After my composition, along with the works of Michael Asmara, Slamet A Sjukur, Doddy Satya and Paul Gutama, was released in a CD titled Asia Piano Avantgarde - Indonesia, I faced criticism from the music community: "Soe Tjen, you don't follow any rules when composing music!"
It seems that the "New-Order" era mentality still stands true for many people. They still search for the so-called good and right citizen (warga negara yang baik dan benar). In a similar way, there should also be the good and righteous musician, that is, one who follows the rules. I believe, conversely, music and the arts in general should not follow any rules.
Mozart, worshiped to this day by musicians and enthusiasts worldwide, deviated from the compositional techniques considered the norm in his era. Baroque music, polyphonic (two more melodies playing simultaneously) in nature, was deserted by Mozart. Instead, he simplified the melody, emphasizing the distinction between the melody and accompaniment. While baroque music normally adopted chromatic harmonies, Mozart chose diatonic tonalities.
Indeed one of the most significant aspects of Mozart's music is his transgression from what musicians consider "sacred". But these days, people place Mozart's harmonies on a pedestal. Even when I recently started composing, a senior musician suggested I didn't write another note until I had mastered Mozart's harmonies (just as well I didn't listen to him).
An artist who is constantly evolving will always end up the most creative, as they are never fixed in a single mindset. Those who do not try new things end up at a dead end and no longer create anything new. Instead they multiply and copy ideas which have been produced before. Nothing but mass production results from these kind of actions.
The process of evolution is what drives an artist to be original. This distinguishes a "real" artist from a factory which produces repetitive goods in large numbers. Vincent van Gogh separated himself from his contemporary high-earning painters who merely satisfied the vanity of the rich by painting their portraits. They are the ones who question and challenge the mainstream; If necessary an artist should always be able to question themselves as Mozart did. In his piece "A Musical Joke" (Ein Musikalischer Spass), he seemed to mock his own harmonies by transforming regular tonal structures into atonal melodies, confusing the listener!
It is rather sad that so many music teachers still obey certain rules, especially those surrounding competitions, exams, fame, as well as the "go international" ideology. A similar "obedience" can be found in this year's orchestral concert in Surabaya celebrating Indonesian Independence, during which they invited retired general cum politician Wiranto to make a guest appearance. Why?
Certainly not because Wiranto is a great opera singer, but rather because of his prestige and official position. And surely, if the concert organizers really gave any thought to the music, they would have selected a professional singer, not a politician, to perform.
If the musicians were really loyal to their artform, they would have dedicated themselves to the music, not someone like Wiranto. Musicians who loose sight of their passions end up inviting someone like Wiranto to garner media support and gain numbers at the show.
A composer named Makoto Nemura (who recently performed Momotaro with Shin Nakagawa in Jakarta, Jogjakarta and Surabaya) said to me: "If you want to be a second-class composer, obey your teacher!" By this he was implying that artists who follow anyone's direction but their own will never be truly creative. In fact, fame can be dangerous because it leads an artist to think they are a class above everyone else.
The lure of fame and money certainly tempts many to replicate what they have been taught. In classical music, the players are often robots, blindly obeying the printed notes and instructions! Yet they are so proud, because they consider classical music to be of the highest quality, and more prestigious, than other musical genres. Now, robots who read scores are available and they sometimes play better than human beings.
An artist who does not dare to be different, or challenge anything considered "sacred", will of course be safer. They are not going against the norm or challenging authority. But whether consciously or subconsciously, they have willingly played a role in continuing the creation of unoriginal, unemotional music.
Scientists who do not dare challenge the opinions of the majority never discover anything. In a time when the Church and government bodies believed the sun orbited the earth, Galileo argued the opposite and faced harsh punishment for his beliefs.
As the arts explore creativity, they encourage people to think and reveal hidden phenomena. Therefore, creativity can be a threat to authoritarian rulers, because its questioning nature may challenge the beliefs of the majority. Under the despot Suharto, artists were oppressed because they questioned the government's tactics of manipulation.
Albert Einstein stated that imagination is more important than knowledge. And one's imagination will not go far without creativity. Einstein himself preferred to be known as a philosopher rather than a scientist, because philosophy is closer to creativity. For this reason, a great artist is a person with something extra, because usually they are also a great thinker. But a great thinker is not necessarily able to become a competent artist.
The writer is an academic and a composer.
