Young composers demonstrate talents at 'reform' festival

By Zoel Mistortoify

SURAKARTA (JP): Some people in Surakarta (Solo), which was severely damaged by riots in May, could for awhile forget about the bitter incident when a special cultural event was held here.

From Sept. 5 to Sept. 10, Surakarta once again recorded a significant moment in the Indonesian contemporary music world through the September Music Gathering.

Twenty-one "young" composers -- the second generation after Slamet Abdul Sjukur's era -- presented their works, which were more bold, honest and moderate, in the sense that their work could be relatively accepted by a larger community.

The festival was held in an atmosphere of the reform spirit, with which the country has been abuzz. Even though the occasion was not held specifically in recognition of reform, the idea contained in the works reflected the country's latest phase.

Besides the concerts, there was also an exhibition of contemporary music instruments and a discussion featuring, among others, Suka Hardjana, Sardono W. Kusumo and Djaduk Ferianto.

The six-day event was held by Jamus, the Surakarta Music Network, in cooperation with the Surakarta Cultural Center, and MATaYA Performing Arts Network and Indonesia Performing Arts Society.

Jamus coordinator I Wayan Sadra, who is also a senior contemporary musician, underlined the importance of the September Music Gathering as a place for young composers to demonstrate their talent. So far, only senior composers have had the chance to perform in big contemporary music events such as at Composers Week in Jakarta.

For four nights, participants staged their works, which were mostly colored by the adoption and synthesis of cross-cultural music from several ethnic groups in the country. This was shown not only in the instruments they used, but also in the more important aspects: the arrangement of the compositions. All of this was certainly an interesting symptom to be further observed.

Some composers who clearly combined themes from various music traditions were Muriah Budiarti from Surakarta (the only woman composer in this event) with Lentrih II or Lesu (Flimsy), trio composers Gunarto, Ade Kholiq and Rudi Sulistanto, also from Surakarta, with 3 Terkawin (3 Married), and Pardiman from Yogyakarta with Njeplak Tung Tung or Asal Ngomong (Bubble Talk) in a humorous a cappella composition.

Other compositions were still rooted in basic tradition, such as the work of Dedy Satyananda from Bandung, Basri B. Sila from Ujungpandang and Elizar Koto from Padang, while Irwansyah Harahap from Medan preferred to have a world cross-cultural music approach between Malay and India.

There were also composers who gave leeway in their work approach by making use of various ethnical elements with jazz, pop, classic, neo-tradition or any other kind of music, such as found in the work of Agus Bing and Bambang SP from Surabaya, Azied Dewa and SP Joko from Yogyakarta and Purwa Askanta from Surakarta.

A rather different performance was presented by Fahmi Alatas from Jakarta and I Gede Yudana from Bali, who used only a keyboard as their medium of expression.

These future composers' works clearly showed that traditional music is really needed as a basic element and has even started to become part of the music trend.

It was not too much then when Djaduk Ferianto, in a discussion on the first day of the event, said that "traditional music has been accepted by the people as a new trend". He made the statement not only because Djaduk and his Kua Etnika group managed to enter the music industry and television, but also because he has a sharp perception of today's market trend.

This September Music Gathering itself has proven the truth of his statement that ethnic music strongly influences the work of our young composers. The elements in traditional music were obviously the sources of inspiration in almost all of the works, which were implemented either enormously or voguishly.

However, like some contemporary music, not all works were well accepted by the audience. Some regarded them as absurd, torturing and even naive or disturbing. Annoyed, one audience member said in the discussion on music: "If your work is meant to be performed for the people, don't be selfish and say 'this is it... this is my work'."