Sono Seni Ensemble brings musical democracy

Sono Seni Ensemble brings musical democracy

By Blontank POeR

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): The audience is completely
silent, intently following the compositions being performed.
Every time a composition comes to an end, they applaud as a token
of appreciation. The rest of the time, we know next to nothing
about what the audience really feels.

This situation is only a realm where one tries to fully
experience and understand the music. It is where a psychological
awareness plays its role to liberate one's power to absorb the
music rolling off the stage.

When the Sono Seni Ensemble performed Suitasuit at the Arena
Theater in the Surakarta Cultural Park on July 6 and July 7, one
could clearly see the effort to bring the audience to an area of
interpretation-free musical democracy. There were no words or
text.

Interestingly, the performances of the repertoires of three
composers were supported by musicians (who are also composers)
with diverse professional backgrounds. There was an
ethnomusicologist, a rock musician, a keroncong player and
traditional Sundanese, Balinese and Javanese singers. With the
exception of John Jacobs, a British exchange student at STSI
Surakarta, virtually all the musicians in Sono Seni Ensemble are
not really skilled at playing instruments.

However, because the learning process is something they
already understand from composing their own musical pieces, the
result of four months of rehearsals was quite amazing. The
arrangement of sounds presented were rich in nuance, including
the local color which emerged from the ensemble. Some of the
ethnic musical instruments used in the performance included
terbang, genggong, kalumba and jembe.

The composition Kisah Sebuah Cerita (A Story) by Joko S
Gombloh originally included a text. However, for this
performance, the text was dumped to allow greater creative
stimulation. In certain sequences in this seven-minute piece,
Joko tried to mix pentatonic tones into an arrangement with a
diatonic harmony. This clash of tones gave rise to a polyphonic
impression, which was at times contemplative.

The sound produced appealed to the ears, asking the audience
to listen closely and carefully. This work, which gave an empty
space for the trumpetist and flutist, was not simply a nice blend
of music similar to that now becoming trendy in the music
industry. Neither did it take the audience to an area of
excessive complex musicality. This piece called for great
appreciation as a musical work.

In the meantime, John Jacobs presented Lucky for Some, which
almost took the musicians into the hell of music goes round into
a pattern of seven beats. This is a hell because in this pattern
there are a number of difficulties the players must go through,
particularly musicians with a gamelan background. This pattern
would be alien to them because they are used to counting the
beats evenly.

Lucky for Some was originally a melodic theme which later
challenged Jacobs to consider a grander form in totality. The
result was that the form became strong, with a constantly
changing pattern of rhythm and melody development.

The articulation of the striking of the drum was just like a
pillar in a consistent tempo and a guide marking the beginning of
improvisation. Here, the ability to explore ideas was expected to
give artistic substance to the composition.

The precision of seven beats would only be a danger in a
mathematical category, but the process determines that this
unusual condition becomes an inherent part of the musicians and
their musical vocabulary.

Laras Lurus by I Wayan Sadra is a 30-minute composition made
up of five parts. This piece will represent Asia in the Pacific
Music Festival 1999 in Sapporo, Japan.

The composition was created on the basis of an instrumentation
approach, where instruments were treated as no more than mediums
of expression whose meanings were made empty. This treatment was
similar to what Sadra did to a dining table in a previous work,
Otot Kawat Balung Wesi (1995). Sadra, whose works are sold in
Canada, the Netherlands and the United States, will make any
object a source of sound.

There was no compromise or resignation in the mainstream
images already inherent in the character of the music
instruments. What came to prominence were atonal sounds. To
Sadra, who has was awarded the New Horizon Award in 1991 from the
International Society for Art, Sciences and Technology in
Berkeley, the United States, Laras Lurus attaches greater
significance to sound interaction and dialog.

In the program notes, Sadra wrote: Laras (nice to hear) or
not, Lurus (not to be thought about only). It means that if you
listen to music, do not have any tendencies. You simply have to
set your ears free.

As a musical repertoire, the three pieces were a fair
variation and reflected the personalities of each of the
composers.

The various backgrounds of the musicians made them loyal to
one another in the musical process. As a result, the arena became
a venue for creativity.