Erasmus Huis hosts recital of American composers

Y. Bintang Prakarsa, Contributor, Jakarta

Would you believe it if a distinguished composer and conductor such as Leonard Bernstein were to have said, "I hate music"? Well, in fact he did say and write it, however, he did qualify it slightly by saying, "But I like to sing".

Soprano Binu D. Sukaman, joined by Ananda Sukarlan at the piano, will explain it all in song, along with other pieces by Bernstein and other American composers in a recital this Thursday, Feb. 7, at Erasmus Huis.

Yes, I Hate Music is the title of a song, as well as the whole collection "of Five Kid Songs" it belongs to. This playful and teasing song cycle is only a part of the lively effervescence in American-inspired music between 1920 and 1950. This is a distinguished period that saw the emergence of the "American style" in classical music.

There is a bit of irony in this because the first man who promoted Americanism (as distinct from European classical tradition) was the Bohemian Antonin Dvoxak, who became very popular in the U.S. during his visit in the early 1890s and wrote his symphony From the New World while in New York.

Another irony is that Aaron Copland, the second most notable advocate of Americanism had studied with the celebrated composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris, along with several fellow Americans.

Anyway, this is the period when mainstream America was still forming its identity as a multicultural society, trying to absorb the seductive jazz of the Blacks and integrating the cultures of immigrants from around the globe.

The resulting multicultural exchange between various ethnic groups and between the classes (long before they officially got rid of discriminatory laws) became the hallmark of the American classical tradition of the 20th century.

The recital's program reflects this variety. Besides Bernstein there are Samuel Barber "The Daisies" from Three Songs, Op. 2 and "Rain Has Fallen" from Three Songs, Op. 10, Aaron Copland Old American Songs Book I and Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and John Cage A Flower for Voice and Closed Piano.

Barber was a Romanticist who found it difficult to defend himself against avant-garde style composers, Copland's works reflect his change of outlook from blatant Americanism to something more attuned to the language of modern music, while Cage's piece is a sample application of his innovative credo, "Everything we do is music". Maybe this is what Bernstein refers to when he says, "I hate music".

I Hate Music, featuring soprano Binu D. Sukaman and pianist Ananda Sukarlan, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002, 7:30 p.m. at Erasmus Huis, Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan. Tickets: Rp 75,000 (adults), Rp 50,000 (students). Contact persons: Shinta at 0815 882 1719 or Anto at 0812 932 5806.