Twilite Orchestra launches album feting national songs<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Twilite Orchestra conductor Addie M.S. bowed his
\nhead and stretched his cheeks with the palms of his hands, as if
\ncowering from a scolding or terribly ashamed of something he had
\ndone.<\/p>\n
There was none of that. He was merely overcome by shyness
\nafter praise was heaped upon him by Youk Tanzil, the general
\nmanger of Teater Tanah Airku opera house, who recorded the
\nnational songs arranged and conducted by Addie and Singgih
\nSanjaya.<\/p>\n
With help from vocalists Rita Effendy and Agus Wisman, Twilite
\nOrchestra Choir master Aida-Swenson Simandjuntak and the 60-
\nmember Victoria Philharmonic Orchestra from Melbourne, Australia,
\nAddie wrote symphony orchestra arrangements for a collection of
\nnational songs.<\/p>\n
The album, Simfoni Negeriku (Symphony of My Country) was
\nlaunched on Tuesday evening at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel. It
\ncontains 10 songs, including the national anthem Indonesia Raya
\n(Great Indonesia) by the late W.R. Supratman, which still bears
\nthe footprint of the old arrangement by the late Jos Cleber due
\nto strict government regulations.<\/p>\n
Other songs include the late R. Kusbini's Bagimu Neg'ri (For
\nYou, My Country), H.S. Mutahar's Hari Merdeka (Independence Day)
\nand Syukur (Thank God), the late Ibu Soed's Tanah Airku (My
\nHomeland) and the late Ismail Marzuki's Rayuan Pulau Kelapa (The
\nLure of The Archipelago) and Indonesia Pusaka (Beloved
\nIndonesia).<\/p>\n
Addie, 39, said inspiration for the album came 11 years ago
\nwhen he heard a German national song in a symphony orchestra
\narrangement.<\/p>\n
\"I was so moved by it. It got me thinking that since our
\nnational songs have never been arranged as such and have never
\nsounded so beautiful, why not try?\" Addie said.<\/p>\n
The husband of pop vocalist Memes felt that he could do some
\n\"extra reworking\" on arrangements and scores of some of the more
\npopular national songs, so he went hunting for them in the
\narchives of the state radio station RRI. He could not find them.<\/p>\n
\"They were not available. I had to start from scratch,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The project took three months and cost nearly Rp 1 billion
\neventually bore fruits and the recording company PT Aquarius
\nMusikindo joined up to handle distribution of the album. Around
\n50,000 promotional CDs have already been distributed to schools,
\neducational institutions, embassies, government offices and
\nlibraries around the country, while 600 have been handed over to
\nthe Ministry of Information's directorate general of radio,
\ntelevision and film to be forwarded to both government-run and
\nprivate TV stations.<\/p>\n
One thousand CDs and 5,000 audio cassettes will be distributed
\nto around 800 music stores nationwide, but Youk does not expect
\nto make a particularly high commercial return on the venture.
\n\"Still, I do not expect much from sales, because people are not
\ninclined to listen to national songs unless during major national
\nevents,\" Youk said.<\/p>\n
Addie added that the classical music market is too limited to
\ngive the venture much hope of commercial success. \"This was
\npurely an idealistic project... and it has been fulfilled,\" he
\nsaid. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/twilite-orchestra-launches-album-feting-national-songs-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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