Blend of Asian and Western music<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Little may be known in Indonesia about American composer Vincent
\nMcDermott, currently a visiting senior Fulbright scholar teaching
\nat Yogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI). In his
\nhomeland, he is well known for his multicultural compositions and
\nhis interest in Asian music, particularly gamelan.<\/p>\n
His name has been mentioned in at least two dictionaries,
\nBaker's Biographical Dictionary of Music and Grove's Dictionary
\nof American Music and Musicians.<\/p>\n
A number of his works are for gamelan. The King of Bali
\nChandrakirana, a medium-scale opera mixing chamber orchestra and
\nslendro\/pelog gamelan, was performed during the 2003 Yogyakarta
\nArts Festival in June.<\/p>\n
Other opera works of his that also beautifully blend gamelan
\nand chamber orchestras include Mata Hari (1997) and mono-opera A
\nPerpetual Dream (1978). He is currently finishing a colossal
\nopera titled The Death of Karna, whose libretto is being prepared
\nby himself in collaboration with colleague Kathy Foley, another
\nsenior Fulbright scholar to Indonesia specializing in theater.<\/p>\n
His gamelan compositions include The Spirit Takes Wings and
\nSoars (2002), Divine Songs (2001), Sweet-Breathed Minstrel II
\n(1997), The Bells of Tajilor (1984), Sweet-Breathed Minstrel I, a
\nMystic Poem of Rumi (1982), Kagoklaras (1981) and A Stately
\nSalute (1980), in honor of Lou Harrison.<\/p>\n
All in all he has composed some 40 works for opera, symphony,
\nchamber, solo, chorus and electric performances in various major
\ncities in North America, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n
Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sept. 5, 1933, and
\ngrowing up in Philadelphia, Vincent McDermott began to develop an
\ninterest in gamelan music in 1965, when he heard the music for
\nthe first time while in Holland.<\/p>\n
\"I was very, very happy. It was good. It was beautiful. It
\nwent directly into my heart. Then I decided I must come to
\nIndonesia so that I could experience the music myself,\" McDermott
\nrecalls.<\/p>\n
However, it was only in 1971 that he was able to travel to
\nSurakarta, Central Java, at the suggestion of a friend, and learn
\nmore about the music during two months at the Indonesian College
\nof the Arts (STSI).<\/p>\n
\"I used my summer vacation and my own money then,\" he said,
\nadding that the only reason for his visit to Indonesia then was
\ngamelan, but later he also had the chance to learn about wayang
\npuppets, Javanese dance and all the other aspects of Central
\nJavan's traditional arts.<\/p>\n
\"I would listen to some popular music like keroncong and
\ndangdut. They were interesting but my heart went directly toward
\nthe old traditions,\" said McDermott who has written numerous
\narticles, including New music for gamelan in Europe, Indonesia,
\nand the U.S., and Central Javanese music: The patet of laras
\nslendro and the gender barung.<\/p>\n
McDermott returned to Indonesia to continue his study of
\ngamelan in 1978 on a Fulbright Research Fellowship, then in 1984,
\nand again in 1988. It was during his 1984 stay that STSI invited
\nhim to write The Bells of Tajilor, which the school immediately
\npremiered.<\/p>\n
\"In all, I've been here five times, in two of which I brought
\nmy family. My youngest son was born in Solo,\" he said.<\/p>\n
His current stay in Indonesia has been his longest. He came in
\nSeptember last year and will go home this month. However, he
\nplans to stay here six months a year to teach at ISI, at the
\nrequest of Rector I Made Bandem.<\/p>\n
\"I will also return in October this year to have The King of
\nBali Chandrakirana performed in Jakarta,\" said McDermott, who has
\nalso developed a gamelan program at Lewis and Clark College in
\nPortland, Oregon, which brings in guest artists and teachers from
\nJava and Bali and offers regular concerts.<\/p>\n
McDermott's ideas on how Indonesian composers can develop
\ntraditional music are of great interest.<\/p>\n
\"I want to see Indonesian music grow .... This means that
\nsometimes it could take the form of symphony orchestra, borrowing
\nfrom the West, bringing ideas from the West, but at the same time
\nalso bringing together all the Indonesian classical traditions.
\nI'd like to see Indonesian composers develop a world kind of
\nmusic, but using deep traditions from Indonesia, not simply
\nborrowing from Europe or from America,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He wants to see Indonesian classical composers working with
\nkampoeng musicians, traditional karawitan musicians, finding a
\nway to take the ideas unique to each type of music and finding
\nways to blend them so as to give new life to all of the music.<\/p>\n
In this way, according to McDermott, they could create new
\nmusic while at the same time also respecting the old music. In
\nother words, the new music would find new life and at the same
\ntime give life to the old music, and thus both the traditional
\nand the new music would develop.<\/p>\n
McDermott says that this would not just contribute to the
\nmusicians, but also to society.<\/p>\n
\"Music is a kind of glue for society to think in similar ways.
\nIt brings people together. With music I can bring people from
\ndifferent islands together. Because they hear the music, which is
\nin combination with, say, Javanese, then they will probably say.
\n'It's possible we can be together,'\" said McDermott.<\/p>\n
\"I do believe music can play its part,\" said the retired
\nprofessor of Lewis and Clark College who also holds a Ph.D and
\nB.F.A. in music esthetics, history and composition from the
\nUniversity of Pennsylvania, and an MA in music history and
\nesthetics from the University of California at Berkeley.<\/p>\n
Hadi Susanto, one of his postgraduate students, who is also a
\nlecturer at ISI Yogyakarta, said McDermott helped students
\nbroaden their insight into multicultural compositions.<\/p>\n
\"He encourages us to develop the rich traditional music around
\nus as a source of creation,\" Susanto said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blend-of-asian-and-western-music-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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