I, too, have a dream

Next week, a new CD of my works for voice(s) is gonna be released. I am so happy and honoured to have the soprano Bernadeta Astari "Deta" and the baritone Joseph Kristanto "Akis" record my vocal works. Apart from the fact that they are the two singers who have specialized in almost all my music involving the human voice and have worked with me intensely in performing them, they are magnificent musicians with impeccable techical abilities, sensitive artistry and profound musical understanding.

My interest in the human voice dated back in the 1980s when I heard Benjamin Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings during my student years. That was the first vocal work that has made me weep, literally weep, during its performance. Since then, I started my collection of all Peter Pears' recording of Britten's whole ouvres, so my first vocal works were just bad copies of Britten and justly enough they all ended up in my dustbin. In the 1990s, it was the poetry of Walt Whitman, William Blake and Longfellow that have helped me find my own path. Still, I was feeling uneasy for not being able to feel at home in setting words of my own language. Ilham Malayu's poems during his stay in Bangkok prison were the first poems in Indonesian that I set to music, but it wasn't until very recently that I had a huge crush with the poetry of Sapardi Djoko Damono. And then came along other great Indonesian poets : Goenawan Mohamad, Eka Budianta, Hasan Aspahani, Nirwan Dewanto, Ook Nugroho and so on. Ah, and that fascinating miniaturist lady, Medy Loekito. And with my inspirational singer friends around, my Indonesian songs just came along and took shape naturally. I feel that my best music ("best" is according to my, and only mine, not other people's standard) are written inspired by people or their artistry.

I have a dream (this is not because of Obama reminding the famous phrase of MLK), that one day Indonesia will have virtuosi of all instruments, so that they would and could inspire me to write concertos for each of them : a violin concerto, clarinet concerto, up to ... bassoon concerto, harp concerto, tuba concerto and --why not?-- a percussion concerto. And yeah, my next Concerto for piano and orchestra should not be written for myself. There are many, many highly talented young Indonesian pianists around. They will prevail. And very soon.

The Voice Inside me (can now be found in this book)

This was published last month, but I just got the photo of the cover a few days ago by email. It's the score of 25 vocal works by me, based on Indonesian poems by Goenawan Mohamad, Chendra Panatan, Sapardi Djoko Damono, Joko Pinurbo and Ilham Malayu. You can order it through Chendra my manager (whose poems can be found in this book as well) at ycep@yahoo.com or 0818 891038 if you live in Indonesia.

Some of the songs in this book (about 80 pages or so !) can be listened to at http://www.youtube.com/ ; search under my name Ananda Sukarlan. All songs are with piano accompaniment (except two solo vocal pieces), and are for soprano, tenor and baritone solo and duets . It includes the song-cycles "Senyap Dalam Derai" (soprano & piano), "Gemuruhnya Malam" (baritone and piano), Canda Empat Penjuru (baritone & piano) as well as individual songs such as "my Aids song" Dalam Sakit for tenor & piano. All those beautiful poems are printed in the first few pages, and there are some program notes by me as well (mostly taken from this blog).

Lots of blogging today, eh ? Ok, ok ... back to writing my opera ...

Gemuruhnya Malam (program notes for JCOM Fest)

This cycle for baritone & piano, based on 4 poems by Goenawan Mohamad, started from setting the poem "Sajak untuk Bungbung" on flight from Jakarta - Frankfurt beginning of January 07. Someone gave me the complete poems of GM for a present during my stay in Jakarta that turn of the year and that was my "official book" for the flight. Having finished setting that poem, I realized that I have created a material that has a hypnotizing effect (which suits very well with many of GM's poems) : repeated notes, and that material could be developed in further works.

Another poem, Perjalanan Malam (Journey of the Night) also attracted me immensely, since it was based on Goethe's poem "Der Erlkönig" which was later set to become Schubert's most famous song. So, I took my repeated-notes material and also studied Schubert's song before setting GM's poem . Of course I wouldn't dare to emulate the Austrian master, but my piece certainly couldn't have existed without it. It turned out later that all the songs are all based on the note C, although one couldn't pinpoint whether it's major, minor, bi-tonal or even atonal.

This work will receive its world premiere during the closing of the JCoM Fest on the 12th of August, with myself accompanying one of Indonesia's best baritones, Rainier Revireino.

Sabbatical month

Performed my last concert before my sabbatical period 2 days ago (Sat March 3) in Santander, which include the first complete performance of David del Puerto's Notebook for Children (Cuaderno para los niños) . Also that Saturday the video of our performance's of David del Puerto's "Alio Modo" was launched at YouTube, which has now, only two days later, received more than 200 visits . It looks very nice : you can check it at : http://www.youtube.com and you can search under my name or Chendra Panatan's there .

Meanwhile, I have been immensely enjoying my correspondence with my new idol, the great Sapardi Djoko Damono, who writes emails as if they were poems ; I promise you I´ll never throw any of his emails away ! Of course, now in this sabbatical period which last until May I will set many, many of his poems to music. I´ll reveal my plans in a few days.

Also I have read other poems by Nirwan Dewanto, Joko Pinurbo, Goenawan Mohamad, Debra Yatim, Eka Budianta ( I mention my favorites ) .
Bought some CDs last week : the ones I like are : a new version of Copland's Third Symphony with New Zealand SO (the one with New York Phil & Bernstein is still beyond comparison), Songs by Ferruccio Busoni, Britten plays with Colin MacPhee his "Balinese Ceremonial Music" and the suite from "Prince of the Pagodas". Only now, in the 21st century, that we can really appreciate the greatness of those 20th century composers !
Also read, and finished a very bitchy memoir of Ned Rorem (after all those bitching around I still consider him one of the greatest of modern composers as well) "Knowing when to stop". My favorite quotation from this book :
[Carlos] Chavez, whose own Sinfonia de Antigona and Sinfonia India, so stark and spare and diatonic, were close to my heart. Indeed, just as New Orleans today summons up the plays of Tennessee Williams more powerfully than it imposes its proper identity, so the music of Chavez evoked Mexico more than Mexico evoked itself. Nature imitates art, .....

Japan already has Toru Takemitsu, Australia has Peter Sculthorpe, Elgar, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Sir Michael Tippett etc have found "Britishness in music" and the music of Bernstein, Copland, Harris are so, so American. They all produced their masterpieces only in the last century. Will we find, in the near future, music that can evoke Indonesia more than Indonesia evoke itself ?