Tumirah interrupted ... gladly. And RIP David Bowie

Woohoo, I received a God-given excuse to interrupt the composition of my opera, Tumirah, Sang Mucikari ! The opera's vocal and piano score is almost finished, I just have to orchestrate it which will take a few weeks. But I feel my brain rather exhausted from it, and was feeling like taking a small break without feeling guilty about it ... and voila! ............................................................................................................................................. The young rising star poet Adimas Immanuel contacted me last week that he is having his new book of poem launched by publisher GRAMEDIA next month. He was happy that the also rising soprano star Mariska Setiawan (I guess they are of the same age, around 24-25?) has recorded my music based on one of his poems in her first CD. Since Mariska came to Jakarta for the Jakarta New Year Concert last week (she normally lives in Surabaya), all 3 of us made an appointment to meet very late after the concert. When I said "very", it means like eerrr ... almost 11 p.m., in a restaurant near my apartment. This photo was taken during that meeting, which was so inspiring and went on and on until very late ... or shall I say early? Adimas asked us if we would like to do (meaning: make music of) some of his poems for the launching event, and Mariska and me didn't think twice to accept it. And so, he emailed us both the softcopy of his new book, and both Mariska and me got the privilige to be the first readers (outside his publishers) of his new book, 1 month before its official launching! Of course we are "under oath" not to forward it to anybody else, since Adimas is now one of the hottest property of Indonesian literature at the moment and the launch of a new poetry collection is something that is much looked forward to. Everything happens very quickly. A few days later Gramedia had a meeting with my manager Chendra, and everything is set to be done for next month. ............................................................................................................................................. And so we are in the middle of the compositional process which is fun and unique, since to begin with, most of the poems are inspired by paintings. Therefore, setting them to music is a second step of the artistic transformation: from painting to poetry, and from poetry to music. So Mariska and I discuss a poem (and the painting that inspired each of them) every night before she sleeps. By the way, she sleeps "normally" as most of human beings do: around midnight. So we pick a random poem (like me, she is also a literature freak), talk about it, agree whether to set it to music (or not) and after she falls asleep I start to work on a chosen one until about 3-4 a.m. I then email the finished music just before sunrise before I walk a bit around the swimming pool and then sleep, so she wakes up and finds the music to learn it during the morning and gives me some feedbacks. Oh, the beauty of technology! Poor Brahms or Schumann couldn't do these kinda things with their singers. It's really a fun and inspiring way to write music. And I learn a lot from Mariska too. The human voice is a neverending mystery to reveal. Since Mariska is also a pop singer -- and a damn good pop-songwriter too, I feel a good connection, since I am a huge fan of many of her heroes, such as The Beach Boys, Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson .... and from her I start to appreciate the great art of David Bowie, may he Rest in Peace. What a way to leave the world, with his latest farewell song Lazarus ... and dying from cancer at the age of a Cancer symbol, 69. ............................................................................................................................................. The concert and launch of Adimas' new book Di Hadapan Rahasia (Facing a Secret), plus the World Premiere of my new song cycle "Rangkaian Rahasia Untuk Mariska" (A chain of secrets for Mariska) will take place at Teater Kecil, Taman Ismail Marzuki, on Wednesday the 17th of February. We still discuss the time it should start, since there are many things happening there: book signing, a small discussion with some snacks and about 1 hour of concert, not only with the songs, but with some Rapsodia Nusantara as well. Please just contact my office Ananda Sukarlan Center for more info and details : ycep@yahoo.com or 0818 891038 (WA or sms too).

A Secret Sky

I dunno how many times I've tweeted that it's wonderful to have wifi on board of the plane, but we need electric plugs! Otherwise, how do we solve the problem of the battery of our laptop, especially in long flights? .... I just arrived in Indonesia, this time I went directly to Surabaya where I gotta give some masterclasses for hundreds, yeah literally hundreds of piano students. They are mostly enthusiastic and ambitious here in Surabaya, so it's nice to work with them. On board of the plane I googled many things about Rumi, my new favorite writer, and even his writings translated in English have that strange beauty that never fail to move and inspire me. One phrase totally struck me : “This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” .......................................................................................................................................... Immediately music sounded in my head: music of low notes from "low" instruments trying to reach the great heights. And there I was, in the sky, alone, lonely with the other passengers with their own past, pains and problems. I managed to write 2 minutes of the first section of my new piece for viola and piano, and its title in progress is A Secret Sky. I fell asleep afterwards, watching a nice documentary of the early days of my all time favorite rock group, Queen. They are amazing, and certainly I consider Freddie Mercury my lifetime idol. I still don't know what I will do with A Secret Sky ... but I'm sure it will have a life of her own and create her own destiny. Hopefully a viola player would commission me, and if not, it will enter into a bigger piece of mine. Her future, as ours, are uncertain. But we have our past which determines our future, and she doesn't. ............................................................................................................................................ In Surabaya I worked with many many talented young pianists, among others at the recently created Piano Institute whose founder is a most charming & bright young lady graduated from Sydney Conservatory of Music (oh my visits there were always quite memorable; there were beauty everywhere, all kinds of beauty), Catherine Tanujaya. I suffered a huge jet lag problem, so I filled my sleepless nights with orchestrating the unfinished sections of Erstwhile. I regret that I couldn't leave Spain celebrating the total finished music of Erstwhile, but as Paul Valery had said, a work of art is never finished. I guess I will baptize it as "finished" only when I send the score to the orchestra. Meanwhile, I have to do several shorter and lighter projects, including finishing the second book of Rapsodia Nusantara. I plan to have Rapsodia 6 to 10 in that book, and it's too early to give away some details for now. This week will be a "social" week : the launching of the documentary video on autistic children by the Jakarta new honest governor (when did the last time we could combine that adjective with that noun?) Jokowi, and the big thing is the gala premiere of the film Hari Ini Pasti Menang (Today We Shall Win) this Thursday the 11th. I wrote the music for both films. You can check the "pop" theme song I wrote for that film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wnuHsn56ic&feature=share. Lots of events, interviews and ... GOOD FOOD! But meanwhile, here I am, struggling with all my pains and putting them on music paper. In my own secret sky, the sky I wish I'd never be in.