By Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): When was the last time guitar music was heard in Jakarta? Good, artistic guitar music, that is.

Through Tuesday's appearance of not one, but two skilled guitar musicians, Juun Voorhoeve and Erik Otte of the Netherlands, music lovers here were twice blessed.

The auditorium of the Yamaha Music School on Jl. Gatot Subroto was filled to capacity, proof that classical guitar music is immensely popular here.

But the duo presented more than just classical music. Voorhoeve and Otte led the audience on a musical excursion from music in the late classical period to works of the 20th century, including original compositions by Otte, Two Romantic Preludes and Introduction et Danse.

The sonata form was performed, so was the smoldering sensuality of the Argentinean tango; you could have danced to the oompah-oompah rhythm of a Dutch clog dance or whirled to the lively rhythm of a seguidilla from Spain; be touched by the profundity of Cesar Franck, or be tickled by the Beatles.

It's a pity the Gershwin preludes were replaced, or the listeners would have also been treated to a dose of good jazz.

Of the ten compositions represented, only three were written for guitar, and these were not the Spanish and Argentinean pieces.

It was actually the two very classical (in style as well as structure) pieces, one by F. Carulli (1770-1841), another by M. Giuliani (1781-1829), which were written for the instrument.

The other one was by a Dutch composer, J. Andriessen, entitled Variations on a Dutch Clog Dance and contained a variety of dance rhythms, including the rumba.

But Albeniz's Granada and Castilla were originally composed for piano, while Falla's Dance of the Mirror from the ballet "Three-Cornered Hat," was written for orchestra, as was A. Piazolla's Lo que vendra and Nightclub 1960.

Swept away

There is a regrettable gap that lasted for around 100 years when very little, if anything at all, was written for the guitar.

Regrettable, because the guitar is a wonderful instrument, and more agreeable to listen to for long periods of time, compared to its cousin, the lute.

Concerning that gap, Otte explained that this was because of the musical changes that began in the early 19th century, which saw the rise of romanticism, i.e. big sounds, thick and heavy harmonic structures, and -- in the solo instrument category -- the piano.

The guitar wasn't the only instrument to be winnowed out. Other instruments, like the harp and the harpsichord, more or less suffered the same fate, and followed the path already taken earlier by the viols and others, into oblivion.

Well... almost, because during the 20th century a new interest brought about a revival of these old instruments.

During the 19th century, composers practically ignored the guitar, but this doesn't mean their music cannot be adapted and arranged for the instrument.

Take Cesar Franck's Prelude, Fugue et Variation op. 18 in E- minor. Originally written for organ, Otte's arrangement for two guitars was a marvel, and just as beautiful as the original would have been.

As for Albeniz's works (excerpts from his Spanish Suite), although written for piano, the arrangements were eminently effective.

Otte arranged this piece as well as the others not written especially for the guitar.

His original compositions -- the Two Romantic Preludes and the Introduction et Danse -- were inspired by music of the 19th century, with the first one resembling an impressionist work, while the second contained the kind of rapid and murderous triplets via Schubert and Mendelssohn that have been, and continue to be, the despair of many a piano student.

Arranging music, such as Otte has done, may well be much more difficult than composing because of the ever-present danger of losing the essence of the original musical message.

Otte never did, and the rapturous applause he and Voorhoeve were given was an indication that the audience received and understood.