Composer Sinta bridging East and West in music<\/p>\n
Her shiny black hair in a tight, short bob reminiscent of 1920s'
\nactress Louise Brooks, musician Sinta Wullur gesticulates in an
\nAmsterdam cafe opposite the Tropenmuseum (Asian Civilizations
\nMuseum).<\/p>\n
Outside, great gusts of cold wind and gray skies remind us
\nthat we are in Europe, far from Bandung where Sinta was born in
\nNovember 1958.<\/p>\n
Scheduled to perform at an international women's musical
\nperformance in Soeterijn, the museum's amphitheater, Sinta barely
\nhad time to sit down for an interview, let alone grab a sandwich.
\nThe dynamic 45 year old leads an active life; even when she comes
\nhome to husband Jan Rokus van Roosendael, a composer and gamelan
\nplayer, the beat goes on.<\/p>\n
Although Sinta was born in the capital of Sundanese music, at
\nhome she grew up with Western classics played by her mother, a
\nnoted piano teacher trained in the Netherlands. Her father was a
\nrenowned Sino-Indonesian psychologist, who moved with his family
\nto Europe in 1968.<\/p>\n
\"I was accepted at Sweelinck Conservatory (in Amsterdam) at
\nthe age of 17 and embarked on piano studies,\" Sinta said in her
\nclear voice. \"But later on I realized that playing the piano is a
\nlonely profession, not like playing in an orchestra where there
\nis an exchange between fellow performers and one can even get to
\nplay different instruments!\"<\/p>\n
Sinta had already begun to study composition at the
\nconservatory after graduating as an accomplished piano player and
\nwas actively writing music for film and theater productions. In
\n1984, she studied composition with Ton de Leeuw at the same
\nconservatory.<\/p>\n
She continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory of The
\nHague with the composers Theo Loevendie and Louis Andriessen in
\n1988. Both teachers were drawn to non-Western music and helped
\nSinta rediscover her roots.<\/p>\n
\"These composition teachers were deeply influenced by Eastern
\nphilosophy and musical tonalities,\" she explained. \"I felt that I
\nwas not ignoring my own heritage while taking advantage of the
\nbest on offer in Europe.\"<\/p>\n
Sinta \"rediscovered\" Indonesia while on holiday, notably the
\nwide range of gamelan music in the archipelago. Between 1983-
\n1988, she returned to Bali in several summers and learned to
\nbecome part of a whole ensemble while mastering a range of
\ninstruments, and then later in Java. In Amsterdam she joined the
\ngamelan group led by Elsje Plantema.<\/p>\n
In Ubud and Denpasar, she enjoyed gender wayang and
\naccompanying wayang kulit (shadow puppet plays). Sinta even
\naccompanied famous Balinese dalang (puppetmaster) Wayan Wiji from
\nSukawati gamelan group on his trip to Amsterdam. She also
\nperfected her knowledge of Sundanese singing and flute playing,
\nand later classical Javanese singing.<\/p>\n
Sinta felt more rounded and fulfilled musically. In Bali she
\nfounded the Balinese gamelan orchestras Tirta and Irama. Since
\n1992, she has been a pesinden (singer) of the Javanese ensemble
\nWidosari in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Playing in Western and Eastern ensembles are two totally
\ndifferent experiences, but what if one wishes to combine the two?<\/p>\n
\"Trying to compose music for both kinds of instruments annoyed
\nme because the basic sounds clashed, so I began to think about
\nanother type of gamelan orchestra based on the Western scale,\"
\nSinta said. \"I tried to envisage changing the traditional
\npentatonic scale to a 12-tone chromatic scale.\"<\/p>\n
The frustrated composer had heard of a solution to such a
\nproblem in Denmark, where the percussionist Ivan Hansen had
\nconstructed a chromatic gamelan in Balinese style. In 1990 Sinta
\ndecided to give it a try after playing on Hansen's instruments.<\/p>\n
Sinta ordered a set of gamelan instruments in Western tuning
\nfrom craftsman Pak Suhirdjan in Yogyakarta, but only after
\nsending him a set of 12 tuning forks normally used by piano
\ntuners to be sure that the gamelan would sound right. The new
\ngamelan was inaugurated on the occasion of the performance of
\nLingkaran, composed by Sinta in 1995 for seven percussionists.
\nThe gamelan instruments were placed on supports high enough for
\nWestern musicians to play without having to sit cross-legged.<\/p>\n
Sinta composed more new works for the concert series \"Gongs &
\nStrings\", one for chromatic gamelan only and one for chromatic
\ngamelan and cello solo. Ensemble Multifoon was born in 1998 and
\nplayed with the Odyssey String Quartet to produce the first CD
\nfeaturing Sinta's Mata Angin, Detlefsen's Malam dan Hari and Van
\nZijp's Mel Benniget.<\/p>\n
From then on, there was no stopping Sinta's creativity. She
\nbegan composing an opera based on the Ramayana, using a system of
\nmusical flashbacks exploring the kidnapping of Sita. The first
\n40-minute version, The Golden Deer, premiered last November at
\nthe small concert hall De Rode Hoed in Amsterdam. The sparse
\nbudget made for greater creativity in costumes and verses
\ntranslated into English by a Canadian poet.<\/p>\n
Understandably, audiences in the Netherlands are impatiently
\nawaiting the complete 90-minute version of Sinta's Ramayana
\nOpera. Sinta is already dreaming of bringing the opera to
\nIndonesia. Meanwhile, another joint musical project has just been
\nrealized with the opening of Het Gamelanhuis in Amsterdam in mid-
\nJanuary.<\/p>\n
-- Kunang Helmi-Picard<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/composer-sinta-bridging-east-and-west-in-music-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }