Twilite Orchestra launches album feting national songs

Twilite Orchestra launches album feting national songs

JAKARTA (JP): Twilite Orchestra conductor Addie M.S. bowed his
head and stretched his cheeks with the palms of his hands, as if
cowering from a scolding or terribly ashamed of something he had
done.

There was none of that. He was merely overcome by shyness
after praise was heaped upon him by Youk Tanzil, the general
manger of Teater Tanah Airku opera house, who recorded the
national songs arranged and conducted by Addie and Singgih
Sanjaya.

With help from vocalists Rita Effendy and Agus Wisman, Twilite
Orchestra Choir master Aida-Swenson Simandjuntak and the 60-
member Victoria Philharmonic Orchestra from Melbourne, Australia,
Addie wrote symphony orchestra arrangements for a collection of
national songs.

The album, Simfoni Negeriku (Symphony of My Country) was
launched on Tuesday evening at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel. It
contains 10 songs, including the national anthem Indonesia Raya
(Great Indonesia) by the late W.R. Supratman, which still bears
the footprint of the old arrangement by the late Jos Cleber due
to strict government regulations.

Other songs include the late R. Kusbini's Bagimu Neg'ri (For
You, My Country), H.S. Mutahar's Hari Merdeka (Independence Day)
and Syukur (Thank God), the late Ibu Soed's Tanah Airku (My
Homeland) and the late Ismail Marzuki's Rayuan Pulau Kelapa (The
Lure of The Archipelago) and Indonesia Pusaka (Beloved
Indonesia).

Addie, 39, said inspiration for the album came 11 years ago
when he heard a German national song in a symphony orchestra
arrangement.

"I was so moved by it. It got me thinking that since our
national songs have never been arranged as such and have never
sounded so beautiful, why not try?" Addie said.

The husband of pop vocalist Memes felt that he could do some
"extra reworking" on arrangements and scores of some of the more
popular national songs, so he went hunting for them in the
archives of the state radio station RRI. He could not find them.

"They were not available. I had to start from scratch," he
said.

The project took three months and cost nearly Rp 1 billion
eventually bore fruits and the recording company PT Aquarius
Musikindo joined up to handle distribution of the album. Around
50,000 promotional CDs have already been distributed to schools,
educational institutions, embassies, government offices and
libraries around the country, while 600 have been handed over to
the Ministry of Information's directorate general of radio,
television and film to be forwarded to both government-run and
private TV stations.

One thousand CDs and 5,000 audio cassettes will be distributed
to around 800 music stores nationwide, but Youk does not expect
to make a particularly high commercial return on the venture.
"Still, I do not expect much from sales, because people are not
inclined to listen to national songs unless during major national
events," Youk said.

Addie added that the classical music market is too limited to
give the venture much hope of commercial success. "This was
purely an idealistic project... and it has been fulfilled," he
said. (ylt)