Concert profits to help local classical music

Concert profits to help local classical music

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): An Evening of Women in Music, a concert
featuring top women musicians, will take place on Friday night to
raise money to help publish Indonesian classical music.

The charity show, held at the ASEAN Secretariat building on
Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta, features Aida Swenson's
Youth Choir, violinist Sharon Eng, pianist Ary Sutedja, Grace
Sudargo's Capella Amadeus String Orchestra and Trisutji Kamal
Ensemble.

If you are a lover of classical music, you will be familiar
with the performers, but you may nevertheless wonder about the
concert's purpose.

You might ask whether Indonesian classical music does really
exist.

Western classical composers are well known to many of us --
Mozart, Haydn and Chopin are all household names, but who has
ever heard of an Indonesian classical composer?

"Classical music is music that has been composed according to
certain standards that have been established for centuries," said
Gus Kairupan, the chairman of Music Publishing Fund.

He said that these forms, such as sonata, symphony, and
overture have not changed for years. The term is no longer
restricted to music from the Classical era, which occurred in
Europe in the middle of the 18th century.

Many Indonesian composers have composed in such forms. Amir
Pasaribu, Mochtar Embut and Jaya Suprana, to name but three.
Some, like Trisutji Kamal have gained recognition from fellow
composers and musicians outside Indonesia.

"During my trip to Europe, many asked whether my music has
been published," Trisutji said. Trisutji has been composing for
the last 40 years. In her entire music career, her work has been
put into print just once, by PT Gramedia in 1979.

Although classical music is timeless, time is running out for
the chance to publish the work of many Indonesian composers.

"Many composers from Indonesia's revolutionary era have died.
Their wives or family may not have the means or inclination to
preserve the music," said Debra Yatim of Komseni, Communication
for Arts Foundation, which is helping to organize the concert.

"These compositions have not been published. That is why many
composers have never received any royalties and that is why their
works are rarely heard," said Gus.

In the early days, aristocrats were the patrons of musicians
and composers. Even though some of the patrons genuinely loved
music, pieces were published largely to enhance the prestige of
these wealthy patrons.

"The reason why we have not heard of Indonesian classical
music is because our composers' music has not been published
properly," said Gus.

Publishing entails proof reading, printing, distribution of
the manuscripts and payment of royalties to the composer for
public performances. Proof reading alone can take up to one
month.

"The process of proof reading takes a lot of time because a
publisher has to think through the sound and tone in his head,
while book publishers have to deal only with words," said Gus.

The effort required presents a significant obstacle to
publishing music, but raising funds to do so is also no mean
feat.

During Indonesia's boom years, Trisutji and her fellow
composers attempted to raise money to publish their work, but got
nowhere because it is not a profitable venture for publishers.
Classical music books and recordings have limited sales potential
and reach out to a limited market. Once recorded, however,
classical music has a much longer shelf life than pop music in
record stores.

"It was a brave move by PT Gramedia, sales were really slow,
but finally the books were all sold," Trisutji said recalling the
issue of her only printed book of music. Many buyers were music
school students who were required to have an Indonesian composer
in their repertoire.

In the United States, many composers publish their own music
in loose leaf form and in small print runs. Some publishers and
foundations are also prepared to print anthologies of music in
larger volumes.

Many Indonesian composers, including Trisutji and Addie Ms.,
write their own music on computers and distribute copies to their
friends.

Although in itself not enough to publish music, funds raised
by the concert will help to support and encourage composers who
are seeking to publish their music.

"The funds will help composers prepare scripts and find seek
out publishers willing to release their work," said Debra.

An Evening of Women in Music brings ASEAN Women's Month to a
close.