Keith Emerson R.I.P (my obituary at The Jakarta Post)

This article was published at The Jakarta Post on the 21st of March, 10 days after the death of Keith Emerson. As usual, this one is my original version (although the published one was almost unedited and uncut anyway). ............................................................................................................................................. KEITH EMERSON AS WE (DIDN'T) KNOW HIM ............................................................................................................................................. by Ananda Sukarlan, composer & pianist ............................................................................................................................................. When we learned the death of Keith Emerson, keyboardist and composer of the English progressive-rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) last week on March 10th, we didn't lose just another rich 'n famous musician. We lost a pioneer in bridging genres in music and someone who shaped the love of classical music to those who hated classical music before. Born on November 2, 1944 in Todmorden, Yorkshire, Emerson studied classical and jazz music before blending them with rock into that style that eventually brought him critical and commercial success. As stated in his biography, Emerson described himself: “I was a very serious child. I used to walk around with Beethoven sonatas under my arm. However, I was very good at avoiding being beaten up by the bullies. That was because I could also play Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard songs. So, they thought I was kind of cool and left me alone." ............................................................................................................................................. He started his "classical" side of his career by -- just as we all do-- imitating. But this imitation didn't stop there; it became transformation, transformation became a search for an identity. Still, until the end of his life he was stereotyped as a progressive rocker ... because he was, and he was more focused in that aspect. Thanks to his "transformation" period, thousands or perhaps millions which include me (who admitted it in some interviews since I was in my 20s) were introduced to the classical world "from another door". The first piece that bridged his "imitation" to "transformation" period is based on Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and he has also tinkered with other classical works such as Bach's Italian Concerto, thus established the new genre "symphonic rock" or "classical rock". In his rendition of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man he still needed Copland's original music not only to frame his own music (which is clearly in rock style) but also to extract the material from the great American composer's music. ............................................................................................................................................. Emerson's 20-minute Piano Concerto no. 1 (appeared on the vinyl "ELP Works" in 1977 as the only work on Side 1. Curiously enough he never omitted the number 1, not having a no. 2) could be compared to George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F : an original work that established the musical identity of the composer. A pity is that this piece wasn't particularly well received by the classical music fans and performers and neither by the ELP fans, although I consider it the pinnacle of Emerson's classical concept. I am not sure if it was prejudice over the fact that it was composed by a rock guy, or an uncomfortable feeling from rock fans over something that was entirely not rock. It is, in artistic terms, a really solid piece of music with elaborate developments with not one note too many. It is in 3 different movements although there doesn't seem to be much cohesion between them. It is as if he opened a door and found a fascinating world but he hesitated to enter. It certainly is not the kind of "beginner's guide to classical music" or "classical music for classical haters" since it is not "light" at all; on the contrary, it is quite sophisticated in exploiting its motifs and not just a series of spontaneous improvisation, therefore one's ear should already be used to classical music in order to grab the whole musical concept and beauty of this work. ............................................................................................................................................. Emerson won't be remembered as a prominent composer in classical music, since one couldn't say it based on very few original musical works, but he is important in musical history in the sense of being one of the first composers, after George Gershwin or Kurt Weill, who has his feet in two musical worlds coming from rock. In fact, his feet is more firmly planted in progressive rock rather than in classical music which appeared to be just a kind of phase in his life. But still, it was inspiring to many classical musicians as an example of not staying in one's comfort zone for the enrichment of the musical language. ............................................................................................................................................. In Indonesia we have the example of Addie MS who came from a pop-music background and then crossed the bridge to classical music land and becomes its primary exponent. In the younger generations we have some accomplished musicians who do the contrary journey: going from classical to other genres. The most famous example nowadays is Isyana Sarasvati, who studied classical piano and vocal, to the level of graduating from National University of Singapore as a classical vocalist and won our country's National (classical) Vocal Competition, but is now firmly established as a pop singer and songwriter. The same could be mentioned for the more senior Artidewi, who among others wrote --and performed-- the (jazz) song "Hush" for the film "The Raid 2", and at the moment preparing to take part in a classical opera in May. The young rising star Mariska Setiawan, who as an acclaimed classical soprano is specializing in music based on (mostly Indonesian) poems and other literature works (which is still a new concept in Indonesia) can also be found in her occasional gigs and recordings in her own pop songs, either original ones or covering the songs of her idol David Bowie. In purely singing terms, Julius Firdaus has used his weird, intriguing countertenor voice (another quite new thing for Indonesia!) for different genres with extraordinary control. In fact it was this prowess that made the trap he himself fell into during the Semi Finals of the highly popular TV Show Australia's Got Talent : he wanted to turn this rare skill into wizardry of technical possibilities of just around 3 minutes. The judges didn't fail him for his brilliant capabilities; they did it for not being able to focus on one genre, or even failed to define the name of that genre. And promoters need a name for genres, in order to have a clear brand to sell. Julius has yet established his position in a specific genre, and perhaps he doesn't need to, but his talent is inspiring and perhaps a composer who would like to exploit his abilites should establish a new genre --and musical concept-- too, just like what Keith Emerson did. It is nevertheless still unclear, who coined the term "symphonic (or classical) rock". Certainly it wasn't him. However, let's remember that Beethoven didn't invent the term "romantic music", nor did Stravinsky established the term "neo-classical", both as pioneers of those styles (in fact Stravinsky hated that term). They just imitated, transformed and found a new "sound". As his colleague from ELP Carl Palmer remembered Emerson on his Facebook: "He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz." Perhaps when John Lennon wished that there were no countries nor religions, he could have wished that there were no genres in music either.

Easy music, chamber music, nice music

Writing easy music is not easy. Well, we composers know that, so there are 2 types of us: the ones who avoid writing music which is easy to play, and the others who then delve into it and start trying to write it. I used to belong in the first club, but since I wrote for my daughter Alicia, I joined the second club. But there is something more difficult than writing easy music, and that is writing easy and GOOD music to be performed. Not that the music in Alicia's Piano Books are not meant to be performed, no no ... in fact it's just a collection of any kind of short pieces. ............................................................................................................................................. Believe me, everytime I wrote a new Rapsodia Nusantara, I always intended that this one would not be a difficult one, so it could be played by young(er) pianists. And I sort of achieved it, like in no. 6 and recently no. 16 which became quite popular with Indonesian pianists. I just finished a new one too, which become no. 18, a set of variations and passacaglia which I am not telling from which song at the moment ;) and it's quite easy(-ier) than the rest. And lighter too, with some humorous quotations of existing music. ............................................................................................................................................. Now that my friends in 5 cities are organizing a piano competition for young people, I regularly talk to them too about this. Especially Eveline Philips in Makassar who told me that in Alicia's Piano Books very easy piano pieces are not enough. I mean very, like, for real beginners, just a few months touching the keys. Anyway, it's been nice chatting with her while writing several very easy and short pieces. I don't always succeed, as I said above it's not easy writing easy pieces, but I got some for Alicia's 6th Piano Book. And yeah, it's a wonderful initiative those friends of mine have about this Piano Nusantara competition. The idea is each of them in their respective cities organize a competition, and then the winner of each city would be eligible to do the Grand Finale in Jakarta. And it's a very friendly one, unlike the Ananda Sukarlan Award, which is tough. The idea is to show the (very) young pianists that competitions are not meant to "kill" them. Everyone is a winner, they will receive comments from the judges, and they can prepare any kind of music they want. The 2 things they have to comply is that 1. They have to prepare 2 pieces, one by an Indonesian composer and the other by a classical international one, you know, Bach, Schumann and those guys. 2. The duration, which as usual there is a limit. You can check everything out at pianonusantara.wordpress.com . ............................................................................................................................................. Now that the Foundation for Autistic Children "EMPATI" commissioned me for a new piece based on a famous children song "Kupu-kupu" (by the late very popular children songwriter Ibu Sud), I gotta succeed in making a quite elaborate (I mean longer than the pieces in Alicia's Piano Books) showpiece but playable by intermediate pianists. And yeah, in the midst of orchestrating my opera Tumirah, I finished a Theme and 5 variations on it. I finished them just now, in a hotel in near the beautiful town of Arnuero. I am serving as the president of the jury for their International Chamber Music Competition this weekend. One thing which is nice about writing "not-so-difficult" pieces is that one doesn't need a piano to try everything, unlike writing the Rapsodias where I constantly had to go to the piano and check whether something is (not) playable by our poor overexploited fingers. And there is a feeling of accomplishment afterwards, different than finishing my other "difficult" pieces, therefore I write these lines :). ............................................................................................................................................. And talking about the Chamber Music Competition, I just acquired immense pleasure listening to all participants. I am double happy that my Indonesian musician colleagues "Duo Schoko" could enter the final round. Nothing to do with me being the president of the jury, mind you! Ah, and also it was such fun playing with my colleagues during the opening concert, where we premiered my new Trio for flute, viola & piano. Just search it on youtube if you wanna hear it, it's in 3 videos but you can get them all if you search with the keyword "ananda sukarlan trio". ............................................................................................................................................. Millions of young pianists aspire to become soloists, but most forget how important it is playing together, either with instruments or with vocalists. The joy and fun is inexplicable, because we share the music together. Chamber music should be introduced at a very young age .... and now I am thinking to write easy pieces for chamber music!

Ménage à trois

On the 18th of this month, together with my highly esteemed friends the flutist Jaime Salas and violist Jose Manuel Saiz we'll give the world premiere of my new trio, Ménage à trois. ............................................................................................................................................. This 9-minute suite is a commission from the Concurso de Musica de Camara Ecoparque of Arnuero, Cantabria, and we have the privilige of premiering it during the opening concert of the competition. I would like to provide the trio with something light, humorous and exciting rhythmically, since most of the works in this repertoire are in "serious" mood. I have written a very short piece many years ago for this formation, right after reading Walt Whitman's "A Farm Picture" which is only 3 lines long. That poem was so atmospherically powerful that the music just popped up in my head. We played it last year as an encore, and when Antonio Margallo, the organizer of the competition commissioned me a piece for this year, I told him that A Farm Picture would be incorporated in this 3-movement suite. It becomes the second, or central movement of this so-called suite. By the way, each of the movements could still be performed separately, if any trio of this formation would need an encore. ................................................ The first movement, Scherzophrenia, is scored for only flute and viola, since I wanted to explore the possibilities of this duo. There are some nice works written for this duo in the past; I would mention those by Malcolm Arnold and the 18th century composer Francois Devienne. And the third movement, Spaghetti Western Revisited is a kind of an tribute to Ennio Morricone's music for spaghetti western from an Indonesian admirer; let's just say that I imagine a Spaghetti Western movie being made in the savanas of Indonesia! Of course some Indonesian musical modes are (unconsciously and spontaneously) present in this movement. I am so glad to learn that after I finished it, and 2 weeks before our premiere, the Maestro won his first Academy Award with 87 years of age!