Foreword to Rapsodia 17-19, "December 2016" & "Variations"

It's been almost 2 years since I published my latest scores of Rapsodia Nusantara (at that moment it was almost simultaneous with my Fantasies & Variations which contains 5 pieces), and Rapsy 17-20 was indeed written during this period, but they were just lying around waiting to be finished and totally revised. Finishing a rather complex piece is the most procrastinating thing for me, since I know exactly what to write, but I am so lazy writing the actual (millions of) notes. ............................................................................................................................................ Even though I have Rapsy 20 and 21 80% ready, I decided that they will be for my next publication. It's funny that the 2 remaining pieces in this book, December 2016 and Variations on "Ibu Pertiwi" were written pretty quickly, in just a few days, as you can read below. ............................................................................................................................................ Rapsy 17 and 18 contain piano sketches for my Chamber Symphony no. 1 and orchestral work "An Ode to the Nation", both commissioned by Indonesia's 3rd President B.J. Habibie through his Habibie - Ainun Foundation. There are bits that aren't included in the orchestral works, since they are purely pianistic. Rapsy 17 is based on the Central Java folksong "Lir-Ilir" and no. 18 is a set of variations and passacaglia on "Soleram", a folksong from Riau province, Sumatra. Rapsy 19 is based on the first half of the Sundanese (West Java) folksong "Manuk Dadali", with treatments resembling the atmosphere of a Balinese gamelan. ............................................................................................................................................ The two remaining pieces are not as virtuosic as those Rapsies above, and they were written relatively quickly, triggered by the events in December 2016. They could be played by, say, young pianists of grade 7 or 8, as long as they are musically quite mature. But speaking of maturity, my older Rapsies are now played by many children in Indonesia, even as young as 11 years old, as you can search in youtube. Yeah, in some parts you can almost hear their age, but certainly not in the fast, furious and virtuosic passages! ............................................................................................................................................ The Variations on "Ibu Pertiwi" started itself while I was watching TV, when our hard-working, highly dedicated & kind-hearted governor of Jakarta, Basuki Purnama or more famous by his nickname Ahok, was sitting in court, being a patsy, slandered by a group of so-called Islamists. Ahok had put many corruptors in jail, and he is popular among the people. Next February there will be a regional election so he is of course standing in the way of the other candidates, and the only way to put him away is through smearing him by editing a video of him talking, so that the edited video became viral. To make things worse, he is of Chinese descendant, and a Christian. Ahok was weeping in court, and I immediately tweeted "Ahok's tears is the tears of Ibu Pertiwi (translated literally, Mother Country)". There is an old nationalistic song, Ibu Pertiwi, whose composer and lyricist remain anonymous until now, and so I started to scribble some sketches, a set of variations based on it. It turned out to be quite a melancholic piece, with only 1 fast variation. The trial was on the 13th of December, the day I started to write the music, and it was finished on the 15th. ............................................................................................................................................ This situation of increasing religious intolerance in Indonesia triggered me to write a piece, which, for not having trouble in looking for a fancy title I decided to call it simply December 2016. So, in fact the title is not "what happened in December 2016" but more of "what I would wish December 2016 would be". The concept of the piece is simple : that 2 music of different religions could sound together in perfect harmony. I start the music with "The First Noel" tune which grow dissonant, and then the melodic material of the usual adzan (a call for prayer in the mosque) creeps in from afar. It then intertwines itself with the First Noel tune, which is still in minor mode, but gradually both separates from each other, and the music ends with both melodic materials in full glory, each not killing each other but securely establishing themselves instead and even complementing each other into a victorious final. ............................................................................................................................................ When the Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Jakarta (Jakarta Legal Aid Institute) asked me to do something for their fundraising event, I thought this new piano piece of mine would suit well for it. During that charity event, this piece was bought by Andi Gani Nena Wea, to whom this piece is then dedicated.