Composers, musicians prepare for Asian Music Week 2000<\/p>\n
By Slamet A.Sjukur<\/p>\n
In anticipation of Asian Music Week 2000, The Japan Federation
\nof Composers will organize two important concerts at Yokohama
\nMinatomirai Hall next Aug. 4 and Aug. 5, presenting 14 composers
\nfrom the Asian Composers League (ACL) and the International
\nSociety for Contemporary Music (ISCM).<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A change of millennium is undoubtedly more
\nimportant than the arrival of a new year. But it was clearly an
\nexaggeration when Ma Shui-long, the chairman of the National
\nCommittee of ACL in Taipei, expressed a belief last year that the
\ncoming century would be the Age of Oriental Music.<\/p>\n
For a long time, history has relegated non-western music to
\nbehind the scenes. The cause is of course colonialism, but it is
\nnot the only reason. One might compare Western music and oriental
\nmusic as respectively one having an aggressive beauty and the
\nother a reserved one.<\/p>\n
Only very slowly has music from the East attracted Western
\ncomposers. A figure no less than Debussy had a secret love affair
\nwith the gamelan. It was only at L'Exposition Universelle in
\n1889, when Paris commemorated the 100th year of the French
\nrevolution, that he and other European people enjoyed direct
\ncontact with Asian arts and cultures for the first time.<\/p>\n
Twenty years after World War II there were two other notable
\nevents which marked more serious encounters.<\/p>\n
An international conference, East meets West, was held in
\nTokyo 1961. It was the first meeting that brought to Asia the
\navant garde European music at that time. The music of Berio,
\nMaderna, Staockhausen and Xenakis were introduced in Japan and
\nconsequently many Japanese and Korean composers were the first to
\nbe influenced by that school of thought.<\/p>\n
In 1966, Unesco sponsored a symposium and festival The Music
\nof Asia in Manila. The music of China, India, Indonesia, Japan,
\nKorea, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were discussed by
\nprominent musicologists from Asia, Europe and the U.S. The
\nconcert included European avant-garde music and many traditional
\nmusic performances from Asia.<\/p>\n
The need to propel Asian music from behind the scene is felt
\never stronger by the region's composers.<\/p>\n
As early as 1971, some of Asia's renowned composers -- Hsu
\nTsang-houei (Taiwan), Lin Sheng-shih (Hong Kong), Lo Yi-jung
\n(Korea) and Yoshiro Irino (Japan) -- called the first preparatory
\nmeeting in Taipei of what was later known as The Asian Composers
\nLeague (ACL). Two years passed before its next meeting in Hong
\nKong.<\/p>\n
ACL was established as an independent noncommercial, not for
\nprofit, nonracial and nonpolitical organization. The objectives
\nof the league are to promote, preserve and develop the musical
\ncultures of the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the field of
\nmusic composition. It also aims to further the interests of
\ncomposers from the region through presentation and negotiation,
\nand to attain recognition of their rights in national and
\ninternational laws.<\/p>\n
The ACL runs a members program usually in one very jam packed
\nweek, with sessions held from morning to late at night. It is not
\nalways organized every year, however the lapse between two events
\nis two years at the most.<\/p>\n
It was Japan who took the initiative to organize the first ACL
\nConference-Festival in Kyoto in 1974. In following years, the
\nconference-festival was held in the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand
\nand Korea. Japan will host the festival for the third time next
\nyear, which will be the 21st festival. The second one held in
\nJapan was in Sendai in 1990.<\/p>\n
As we might expect, ACL's theme emphasizes the identity of
\nAsian music. The 18th ACL in Manila 1997 focused on Theories of
\nMusic Composition from Music Ensembles in Asia. In Taipei last
\nyear, the 19th ACL had the theme Discovery of Asian Music:
\nDiscovering the Significance of Oriental Philosophy in Music.<\/p>\n
It was Indonesia who first considered that it is better not to
\nlet ourselves be engulfed in an endless East-West dichotomy. It
\nis time to live with a whole mind. And the theme chosen by
\nIndonesia is Maha-Swara which means The Deep Sound or the sound
\nemanating from the depths.<\/p>\n
It is significant that Rejoicing Sounds will mark the Asian
\nMusic Week 2000, which will coincide with the 21st ACL
\nConference-Festival. In addition to providing a perfect meeting
\nplace for composers, performers, musicologist and music lovers,
\nthe organizer hopes that it will also act as a musical bridge
\ninto the 21st century.<\/p>\n
In anticipating the ACL programs, The Japan Federation of
\nComposers (JFC) will host next week the ACL Executive Committee
\nMeeting in order to discuss the Maha-Swara\/the 20th ACL
\nConference-Festival in Indonesia (Sept. 2 to Sept. 9) and the
\n21st ACL in Japan next year.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the JFC will organize two concerts
\nrepresenting ACL composers and the ISCM (International Society
\nfor Contemporary Music).<\/p>\n
Ten composers from Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, New
\nZealand Philippines, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand will present
\ntheir music together with four composers from the host country.<\/p>\n
Using traditional music instruments, contemporary music of the
\nACL composers will be performed on Aug. 4. Some of the composers
\nwill play the instruments themselves.<\/p>\n
The following day, ISCM composers will present music
\nspecifically composed For the Children of 21st Century.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will be represented by composer Slamet A.Sjukur, the
\nauthor of this article, and member of the ACL Executive
\nCommittee, chairman of the 20th ACL in Indonesia and chairman of
\nAsosiasi Komponis Indonesia (Association of Indonesian
\nComposers).<\/p>\n
He will also perform his work Gelandangan (Vagabond) for a
\nfemale voice sighing 1001 pleasures and a genggong-bambu, a kind
\nof Jew's harp made of bamboo.<\/p>\n
One may ask why the 21st ACL in Japan next year has attracted
\nmore attention than the one to be held in this country next
\nmonth. Is it because Japan has the experience needed for such an
\nimportant event? The success of the triennial festival Art Summit
\nIndonesia in 1995 and 1998, that is, the international festival
\nof contemporary arts with its comprehensive one month program,
\nhas proved our success in putting on such festivals. In addition,
\nmore than one hundred years ago, our artists were successful at
\nL'Exposition Universelle in Paris because they concentrated on
\ntheir arts, not on the organization.<\/p>\n
However, submerged in financial problems, Indonesian composers
\ncan hardly grasp the importance of time management, although it
\nis the essence of all the performing arts.<\/p>",
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