lunes, 31 de octubre de 2016

My speech at the World Culture Forum 2016, Bali

Since the video of our performance at the closing of the World Culture Forum 2016 in Bali (which has now turned to be the most viewed video from all events recorded on youtube from the WCF 2016) my speech has been circulating around too. Here is the link to that video, and I post the transcript of my speech below it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2fxlD2XGw ............................................................................................................................................ His Excelencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, ............................................................................................................................................ If you google "classical music is", google will automatically continue with their three most searched words: "dying" , "for snobs" and "boring". This may be the most 3 top searched words in Europe or the USA, but let's check the facts. For example, I am sure you all know the town Salzburg or the country Finlandia. Now, what automatically connect with those two names? The first would be Mozart, and the second Sibelius. Two icons of classical music separated 100 years apart. Their names are used for chocolates and also a beautiful park with Sibelius monument in Helsinki. Now THAT'S the power of classical music. I believe if a country is a shop, its artistic product is the shop window. Mention Florence and we immediately think of the great paintings, mention Barcelona and we think of its buildings by the architect Antoni Gaudi. ............................................................................................................................................ Sometimes art looks as if it is cheap, and we even give it for free, as we can see and listen now through social media. But we all know, when a product is free, then the consumer IS the product. Art is one of the most powerful means to introduce our country to the outside world. A way to attract tourists and investors, if we want to connect it economically, but also simply it is a way to make friends and diplomatic relationships. ............................................................................................................................................ I believe that music is a universal language because it can connect to our emotions directly, bypassing the mind almost entirely. Also, the inherent mathematical structure of music can easily cross cultural barriers as well. But things are not so simple. ............................................................................................................................................ Music as a medium of expression is universal the same way spoken language as a medium of communication is universal. Just like languages which vary from similar dialects to virtually mutually unintelligible languages, music of various cultures and various styles are not readily accessible and understood by everybody. Also cultural conditioning and assimilation is essential if someone wants to speak an accent-free language as a native or like a native. The same goes with music. The so called Western classical music is only a form of music. It is now widespread in the world thanks to centuries of western colonization and modern media. I, as a musician deeply rooted in the western tradition, can often hear a foreign "accent" when western classical music is performed by musicians who come from countries far removed from the west, or western performers no longer in touch with the traditional styles of performance. It is neither a bad thing nor a good thing per se. It's like listening to CNN international where almost every reporter has a foreign accent. Is it noticeable? Yes! Is it distracting? Not really! But of course, the best reporter is one talking and expressing in his own mother tongue. ............................................................................................................................................ In any case, music is like a foreign language. You need to learn the notes like you learn the alphabet. Then you study the grammar, and then try to speak it or write in it. If you want to learn a new language you have to start from scratch again. The same with music. In order to sit through a 3-hour long Italian as well as Chinese opera, and to truly enjoy it, an open disposition won't be enough. You will need to know much about the style and culture. And to give a believable performance of it, you need much more than that. You need to have fully assimilated the Chinese culture and language. Otherwise, your performance will always have that foreign accent which on this particular case may distract the listener. And that is why Indonesian musicians need Indonesian classical music in order to present ourselves in the international forum. We can't compete with those international musicians performing Mozart and Beethoven, our "foreign accent" will always be revealed. We perform the best music of our heritage, although using western instruments and even western techniques. ............................................................................................................................................ Indonesian classical music does not really exist, because we have great diversity of ethnic cultures. Or shall I rephrase it: Indonesian classical music exists BECAUSE of our diversity. That's why it's so difficult to pinpoint how Indonesian classical music sounds, since an influence from a Sumatran ethnic music could be so different than one influenced by ethnic music of, say, Java or Bali. But in the end it is the composer's identity and particular character that produces music that is characteristically Indonesian. ............................................................................................................................................ Indonesia has started establishing its identity in classical music, and this is what our orchestra is presenting to you today. The orchestra consist of the best musicians from all over the country. The musicians come from the islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra and Java. First we all rehearsed in Jakarta and 3 days ago we all flew to Bali together and come to this forum. We hope you enjoy our performance, and thank you.

lunes, 24 de octubre de 2016

Foreword to Alicia's 6th Piano Book

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, do the pedagogical researches and start trying to write it. I used to belong in the first club, but since I had my daughter Alicia studying piano, 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. Now, who could have imagined that I would keep on publishing Alicia's Piano Books when she is already a mathematics student at the University and not touching the piano at all? With this fact, Alicia's Piano Books are now simply a collection of any kind of short pieces. There are some new themes in this book that weren't in the other books. First is the piano imitating other instruments, or rather, exploring the character of other instruments. Therefore we have The Happy Bassoonist, The Nostalgic English-Hornist and The Mellow, stuck-in-the-past French Hornist which is also the 7th Love Song. This will serve two purposes: for young pianists to understand and to imagine the particular sound of the instrument, and as sketches for myself if I gotta write for the corresponding instrument in the future. A propos of Love Songs, I also decided to simply put numbers in them. In the previous Alicia's Books we had Falling in Love, When I See your Smile etc., which are basically Love Songs but with different titles. Since I am now too lazy to be fancy and being poetic and nostalgic, I will from now on put numbers and simply call them as they are, Love Songs. Just the musical notes are enough to make me feel mellow, let alone in thinking the exact situation that triggered the music! ............................................................................................................................................. Apart from a new "piece of cake" for 4 hands, there are also 2 sets of Variations, not as difficult as Rapsodia Nusantara, based on a children's songs. This would serve for a quite-but-not-so virtuosic piece for young pianists in their concerts. ............................................................................................................................................. About Variations on Kupu-kupu I wrote these following lines, kept in my computer and forgot to publish it in my blog: Now that the Foundation for Autistic Children commissioned me for a new piece based on a famous children song "Kupu-kupu" (by the very popular children songwriter, the late 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 over-exploited fingers. ............................................................................................................................................. 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 lacking. 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 about 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 are: 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 . ............................................................................................................................................. The composer would like to thank Eveline Philips and her team at the Grazioso Music School in Makassar, South Sulawesi for her inputs and her gradings of each of the pieces. She is a pioneer of classical piano playing in the island of Sulawesi, and one of the very few first timers in the East of Indonesia. We all hope that she would serve as a catalyst for many more pianists and piano teachers in that region to bloom.