Dedication

Now that Henoch Kristianto's CD of my piano music is released, not only with 6 of my Rapsies but also with my other pieces each dedicated to someone, most compliments that I got are not only how good they are performed, but how lucky are those people who received dedications of my pieces. Well, perhaps some of them are. This issue brings me back many years ago, and I almost forgot about it. When I was in the beginning of my career, it was very important for me to receive a dedication from prominent composers. And of course one can't go around pulling the composer's shirts shouting "dedicate a piece to me pleeeaazzze", it just gotta come from the composer himself, or if you are rich, you can commission a composer to write one for you, like all those royal families in the past or the Medici family, or patrons of the arts have been doing. Or you can commission a composer to write something ABOUT and FOR your loved ones. The process is exactly the same as asking a painter to paint a portrait of yourself or your love ones. ............................................................................................................................................ Playing "my" pieces written by them indeed boosted the number of audience, my reputation and therefore my career. The audience are sick of the same Beethovens n Chopins in concerts and they always welcome new GOOD pieces of music. Many of those pieces dedicated to me are a kind of "portrait" of the characteristic of my playing which the composers see in me and not in other pianists, and that I somehow inspired them to do it. Therefore, I can mention pieces by European composers which sound pretty "Indonesian" because of, and written for me, such as "Many Returns to Bali" by Per Norgaard (Denmark), Little Passacaglia by Peter Sculthorpe (Australia), Alio Modo by David del Puerto, Kecak Sonata by Jesus Rueda, and even that celebrated hyper-virtuosic piece Anandamania by Santiago Lanchares and many others. I am indeed grateful that I have contributed something to the development of modern pianistic techniques. Of course as a pianist those dedications come with a (huge) responsibility, since it is my task to introduce those pieces to the audience, otherwise it won't mean anything to have them. Those pieces were then accepted by other pianists who later perform them, but the birth of the piece, and how it gives the first impression, is very important and I am responsible for it. Of course the attraction of the pieces play a major role in its popularity ; the hyper-virtuosic and noisy Anandamania was so much high in demand that I've played it, usually together with the Ligeti Etudes, in more than 100 concerts and not only in Spain or even Europe. That piece alone, breaks the record of my most frequently performed piece, even more than my own ones (writing this, I now wonder if I ever played it in Indonesia). Some of those composers then wrote more pieces of music for me either for professional reasons or just as a "token of gratitude", and somehow I became "identified" with their piano music and received contracts to record their complete piano music on CD. Ah, some of them were so sweet to write (sometimes more than) a few notes dedicated to my daughter, Alicia Pirena, knowing that she used to play the piano too. Needless to say, it wasn't written for her virtuosity, but just an act of love. Usually those composers did it because they have spent some time at our home in Cantabria so they got to know her too. ............................................................................................................................................ But some of my "dedication" pieces are written not for musicians, but purely out of friendship or gratitude. Even if they are for musicians, it can be for just as simple as that, not for professional purposes. You see, I hate going to department stores, let alone shopping malls to buy presents for birthdays or weddings, and I prefer staying in bed writing music. If I give someone my music, there are some advantages for both of us: 1. usually that person knows, and likes, my music, so (s)he would like my present. 2. Now don't say that I am not spending anything. I do spend my time, and time is money. But with music, spending doesn't mean losing, and we both receive, since I don't lose anything. My time writing it usually gives me pleasure, or even therapeutic for my Tourette/Asperger syndrome when it's concurrent. 3. That "present" hopefully will be beneficial not to the receiver, but to other people, coz if it turns out to be nice it will be played by many others, therefore it is a good material either for educational or concert purposes. It is in fact a tradition in Europe to do it, perhaps the most celebrated is Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations, where each movement is dedicated, in his own words to "my friends pictured within", each variation being an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances. Leonard Bernstein wrote his charming short piano pieces "Anniversaries", with each bearing a simple title "For ...", filling the blank with the name of the (nick)name of the dedicatee. In fact, it is those pieces which triggered me to do those "musical cards" which at the moment sums up to around 40+ short pieces. And 4. now it's helping to save the earth, since a musical score doesn't have to be printed on paper anymore, although poco a poco I am including them in my "Alicia's Piano Books". ............................................................................................................................................ If I write for someone, usually something in that person triggered me to write, although there are a few cases that I found a manuscript I wrote ages ago, and decided I'd dedicate it to someone, sometimes for some random reasons. And if I get the character of the piece formed in my head, I would need a concrete material for it to be developed, and usually I use their names/initials to make a motif. But hey, it doesn't have to be that way. It could be the subject of our conversation, or the place or situation where we had our chat. And I don't care who is that person, as long as (s)he means something for me. A good friend, or someone who's been kind to me. Instead of sending flowers after a dinner invitation, I could just write a musical card, if something we talked during dinner could inspire me. That piece of music usually is a record, or musical photograph of what was happening around the writing process. And if I want to express something so deep that words are not able to do, well, music is always the best means to do it. Music is so powerful to express things that can't be done in words, and mostly it's about the pain so intense inside. And in writing music for and about someone, usually I realize more things about myself in that piece. That's why the act of composing can be so scary, sometimes. Sometimes. ............................................................................................................................................ Ah yes, I am also playing some of those "dedicatorial pieces" in my concert next October 20th. Still not sure which ones, though. I am doing a survey through twitter about which are the favorite ones. You can tweet me at @anandasukarlan ... just let me know which ones you like me to do in the concert. If more people want the piece, certainly I'll play it/them. More info about the concert, and ticket reservations, please contact my manager Chendra at 0818 891038 or ycep@yahoo.com