It's been a habit all over the world throughout the history of mankind to ban intellectuals and artists. It had happened to me too several times (and needless to say, in my own country ; there is no point in banning immigrants' works of art, right?) although not in a grand way like the case of Stalin and Shostakovich. I remember there is a private music school who prohibits its students even only mentioning my name, let alone playing a note of my music there. And another "artistic" company have done (and are doing) that too in similarly pathetic ways, so if once in a while accidentally my name (and even my music) popped up there ... well ... if you are not as powerful as Hitler or Stalin it would be difficult to ban someone, my friend. If my music, due to mysterious forces happen to sound in their community then the easiest thing is try to hide the composer's name. "Oh, it's just some sounds coming from ...the sky?". Exactly, my friend. The name's Skywalker. Andy Skywalker.
Artists write books, make paintings or write music, so even if you cut off our heads, somehow our names (and products) still hang around. Uff, difficult business, eh? And now with our big brothers such as facebook, websites etc the banning business gets even more complicated. I just get on with the old way of doing business : write my music and let the audience decide what they like. And if they wanna judge who's music or who plays the piano better, well it's their problem, not mine. I am what I am, my music sounds like what it is. And I am too busy to ban my friends. And too lazy.
Another composer in Indonesia having been banned (at that time by a political party) was Amir Pasaribu. Now THAT was quite ugly ..it was extensive and intensive up to a point that he had to leave the country, otherwise he'd have faced prison sentence.
Usually the banning of my name or existence has nothing to do politically ; it's more of artistic views. You don't understand that? Well, I'll tell you in a simpler language in four letters : envy. So, usually I was banned by my fellow artists, or "artists", usually in the world of music (a painter or writer would make no point in banning me, right?).
But to be honest, being banned does give me a tiny boost of pride. And as Herodotus said, it is better envied than pitied. I mean, if someone envies you, that means they consider you "better" than him/her, right ? Whether it is true or not, he thinks that way. And if someone thinks you are better, there are two obvious responses : either he/she admires you or hates you. Admiration (and love) and hatred are just two sides of a coin as we always say. In fact, I'd like to be banned in a grand way. Therefore I feel grand. No, no, don't send me to a concentration camp or shoot me. Just ban me, write in the newspaper headlines "The music of Ananda Sukarlan is complete trash, and he plays the piano like an idiot, therefore he should be banned." And write a loooong article about my mus.. I mean trash. I'd love it ! In fact, the easiest way to ban a composer is to program his music. If it's really trashy, then the audience will automatically ban it by not wanting to come to the concerts or listen to his music anymore. But this advice wouldn't make my banner friend happy, eh ..? I don't think it's quite effective ....
"Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous." (W. Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar")
And therefore Caesar was murdered, my friend.
viernes, 26 de marzo de 2010
miércoles, 24 de marzo de 2010
5 husbands .... and no babies yet
This time this entry is for my friend, the fantastic guitarist Miguel Trapaga, by whom I have the honour and great pleasure to be commissioned my first piece for guitar solo. I have written for guitar in the past, but none for a solo instrument, and quite an elaborated and virtuosic one. This is only possible thanks to him, his support, his continuing efforts to give me a thorough insight of the instrument, its wondrous sound world, its delicacy and huge possibilities which I wasn’t aware of until then. I don’t think that a composer should be able to play every instrument, but in the case of the guitar, I thought I had to so I did learn its basic exercises by myself. Its finger positions, rich and strange colours should “fall into the fingers” as we say. And I must say, I have never worked together with an instrumentalist as intensively as I have with him, and boy, it's very inspiring and useful!
The result of our collaboration is my piece, “The 5 lovers of Drupadi”. It's in 4 movements. Eh?? It doesn’t add up, right? Well, it is based on a very small episode from the epic “Mahabharata” from India, where Drupadi was --by natural force (and a long story behind it) and not by sexual temptation!— married to the 5 brothers of Pandava. And 2 of them, Nakula and Sadeva were twins. Now, it’s quite a contradiction I must say, that Indonesian culture in general, and Javanese culture in particular could embrace this mythology quite naturally, since by historical background we are quite, let’s say, “right-winged”. Even until now. I mean, you can talk to any people there in Java and they’d tell you that homosexuality is a disease that could be cured, for example. There are even some extremists who would go as far as telling you that it is a sin to have a facebook account!
Back to my guitar piece, I ask for scordatura for the VI, V and IV strings. They are tuned to F, G and C respectively. So, I was very thankful to Miguel Trapaga that he would made a version of the score with what is played, not what sounds. The poor guy had to learn the piece as it sounds, not as it is written! If you can’t imagine what he went through, well, imagine that you are playing the piano and half of the keyboard produces different notes than what you usually play. Yes, half of it, since I re-tuned 3 strings of the guitar, which are half of the 6 strings of the instrument. I admit that my knowledge of the guitar is not advanced enough to be able to write the fingerings and the scordatura notation. And now that he has finished editing the score, my my, all those strange symbols and numbers could be misinterpreted as a secret message from the KGB!
Miguel Trapaga has given the world premiere of The 5 lovers of Drupadi on the 10th of March at Juan Bravo theatre in Segovia in a concert of the Philharmonic Society. He will tour it to Asia & New Zealand starting next June.
The result of our collaboration is my piece, “The 5 lovers of Drupadi”. It's in 4 movements. Eh?? It doesn’t add up, right? Well, it is based on a very small episode from the epic “Mahabharata” from India, where Drupadi was --by natural force (and a long story behind it) and not by sexual temptation!— married to the 5 brothers of Pandava. And 2 of them, Nakula and Sadeva were twins. Now, it’s quite a contradiction I must say, that Indonesian culture in general, and Javanese culture in particular could embrace this mythology quite naturally, since by historical background we are quite, let’s say, “right-winged”. Even until now. I mean, you can talk to any people there in Java and they’d tell you that homosexuality is a disease that could be cured, for example. There are even some extremists who would go as far as telling you that it is a sin to have a facebook account!
Back to my guitar piece, I ask for scordatura for the VI, V and IV strings. They are tuned to F, G and C respectively. So, I was very thankful to Miguel Trapaga that he would made a version of the score with what is played, not what sounds. The poor guy had to learn the piece as it sounds, not as it is written! If you can’t imagine what he went through, well, imagine that you are playing the piano and half of the keyboard produces different notes than what you usually play. Yes, half of it, since I re-tuned 3 strings of the guitar, which are half of the 6 strings of the instrument. I admit that my knowledge of the guitar is not advanced enough to be able to write the fingerings and the scordatura notation. And now that he has finished editing the score, my my, all those strange symbols and numbers could be misinterpreted as a secret message from the KGB!
Miguel Trapaga has given the world premiere of The 5 lovers of Drupadi on the 10th of March at Juan Bravo theatre in Segovia in a concert of the Philharmonic Society. He will tour it to Asia & New Zealand starting next June.
viernes, 19 de marzo de 2010
Ariadne Rescued ... in Spain
Next month my friend from our conservatory days --and now a reputable flutist living in Cordoba-- Wendela van Swol will give the Spanish premiere of my flute and piano Rescuing Ariadne, accompanied by pianist Emilio Jose Garcia. One of their concerts will be during the Spanish Flute Convention in Madrid where it will be a concentration of flutists around the world with 3 full days of concerts, discussions and masterclasses. And they made me realize that with several performances done in the past, I haven't written any program notes on the piece, so this entry is dedicated to them.
Rescuing Ariadne was inspired by a painting by Titian at the National Gallery of London. I don't know why that particular painting was particularly inspiring to me, among the other fascinating paintings hanging there. Its luscious colours certainly triggered some of the harmonic progressions in my piece, and I also had in mind the story behind it while composing. Therefore the piece was divided into 3 continuous sections :
1. depicting both anger and sadness of Ariadne being alone in the island of Naxos. There are many short flute cadenzas here.
2. the arrival of Bacchus. As one can expect when a handsome god meets a beautiful goddess, they immediately fall in love, and thanks to this process we get the story of him rescuing her out of the island. I especially like the beginning of the "love tune" where the piano repeats a figure twice and then the flute answers with the same figure : it's so kitch! As if one asked "Do you love me? Do you love me?" and the other answered : "Yeah I do love you". If you have this dialogue in mind, you'll get the exact rubato that's needed.
3. obviously their adventure of escaping from Naxos. I use my favorite meter of 10/16 as the ending.
I don't think one should bear this story in mind while listening to the music, since I hope that the music can speak for itself without any programmatic background, and I do realize that both Titian's painting and the story are too big for my 5-minute little piece. Some people have asked me questions why I didn't simply put Titian's title for my piece, hence "Bacchus and Ariadne", and my answer is that 1. Albert Roussel has done justice to the painting by writing his Third Symphony (yes, a whole symphony and not a 5+ minute piece) with that title. 2. I did concentrate on the figure of Ariadne, and not on Bacchus while writing my piece.
And somehow I had (and still have) the strange feeling that this piece would be the first movement of a kind of suite for flute and piano. It just feels that way. There are materials in the piece that can still be exploited to make it a complete piece of, say, 3 movements. But I haven't got the time, opportunity and inspiration to write another one (my "Prelude and Interlude" from my opera IBU, also for flute and piano, has nothing to do with this). Especially now, when I am extremely late in finishing my third opera. Rehearsals starting in mid-April and .. ehm .. nobody involved in the opera has received any note from me (sssh, don't tell!). Anybody got Mozart's phone number??
Rescuing Ariadne was inspired by a painting by Titian at the National Gallery of London. I don't know why that particular painting was particularly inspiring to me, among the other fascinating paintings hanging there. Its luscious colours certainly triggered some of the harmonic progressions in my piece, and I also had in mind the story behind it while composing. Therefore the piece was divided into 3 continuous sections :
1. depicting both anger and sadness of Ariadne being alone in the island of Naxos. There are many short flute cadenzas here.
2. the arrival of Bacchus. As one can expect when a handsome god meets a beautiful goddess, they immediately fall in love, and thanks to this process we get the story of him rescuing her out of the island. I especially like the beginning of the "love tune" where the piano repeats a figure twice and then the flute answers with the same figure : it's so kitch! As if one asked "Do you love me? Do you love me?" and the other answered : "Yeah I do love you". If you have this dialogue in mind, you'll get the exact rubato that's needed.
3. obviously their adventure of escaping from Naxos. I use my favorite meter of 10/16 as the ending.
I don't think one should bear this story in mind while listening to the music, since I hope that the music can speak for itself without any programmatic background, and I do realize that both Titian's painting and the story are too big for my 5-minute little piece. Some people have asked me questions why I didn't simply put Titian's title for my piece, hence "Bacchus and Ariadne", and my answer is that 1. Albert Roussel has done justice to the painting by writing his Third Symphony (yes, a whole symphony and not a 5+ minute piece) with that title. 2. I did concentrate on the figure of Ariadne, and not on Bacchus while writing my piece.
And somehow I had (and still have) the strange feeling that this piece would be the first movement of a kind of suite for flute and piano. It just feels that way. There are materials in the piece that can still be exploited to make it a complete piece of, say, 3 movements. But I haven't got the time, opportunity and inspiration to write another one (my "Prelude and Interlude" from my opera IBU, also for flute and piano, has nothing to do with this). Especially now, when I am extremely late in finishing my third opera. Rehearsals starting in mid-April and .. ehm .. nobody involved in the opera has received any note from me (sssh, don't tell!). Anybody got Mozart's phone number??
lunes, 8 de marzo de 2010
A beautiful mistake
Time and again, I am inspired by Hasan Aspahani's poem. But this time it's not what he wrote, but what he didn't write. To be precise, what I considered a mistake. A beautiful mistake, that is.
The poem starts with this phrase : "Pada mulanya ialah bunyi .." (In the beginning it was sound). Now ...really ? Yeah perhaps, but in the very beginning ... there was ...silence, right ? Now, how do you compose silence, without copying John Cage's 4'33" ? The answer, my friend, is blowing in Hasan Aspahani's poem. It is a mistake, but it poignantly rectifies itself. And it is the rectification which is so inspiring to me.
So, I have officially started my work on his poem, "Stanza Suara". This poem and my work on it are commissioned (for the third time for me) by the ITB Choir for the festive opening of their big International Choir Festival in Bandung next July (I know, I know, time is running out). Now, the words "festive" and also "monumental" (which they use to describe my yet inexisting piece) are very dangerous to me. My second cantata, LIBERTAS was supposed to be like that too, and see what came out of it ! Slow and brooding loooong melodies. Dead bodies, bones, loss, lamentation everywhere ...
For now, I just paste you Hasan Aspahani's breathtaking poem here. No more comments about it until I finish my music, with God's will. And with the travellings of this and next month, it will be quite some time ...
Stanza Suara
PADA mulanya ialah bunyi
kita memandang pada pecah
cahaya, terang yang seketika
terentang di semesta suara
Pada mulanya ialah bunyi
kita mendengar lagu jiwa
mempercaya pada pesona suara
menyebut diri, mengucap dunia
*
Sunyi melirih, O, sunyi bersih
menepi tangis sampai ke sepi
Sunyi menyisih O sunyi letih
Sunyi merintih, O, sunyi pedih
membawa mimpi sampai ke sepi
sunyi menyerpih, O, Sunyi perih
*
Pada mulanya ialah bunyi
di bumi raga, di angkasa sukma
kita meninggi pada harmoni
terbang di sayap-sayap suara
Para mulanya ialah bunyi
kita mengada karena suara
kita mendunia karena suara
kita mengangkasa karena suara
*
Dengar kata mendengar kita
menyimak bunyi bisik bumi
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
semesta kata, harmoni kita
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
sukma kata, jiwa suara kita
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
Mengepak tinggi sayap suara
The poem starts with this phrase : "Pada mulanya ialah bunyi .." (In the beginning it was sound). Now ...really ? Yeah perhaps, but in the very beginning ... there was ...silence, right ? Now, how do you compose silence, without copying John Cage's 4'33" ? The answer, my friend, is blowing in Hasan Aspahani's poem. It is a mistake, but it poignantly rectifies itself. And it is the rectification which is so inspiring to me.
So, I have officially started my work on his poem, "Stanza Suara". This poem and my work on it are commissioned (for the third time for me) by the ITB Choir for the festive opening of their big International Choir Festival in Bandung next July (I know, I know, time is running out). Now, the words "festive" and also "monumental" (which they use to describe my yet inexisting piece) are very dangerous to me. My second cantata, LIBERTAS was supposed to be like that too, and see what came out of it ! Slow and brooding loooong melodies. Dead bodies, bones, loss, lamentation everywhere ...
For now, I just paste you Hasan Aspahani's breathtaking poem here. No more comments about it until I finish my music, with God's will. And with the travellings of this and next month, it will be quite some time ...
Stanza Suara
PADA mulanya ialah bunyi
kita memandang pada pecah
cahaya, terang yang seketika
terentang di semesta suara
Pada mulanya ialah bunyi
kita mendengar lagu jiwa
mempercaya pada pesona suara
menyebut diri, mengucap dunia
*
Sunyi melirih, O, sunyi bersih
menepi tangis sampai ke sepi
Sunyi menyisih O sunyi letih
Sunyi merintih, O, sunyi pedih
membawa mimpi sampai ke sepi
sunyi menyerpih, O, Sunyi perih
*
Pada mulanya ialah bunyi
di bumi raga, di angkasa sukma
kita meninggi pada harmoni
terbang di sayap-sayap suara
Para mulanya ialah bunyi
kita mengada karena suara
kita mendunia karena suara
kita mengangkasa karena suara
*
Dengar kata mendengar kita
menyimak bunyi bisik bumi
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
semesta kata, harmoni kita
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
sukma kata, jiwa suara kita
Dengar kata, mendengar kita
Mengepak tinggi sayap suara
sábado, 6 de marzo de 2010
Study on sunsets
I always say (and believe) that I love nature, but can't be inspired by it. Usually other works of art inspires me : paintings, poetry and other "artificial" things made by fellow humans. I am not like Debussy who can be at the beach and start to jot down some notes. But apparently some sounds start to pop up in my head these last few months being in a nice place during my favorite period of the day : during sunset. I do love the color of the sky, the modulations of the colours and light and the crepuscular process of entering darkness; they all provide good materials for music. And so, for Alicia's Second Piano Book I have decided to include some short pieces (no, no, I still am not capable of writing La Mer or a 20-minute piece just by watching it!) based on sketches on sunset.
Apparently, in some of the sketches I've made during these months there are ones inspired by "artificial" sunsets as well, such as the painting of Aert van der Neer (Landscape at Sundset) or even that scene during the first kiss in the film "Titanic". But there are some which are inspired by real sunsets. I remember one day in December last year, at the house of the art patron Mrs. Pia Alisjahbana in Jakarta, we witnessed a spectacular sunset in her garden. I jotted down some chords and modulations there at her place, and made a short piece out of it today.
I am quite surprised how incapable is music being objective. I think, by nature, music is impressionistic even without having that "impressionistic" atmosphere. I mean, I made one today based on sunset, but in fact I was writing what I was feeling today. Those modulations and gradations of colours are just merely excuses !
Apparently, in some of the sketches I've made during these months there are ones inspired by "artificial" sunsets as well, such as the painting of Aert van der Neer (Landscape at Sundset) or even that scene during the first kiss in the film "Titanic". But there are some which are inspired by real sunsets. I remember one day in December last year, at the house of the art patron Mrs. Pia Alisjahbana in Jakarta, we witnessed a spectacular sunset in her garden. I jotted down some chords and modulations there at her place, and made a short piece out of it today.
I am quite surprised how incapable is music being objective. I think, by nature, music is impressionistic even without having that "impressionistic" atmosphere. I mean, I made one today based on sunset, but in fact I was writing what I was feeling today. Those modulations and gradations of colours are just merely excuses !
martes, 16 de febrero de 2010
Amir Pasaribu : a brief encounter
I start this with a confession : I am a (classical music) pianist and composer, and I also don't know much about Amir Pasaribu. I use the word "also" since we know how unknown is Amir Pasaribu in his own country. But that's quite understandable; I mean, if you go to the streets of Copenhagen and ask the people who Carl Nielsen was, most probably 50% of them won't be able to answer either. It's a totally different case with Jean Sibelius, since the Finnish government has built a Sibelius Park, Sibelius Academy of Music ....and any composer would know his name from the computer program : Sibelius.
The worst thing about the anonymity of Amir Pasaribu is that he is unknown to the classical music society in Indonesia who in fact owes him a great deal. Even in Medan, where he was born (and died on the 10th of February last week), I remember mentioning his name to the music students at a music academy, and most of them didn't know who he is. Now with facebooks, twitters etc, most of those cyber-fan clubs of classical music showed a kind of indifference upon his death. I think it is because the classical music society in Indonesia has established a strange criteria for composers who "deserve to be recognized" : they are usually white and dead. Well Michael Jackson isn't exactly the guy who fits this criteria ; I mean long dead, and really white-skinned, you know, like Tschaikovsky or Beethoven. Amir Pasaribu realized this too well to be able to advise me during our first and last meeting : "Stay abroad. In this country artists are not appreciated". He meant local artists, obviously. Local pop or rock musicians have managed to flourish in Indonesia, but classical musicians and composers still have to face the resistance of our own colleagues.
OK, OK, Pasaribu hasn't written so much music (in a span of a few years, I could say I've written more music than him, but I also have a much better life quality than him back in the 1950s), but what he has done was entering new territories of music which no man in Indonesia has gone before. He was the first Indonesian composer who explored the polytonality, polyrhythms, new scales and modes etc.; yeah it was discovered by Stravinsky and other Europeans, but he was the first to apply those techniques to music which has an Indonesian character, therefore manifested that the Europeans don't have an exclusive ownership to those techniques. I guess it was because he was an adventurer and a groundbreaking composer that he couldn't write so much music (in quantity) ; he had to work out many new things so that they could stand "the test of time". Other composers like me are having all those served on a golden tray. I do admit that I owe a lot of compositional ideas and methods from people like Pasaribu (and Stravinsky, Britten and others, naturally, but I do think Pasaribu has established a new sound, only possible written by an Indonesian composer) : methods that THEY have proved to function properly in musical compositions therefore is ready to be used by "lazy" composers in the future (like me). And yeah, composer don't have to be a pioneer or a groundbreaker (like most of us are not), so if he or she is one, they should be given merit for that. It is thanks to those pioneers that my and other Indonesian composer's job (and life) are now easier !
The worst thing about the anonymity of Amir Pasaribu is that he is unknown to the classical music society in Indonesia who in fact owes him a great deal. Even in Medan, where he was born (and died on the 10th of February last week), I remember mentioning his name to the music students at a music academy, and most of them didn't know who he is. Now with facebooks, twitters etc, most of those cyber-fan clubs of classical music showed a kind of indifference upon his death. I think it is because the classical music society in Indonesia has established a strange criteria for composers who "deserve to be recognized" : they are usually white and dead. Well Michael Jackson isn't exactly the guy who fits this criteria ; I mean long dead, and really white-skinned, you know, like Tschaikovsky or Beethoven. Amir Pasaribu realized this too well to be able to advise me during our first and last meeting : "Stay abroad. In this country artists are not appreciated". He meant local artists, obviously. Local pop or rock musicians have managed to flourish in Indonesia, but classical musicians and composers still have to face the resistance of our own colleagues.
OK, OK, Pasaribu hasn't written so much music (in a span of a few years, I could say I've written more music than him, but I also have a much better life quality than him back in the 1950s), but what he has done was entering new territories of music which no man in Indonesia has gone before. He was the first Indonesian composer who explored the polytonality, polyrhythms, new scales and modes etc.; yeah it was discovered by Stravinsky and other Europeans, but he was the first to apply those techniques to music which has an Indonesian character, therefore manifested that the Europeans don't have an exclusive ownership to those techniques. I guess it was because he was an adventurer and a groundbreaking composer that he couldn't write so much music (in quantity) ; he had to work out many new things so that they could stand "the test of time". Other composers like me are having all those served on a golden tray. I do admit that I owe a lot of compositional ideas and methods from people like Pasaribu (and Stravinsky, Britten and others, naturally, but I do think Pasaribu has established a new sound, only possible written by an Indonesian composer) : methods that THEY have proved to function properly in musical compositions therefore is ready to be used by "lazy" composers in the future (like me). And yeah, composer don't have to be a pioneer or a groundbreaker (like most of us are not), so if he or she is one, they should be given merit for that. It is thanks to those pioneers that my and other Indonesian composer's job (and life) are now easier !
miércoles, 3 de febrero de 2010
What's the use of the arts?
You might have asked (at least to yourself) this question, right? It seems as if the arts are just a fun game for the rich or for those who have too much time in this world to spend. Even worse, there are some (frustrated) artists who give you this impression; they live as bohemians, thinking it's cool to be part of this longest word in English : antiestablishmentarianism (Hey, it's not the longest! "Smiles" is even longer : there is a mile between the first and the last S). They like to be against anything, and claim that they are mavericks and they don't care about the "rotten" society they live in. Well they can do what they like, but they should remember that artists are, by definition, people who produce art. They should do it first, then worry about being antisocial later.
Well, I wouldn't say that art is useless. At least, I can argue from my own field: classical music. First of all, you've heard that music can calm you down, stabilize your emotions, help you focus, decrease your depression etc. Instead of taking a tranquilizer or an anti-depressant, just listen to Mozart! A step forward from it is that we now have what is called musicotherapy. Well ok, it can't cure everything, but it starts with your spirit. And it is even more powerful if you don't just listen, but you actively (re-)creating it by playing an instrument or singing. It's not just a myth; you can study it now at the universities in Europe. The contrary is true: junk music can wake up the dark side of your psyche and lead you to the not-so-great way of life. And it is more addictive than good music, just like junk food. And both have something in common: they are "instant"ly made. Instant food = junk food, therefore instant music = you know the answer. And yes, they are cheap.
But again it raises the question: ok, healthcare is covered by social security in European countries, but do they cover musical activities? And in those countries where (classical) music is considerably expensive, how can citizens have access to it?
It was with this question in mind that we started our foundation in Jakarta. "We" are 8 people : Pia Alisjahbana, Dedi Panigoro, Karini Nugroho, Karina Suklan, Putu Swasti, Dewi Gajahmada, Chendra Panatan and me. And the foundation is "Yayasan Musik Sastra Indonesia" (Indonesian classical music foundation). Our aim is to help the financially under-priviliged to get access and education to classical music, by starting to learn to play an instrument, giving scholarships (even to very advanced students, like to our Ananda Sukarlan Award 2008 winner Inge Melania Buniardi) or even just coming to good quality classical music concerts. You can find out more about it at www.musik-sastra.com .
Almost around the same time, 10.000 miles away (to be precise in a very small town of Urrueña, about 2 hours drive from Madrid) a strong figure of a lady who has a disabled son was thinking about the possibility of making music by the disabled people. Rosa Iglesias has since then founded her Fundacion Musica Abierta (Open Music Foundation) and commissioned many composers to write music (which should sound like absolutely normal) that can be played by disabled musicians. I was lucky to be part of this project, together with my amazing colleagues such as David del Puerto, Jesus Rueda or Santiago Lanchares (she not only commissioned Spanish composers, by the way). For this project I wrote mostly duos, for a disabled pianist and a "normal" instrument (bassoon, trumpet, violin, viola and my favorite instrument which is the human voice), thinking that it's even nicer to have nice companies in making music. I guess Rosa's project is, if not the first, one of the first project of this kind in this world. Now we are planning a "sisterhood" project between my foundation and hers, and we are brainstorming on how we can make the world a better place. Any suggestions?
By the way, Rosa's foundation's website is www.fundacionmusicabierta.org.
Well, I wouldn't say that art is useless. At least, I can argue from my own field: classical music. First of all, you've heard that music can calm you down, stabilize your emotions, help you focus, decrease your depression etc. Instead of taking a tranquilizer or an anti-depressant, just listen to Mozart! A step forward from it is that we now have what is called musicotherapy. Well ok, it can't cure everything, but it starts with your spirit. And it is even more powerful if you don't just listen, but you actively (re-)creating it by playing an instrument or singing. It's not just a myth; you can study it now at the universities in Europe. The contrary is true: junk music can wake up the dark side of your psyche and lead you to the not-so-great way of life. And it is more addictive than good music, just like junk food. And both have something in common: they are "instant"ly made. Instant food = junk food, therefore instant music = you know the answer. And yes, they are cheap.
But again it raises the question: ok, healthcare is covered by social security in European countries, but do they cover musical activities? And in those countries where (classical) music is considerably expensive, how can citizens have access to it?
It was with this question in mind that we started our foundation in Jakarta. "We" are 8 people : Pia Alisjahbana, Dedi Panigoro, Karini Nugroho, Karina Suklan, Putu Swasti, Dewi Gajahmada, Chendra Panatan and me. And the foundation is "Yayasan Musik Sastra Indonesia" (Indonesian classical music foundation). Our aim is to help the financially under-priviliged to get access and education to classical music, by starting to learn to play an instrument, giving scholarships (even to very advanced students, like to our Ananda Sukarlan Award 2008 winner Inge Melania Buniardi) or even just coming to good quality classical music concerts. You can find out more about it at www.musik-sastra.com .
Almost around the same time, 10.000 miles away (to be precise in a very small town of Urrueña, about 2 hours drive from Madrid) a strong figure of a lady who has a disabled son was thinking about the possibility of making music by the disabled people. Rosa Iglesias has since then founded her Fundacion Musica Abierta (Open Music Foundation) and commissioned many composers to write music (which should sound like absolutely normal) that can be played by disabled musicians. I was lucky to be part of this project, together with my amazing colleagues such as David del Puerto, Jesus Rueda or Santiago Lanchares (she not only commissioned Spanish composers, by the way). For this project I wrote mostly duos, for a disabled pianist and a "normal" instrument (bassoon, trumpet, violin, viola and my favorite instrument which is the human voice), thinking that it's even nicer to have nice companies in making music. I guess Rosa's project is, if not the first, one of the first project of this kind in this world. Now we are planning a "sisterhood" project between my foundation and hers, and we are brainstorming on how we can make the world a better place. Any suggestions?
By the way, Rosa's foundation's website is www.fundacionmusicabierta.org.
domingo, 17 de enero de 2010
Are they really outdated?
Music, as everything else nowadays, is changing so fast, and it just feels so strange that the most "radical" composers who wanted to boldly write what no man has written before during the 20th century becomes now outdated and their music become "expired" and in their worst case, obsolete. But are they really ? Would you say that the generation starting with Schoenberg and his 12-tone method and ends with ... --err, is it ended already?-- ...produced completely useless music ?
Well, not really, at least for me. Up till the 1960s, or even 70s, there was this catchy phrase popular among the composers : "Tonality is dead. Music should now be atonal" (This phrase was originally uttered by Arnold Schoenberg in 1920s ; you see how much he was so ahead of his time?). Now, 50 years later I look around and tonal music is everywhere ! In fact, there is ONLY tonal music everywhere. But sure, people say that academic composers in the US still writes atonal music, even using a "more advanced" serial method of Schoenberg and Babbitt. Needless to say, they are only heard (better said: analyzed) inside universities by the nerds. And I guess in some developing countries it is considered a novelty to start writing 12-tone or atonal music, eh ? Well, I remember that the Indonesian composer Trisutji Kamal (b.1936) wrote 3 short pieces for piano in 12-tone method back in the 1960s. But then they were the first and her last piece in atonal style. I guess she opened a door ... but didn't enter it herself. I wonder if there were some idiots afterwards that would enter that open door ...
I started my compositional career writing with that 12-tone method, and I did learn quite a bit from there. I still keep some atonal music of mine which I consider not sooo bad. Who knows that I'll write an opera about a haunted house or something, and they will be quite useful there he he ...
One thing I learn about twelve-tone method is that I have to win this battle between my own music and my willingness ; I mean, sometimes I want my music to sound one way, but the method insisted that I go another way. Now, in my Rapsodia Nusantara series those methods of retrograding, inverting and all the cutting and pasting motifs proved to be useful. And I can proof to myself that that method can be applied to tonal music. I couldn't believe it myself when I completely inverted a folk-tune backwards ... and it worked! I also used that method a lot in my cantata LIBERTAS : you might have noticed the most obvious one that "Requiescat"'s tune is turned upside down and become the solo baritone that opened "Krawang Bekasi". And I do find turning melodies upside down quite erotic ...
I haven't blogged for a few weeks since I was busy with the Jakarta New Year Concert and then some travelling, among others to Makassar (Sulawesi Island) for the first time (yeah it was memorable! And I loooove the food! And everyone's great too). Now I am back at my appartment listening to all the music I have performed during these days, while trying to figure out whither my music is going. I have some big pieces ahead of me to write, and honestly, I have no idea about anything. I remember that my sister who is a doctor once was so confused that she bought a book "What to do if there is no doctor around" .. well, I feel the same at the moment. Perhaps the most scary thing is my next opera, commissioned by the same institution, Bimasena, who commissioned "LIBERTAS". I'll write about it in my blog when I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Again and again, with all the compositional techniques that one has under his sleeves one cannot be sure what to write. One might know HOW to write, but WHAT to write remains always an unsolved mystery, even to the composer himself ....
Well, not really, at least for me. Up till the 1960s, or even 70s, there was this catchy phrase popular among the composers : "Tonality is dead. Music should now be atonal" (This phrase was originally uttered by Arnold Schoenberg in 1920s ; you see how much he was so ahead of his time?). Now, 50 years later I look around and tonal music is everywhere ! In fact, there is ONLY tonal music everywhere. But sure, people say that academic composers in the US still writes atonal music, even using a "more advanced" serial method of Schoenberg and Babbitt. Needless to say, they are only heard (better said: analyzed) inside universities by the nerds. And I guess in some developing countries it is considered a novelty to start writing 12-tone or atonal music, eh ? Well, I remember that the Indonesian composer Trisutji Kamal (b.1936) wrote 3 short pieces for piano in 12-tone method back in the 1960s. But then they were the first and her last piece in atonal style. I guess she opened a door ... but didn't enter it herself. I wonder if there were some idiots afterwards that would enter that open door ...
I started my compositional career writing with that 12-tone method, and I did learn quite a bit from there. I still keep some atonal music of mine which I consider not sooo bad. Who knows that I'll write an opera about a haunted house or something, and they will be quite useful there he he ...
One thing I learn about twelve-tone method is that I have to win this battle between my own music and my willingness ; I mean, sometimes I want my music to sound one way, but the method insisted that I go another way. Now, in my Rapsodia Nusantara series those methods of retrograding, inverting and all the cutting and pasting motifs proved to be useful. And I can proof to myself that that method can be applied to tonal music. I couldn't believe it myself when I completely inverted a folk-tune backwards ... and it worked! I also used that method a lot in my cantata LIBERTAS : you might have noticed the most obvious one that "Requiescat"'s tune is turned upside down and become the solo baritone that opened "Krawang Bekasi". And I do find turning melodies upside down quite erotic ...
I haven't blogged for a few weeks since I was busy with the Jakarta New Year Concert and then some travelling, among others to Makassar (Sulawesi Island) for the first time (yeah it was memorable! And I loooove the food! And everyone's great too). Now I am back at my appartment listening to all the music I have performed during these days, while trying to figure out whither my music is going. I have some big pieces ahead of me to write, and honestly, I have no idea about anything. I remember that my sister who is a doctor once was so confused that she bought a book "What to do if there is no doctor around" .. well, I feel the same at the moment. Perhaps the most scary thing is my next opera, commissioned by the same institution, Bimasena, who commissioned "LIBERTAS". I'll write about it in my blog when I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Again and again, with all the compositional techniques that one has under his sleeves one cannot be sure what to write. One might know HOW to write, but WHAT to write remains always an unsolved mystery, even to the composer himself ....
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