble called "Al Ol" which plays a mixture of Jewish and Arab, eastern and western music. Al Ol is composed of traditional instruments such as clarinet, flute, violin and guitar, which are played alongside the ûd, tampura, and darbuka. Dalal has initiated several projects with Palestinian musicians. His upbringing has had a significant impact on his work, and he has drawn much inspiration from leading Iraqi Jewish musicians in Israel. In his six CDs, Dalal's message is politically-oriented: global peace and Arab-Israeli peace are possible. Only by a deep recognition of the other and its uniqueness and difference, is it possible to create human, social and political harmony. Dalal's first international exposure came in December 1994, at the Shalom-Salaam concert held in Oslo to mark the first anniversary of the signing of the agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Several kibbutzim and moshavim in the south have set up joint vocal and instrumental activities. The 14 voices - of the Ranot Vocal Ensemble - come from the Yotvata, Ketura and Eilot kibbutzim. While some of the singers have had formal musical training, their daily occupations are distinctly unmusical: computer scientist and mathematician, veterinary surgeon, librarian, laboratory technician in the dairy farm, and tour guide. They have built up a repertoire that ranges from music of the Renaissance to contemporary works. Much of the music is original and has been specially arranged by Gideon Efrati, Ranot's musical director.

In the central Arava area, Ronit Ratner from Moshav Paran coordinates musical activities and sings in a vocal ensemble called the Arava Choir comprised of members of moshavim in the region. She notes that in this seemingly cultural wasteland, Bach and Schubert can be heard along with soul music and Israeli songs. Despite the objective difficulties arising from life in a sparsely populated area of scattered settlements, this group of 24 dedicated individuals has participated in several competitions and festivals in Israel and abroad.

At Kibbutz Ketura, midway between Paran and Eilat, an annual music week has been held for the last 14 years. A varied programme is prepared for the five-day event by kibbutz members Moshe Falkof and Robin Gilmor. Recent programmes have featured chamber works, played by the kibbutz members themselves; jam sessions with jazz ensembles; a sextet of women who sang a cappella in Japanese and Romansch; a day of African beat with percussion and drums; a blues band; the famous "Whiffenpoofs" from Yale University, French "torch" songs, musical quizzes, among many others.

In 1966, three members of Kibbutz Mefalsim in the Western Negev decided that the rhythm and sounds of South American music were lacking in Israel. Thus was formed the Mefalsim Trio, made up of David Erez, Mordechai (Motta) Yedlin and Yosef (José) Halfi. During the day, they work in the poultry run of the kibbutz. At night, they perform all over Israel, and have also appeared overseas, mainly in Latin American countries.

A description of music in the rural areas of the South would be incomplete without mentioning the music of the Beduin who are indigenous to the Negev. Their music is functional and an integral part of their tradition and daily life. It is heard at family and social gatherings, and the songs are intended to deliver moral messages, relate legends, and pass on the wisdom of the elders. But this rich heritage is in danger of being lost because the music is improvised and played without notation. It is an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation.

Nahumi Har-Zion, a musicologist from Kibbutz Sde Boker and Muhammad Abu-Ajaj, a Beduin from the village of Kseife, have taken upon themselves the task of preserving and recording Beduin music. Har-Zion has carried out extensive research on Beduin music and has studied its historical origins in the seventh and eighth centuries. The repertoire includes songs of the home and family, of women and drawing of water at the well, of the desert and camels, of heroes and tribal wars, of sheikhs and legendary figures, and of historical events.

Rhythm is an important part of Beduin music. Even the ceremony of grinding coffee is accompanied by a rhythmic pounding on an improvised percussion as the invitees clap and shout various exclamations. The main musical instruments are the one-stringed rababa, made of a horsetail and tree branch; the shepherd's flute; the ûd and; the simsimiyya, a five-stringed lyre improvised from a jerry can and originally associated with fishermen's songs; and drums, often played by women at weddings.

The 43-year-old Abu-Ajaj, who studied guitar and violin, is presently a music instructor at the Kaye Teachers' Training College in Beersheba. His students are young Beduin women who are being taught elements of rhythm and songs to prepare them for leading classes of Beduin youngsters.

In another project, Abu-Ajaj has formed a Beduin quartet which plays traditional instruments and sings traditional songs. The task, however, is difficult. At present, there are only six qualified music teachers for the 45 Beduin schools in southern Israel.

In conclusion, we have seen that music-makers in Israel's south are making their own unique contribution to the country's cultural life. They have combined their love of music with the need to give their life added meaning and quality.

Whatever their motives, all of them would probably agree with Eliyahu Nawi, a former mayor of Beersheba, who once said; "Settling the Negev and returning to the land of our forefathers will be meaningless unless there is cultural creativity. Part of our taking root in this region includes sowing our own culture in the sands where the people of Israel began."