It's been an inspiring week working with vocalists of Musicasa with my works for (solo & duet) voice & piano, and working with 4 musicians in Singapore in premiering my work Vega & Altair at Esplanade the week before. I already wrote about how happy I was working with Katryna Tan, the harpist, in my previous entry, and it turned out that working with the other "more familiar" instrumentalists (flute, violin & cello) in this new & particular combination for me is also very nourishing.
Musicasa is a very high standard studio for voice training in Indonesia, and it has produced the best classical singers to date. Its founders are my good friends the conductor Tommy Prabowo and the baritone Joseph Kristanto, about whom I have written many times in this blog. And yeah, he is the dedicatee of my 5 songs for baritone & piano, "A untuk Akis, Alam & Angkasa", which will be performed in its entirity by his students in our final concert next week, Thursday the 25th, 7 p.m at Erasmus Huis.
Although I didn't write not even one new note for the last 10 days I do learn a lot, since I've been working with 27 singers with 27 (very) different characters and voice colours. It convinces me deeper that the human voice is not only the most beautiful musical instrument on this planet, but also the most versatile. Everyone is fantastic, each has his/her own strong points. It really has broadened my horizons on voice characteristics, and so I can, in the future, try new things and perhaps risking new kinds of virtuosity in writing for voice, since I feel (not only know) now its shortcomings, virtue and capabilities. Beware singers, I will write more difficult stuff in the future!
One thing in common with those young vocalists is that mostly, if not all of them, expected that they would get a "definitive version" of the song(s) they are singing by working with the composer. The composer, they think, knows best, and wants his work to sound exactly like "this" or "that". Wrong !! Well, of course I know more than them at this moment (during the interpreter's early stage of learning the music), but any composer would really love and appreciate having fresh approaches and interpretations from the singers. We composers need your intellectual & artistic contribution! That's why our music can be richer and alive, and in fact that's the advantage of music compared to the other fields of the arts. Once a painter finishes his painting, it will stay the same for the centuries to come, while a composer's job is not finished; it is continued by the musicians who interpret his music. The music always changes, and therefore I find those musicians who performs in "authentic instruments" and consulting "musicologists" (whatever this profession means!) to give "authentic performances", especially in music written during the period of Baroque, Bach and Before quite contradictive, and even absurd. Music is like a most beautiful human being. The composer gives birth to it, but it is the task of the musicians to nurture it and bring it up into a beautiful, kind & loving grown up creature .. and take care of it with love and attention so it would live long and prosper.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Junyan Natasha Liu. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Junyan Natasha Liu. Mostrar todas las entradas
viernes, 19 de noviembre de 2010
sábado, 13 de noviembre de 2010
So why do I write music?
The counterpoint [of the flute] with the violin was well crafted and the music later moved to a more modern and dramatic style, with the dissonances recalling Bartok and Prokofiev.
That was what a music critic wrote in the Singaporean newspaper, The Straits Times, 2 days after my suite in 7 movements “Vega & Altair” was premiered by flutist Roberto Alvarez, violinist Cindy Yan, cellist Junyan Natasha Liu and harpist—who also is the commissioner of the piece—Katryna Tan.
Wait, wait. Bartok or Prokofiev? Which one? ‘Coz those two have nothing in common, at least that I can think of except that they wrote “dissonant” (according to their contemporaries, and to music critics who considers anything post-Beethoven “dissonant”) music. Even the term "dissonant" needs to be correctly defined, and perhaps re-defined. You might know, Mr. Music Critic, that Mozart wrote a string quartet (perhaps his most famous) nicknamed "Dissonance". And it's in C major! Anyway, this is the first time that someone said that my music resembles any (or both?) of those composers, without pinpointing which aspect of it resembled (any of) them. I dunno if it’s a compliment or not, since though I like and admire the music of both composers, I never felt influenced (directly or indirectly) by them. Anyway, he is only a critic, and I never think highly of them. They always babble and baffle.
Anyway, I do consider that “Vega & Altair” is an important piece for me which provided a turning point in my musical style. It sounds new, even to me. It is an amalgam of all the influences which I absorbed during my musical years, and I had the musical canvas on which to exploit them in its 20+ minute duration. Yes, there are dissonances, and even strange modulations, but whose music has no dissonances? I meant them all, they are part of my expression. And without self-complimenting, I consider the concert quite a big success, not only for the sold-out seats at Esplanade (that’s not my success, that’s thanks to Katryna’s manager and company, Rave Harps, who did good publicity of it.), but also the high enthusiasm showed by many of members of the audience who are musicians or conservatory students or professors (this time the musicians and their artistry deserve the merit). I suddenly remembered what my dad told me that he “didn’t know the secret of success, but was certain about the secret of failure: try to make everybody happy”. Well, it seemed as if all the audience were exalted at that night. Rather scary eh, if one remembers my dad’s wise words.
To entertain is never my point in writing music. I honestly don’t write music to please the audience. I write what I hear in my head, sounds that only please ME. And if what pleases me pleases the audience too, well that’s a happy coincidence. But pleased don't expect to be entertained with my music; sometimes it can make you burst in tears!
That was what a music critic wrote in the Singaporean newspaper, The Straits Times, 2 days after my suite in 7 movements “Vega & Altair” was premiered by flutist Roberto Alvarez, violinist Cindy Yan, cellist Junyan Natasha Liu and harpist—who also is the commissioner of the piece—Katryna Tan.
Wait, wait. Bartok or Prokofiev? Which one? ‘Coz those two have nothing in common, at least that I can think of except that they wrote “dissonant” (according to their contemporaries, and to music critics who considers anything post-Beethoven “dissonant”) music. Even the term "dissonant" needs to be correctly defined, and perhaps re-defined. You might know, Mr. Music Critic, that Mozart wrote a string quartet (perhaps his most famous) nicknamed "Dissonance". And it's in C major! Anyway, this is the first time that someone said that my music resembles any (or both?) of those composers, without pinpointing which aspect of it resembled (any of) them. I dunno if it’s a compliment or not, since though I like and admire the music of both composers, I never felt influenced (directly or indirectly) by them. Anyway, he is only a critic, and I never think highly of them. They always babble and baffle.
Anyway, I do consider that “Vega & Altair” is an important piece for me which provided a turning point in my musical style. It sounds new, even to me. It is an amalgam of all the influences which I absorbed during my musical years, and I had the musical canvas on which to exploit them in its 20+ minute duration. Yes, there are dissonances, and even strange modulations, but whose music has no dissonances? I meant them all, they are part of my expression. And without self-complimenting, I consider the concert quite a big success, not only for the sold-out seats at Esplanade (that’s not my success, that’s thanks to Katryna’s manager and company, Rave Harps, who did good publicity of it.), but also the high enthusiasm showed by many of members of the audience who are musicians or conservatory students or professors (this time the musicians and their artistry deserve the merit). I suddenly remembered what my dad told me that he “didn’t know the secret of success, but was certain about the secret of failure: try to make everybody happy”. Well, it seemed as if all the audience were exalted at that night. Rather scary eh, if one remembers my dad’s wise words.
To entertain is never my point in writing music. I honestly don’t write music to please the audience. I write what I hear in my head, sounds that only please ME. And if what pleases me pleases the audience too, well that’s a happy coincidence. But pleased don't expect to be entertained with my music; sometimes it can make you burst in tears!
domingo, 26 de septiembre de 2010
Vega and Altair don't skype with each other
You might think that when Brahms wrote his Violin Concerto, Britten his great operas and other vocal works or Ginastera his Harp Concerto, they just got an idea out of the blue and then stayed home alone and wrote the music. Nope! There was always someone else behind the creation of those everlasting masterpieces. There was a musician who inspired and gave insights of his instrument to those composers : Joseph Joachim in case of Brahms, Peter Pears for Britten and Nicanor Zabaleta for Ginastera. The composers and the respective musicians kept in close contact in the creative process of the work.
I think that's why there are less great works in classical music written in the second half of the 20th century up till now : the musicians' enthusiasm towards living composers are decreasing, and communication between the two is not as it used to be. Most musicians now just wanna have an easy life, and they think they have enough showpieces of the past to exhibit their virtuosity on stage. They don't realize their real function and what they can contribute to the world of music. And in Indonesia I even see a stranger phenomenon : musicians seem to look down to our own composers, or at the very least, we (to be honest I shouldn't include myself) don't take our composers seriously. And sadly those musicians (who became teachers) pass this mentality to the young generation, although luckily there are too many young musicians today to be badly influenced by this. But still, from say 100 classical music concerts in Indonesia, just check how many of them include a work by Indonesian composers. You'd be lucky if you find 10. Of course now many young musicians study abroad, so they (as it happened to me) develop a better vision of the uniqueness of Indonesian composers and how their music could make our concerts more unique, or at the very least, we have something different to offer. So, the future of Indonesian music don't look too bleak. If they knew how proud the Spaniards are with de Falla and Albeniz, and the English with Vaughan Williams, Britten and co.! Let's leave this mentality to the older (read: my) generation, o fellow countrymen.
And that's why I am so excited in working on my piece these last few weeks : "Vega and Altair", a choreographic suite in 7 movements for flute, violin, cello & harp. It is commissioned by the young and very talented harpist Katryna Tan. She will premiere it with her friends Roberto Alvarez (a Spanish flutist), Cindy Yan (violin) and Junyan Natasha Liu (cello) at the Esplanade (Singapore) on November the 11th. It's not that she commissions it and asks for a finished product, she gives a lot of insights on her instrument and we practically keep in contact every day either through email or skype. It's very inspiring to work that way, and I had a great privilige to do this in several works of mine; the latest, and perhaps even more intense was with the guitarist Miguel Trapaga, since the instrument is more complicated and I know next to nothing about it. He even gave me his time for several sessions in Madrid in introducing me to the instrument. We work on the piece together, so to say. Yeah, Brahms stayed very close to Joachim at that time, and Britten, well, Peter Pears was his lifelong partner. Talking about the power of love! Nowadays a composer can live in Spain and work closely with a harpist in Singapore, thanx to the internet which is a huge advantage for the world of arts.
Katryna, who is the winner of the Young Artist Award in 2005 (that's a prestigious annual award given by the National Arts Council of Singapore) also shares with me her affinity with the mythology, and she drew my attention to old Chinese legends, which I am not very familiar with. She likes my music especially "Rescuing Ariadne" for flute and piano, not only the music but also the inspiration behind it. She told me about this legend of the two stars we see in the sky, Vega and Altair. Those 2 stars are separated by the Milky Way for the whole year, except on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar year (it is not always the 7th of July, since it is not based on the Gregorian calendar that we are using now) that they meet. So the legend says that it is the only time that those two lovers can meet. And of course, during the rest of the year, they can't communicate with each other since there is no Skype or Yahoo Messenger up there, so their annual meeting becomes something very special and passionate. Oh dear, if the Spaniards knew about it! On the 7th of July we celebrate the San Fermin, you know that day in Pamplona where all the bulls are let loose in the street and everyone is chasing (or being chased) them ... and of course not without victims of both sides (more bulls than humans, obviously).
Anyway, that day when Vega and Altair meet becomes the "Valentine's Day" in Asia. In China they celebrate it exactly counting on the lunar year and it's called Qi Xi, while in Japan they celebrate July 7th (just like the Spaniards although differently) as Tanabata. All about love. While in Indonesia, since we are so much oriented to the Americans (spiritually as well as capitalistically and junk-foodically) we celebrate the Valentine's, February 14th. At MacDonald's, naturally.
I think that's why there are less great works in classical music written in the second half of the 20th century up till now : the musicians' enthusiasm towards living composers are decreasing, and communication between the two is not as it used to be. Most musicians now just wanna have an easy life, and they think they have enough showpieces of the past to exhibit their virtuosity on stage. They don't realize their real function and what they can contribute to the world of music. And in Indonesia I even see a stranger phenomenon : musicians seem to look down to our own composers, or at the very least, we (to be honest I shouldn't include myself) don't take our composers seriously. And sadly those musicians (who became teachers) pass this mentality to the young generation, although luckily there are too many young musicians today to be badly influenced by this. But still, from say 100 classical music concerts in Indonesia, just check how many of them include a work by Indonesian composers. You'd be lucky if you find 10. Of course now many young musicians study abroad, so they (as it happened to me) develop a better vision of the uniqueness of Indonesian composers and how their music could make our concerts more unique, or at the very least, we have something different to offer. So, the future of Indonesian music don't look too bleak. If they knew how proud the Spaniards are with de Falla and Albeniz, and the English with Vaughan Williams, Britten and co.! Let's leave this mentality to the older (read: my) generation, o fellow countrymen.
And that's why I am so excited in working on my piece these last few weeks : "Vega and Altair", a choreographic suite in 7 movements for flute, violin, cello & harp. It is commissioned by the young and very talented harpist Katryna Tan. She will premiere it with her friends Roberto Alvarez (a Spanish flutist), Cindy Yan (violin) and Junyan Natasha Liu (cello) at the Esplanade (Singapore) on November the 11th. It's not that she commissions it and asks for a finished product, she gives a lot of insights on her instrument and we practically keep in contact every day either through email or skype. It's very inspiring to work that way, and I had a great privilige to do this in several works of mine; the latest, and perhaps even more intense was with the guitarist Miguel Trapaga, since the instrument is more complicated and I know next to nothing about it. He even gave me his time for several sessions in Madrid in introducing me to the instrument. We work on the piece together, so to say. Yeah, Brahms stayed very close to Joachim at that time, and Britten, well, Peter Pears was his lifelong partner. Talking about the power of love! Nowadays a composer can live in Spain and work closely with a harpist in Singapore, thanx to the internet which is a huge advantage for the world of arts.
Katryna, who is the winner of the Young Artist Award in 2005 (that's a prestigious annual award given by the National Arts Council of Singapore) also shares with me her affinity with the mythology, and she drew my attention to old Chinese legends, which I am not very familiar with. She likes my music especially "Rescuing Ariadne" for flute and piano, not only the music but also the inspiration behind it. She told me about this legend of the two stars we see in the sky, Vega and Altair. Those 2 stars are separated by the Milky Way for the whole year, except on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar year (it is not always the 7th of July, since it is not based on the Gregorian calendar that we are using now) that they meet. So the legend says that it is the only time that those two lovers can meet. And of course, during the rest of the year, they can't communicate with each other since there is no Skype or Yahoo Messenger up there, so their annual meeting becomes something very special and passionate. Oh dear, if the Spaniards knew about it! On the 7th of July we celebrate the San Fermin, you know that day in Pamplona where all the bulls are let loose in the street and everyone is chasing (or being chased) them ... and of course not without victims of both sides (more bulls than humans, obviously).
Anyway, that day when Vega and Altair meet becomes the "Valentine's Day" in Asia. In China they celebrate it exactly counting on the lunar year and it's called Qi Xi, while in Japan they celebrate July 7th (just like the Spaniards although differently) as Tanabata. All about love. While in Indonesia, since we are so much oriented to the Americans (spiritually as well as capitalistically and junk-foodically) we celebrate the Valentine's, February 14th. At MacDonald's, naturally.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)