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radition is one of the key reasons we see classical music as it is today, with players wearing black tuxedos, sitting in rigid, well arranged positions with eyes constantly shifting between the conductor’s cue and notation sheets to achieve musical perfection.

Compare that to a rock concert and you’ll see that even the most complicated compositions are devoid of all formality and musical notations. People don’t mosh in classical concerts, in which audiences are expected to be on their best behavior inside a classical concert hall.

Classical music, once identified as the music of communists, started in the USSR. According to musicologist Solomon Volkov, classical music under Stalin could still be a “real” art providing it met the ideological functions of the state. It was also imperative that Stalin personally liked the work, otherwise the work would be deemed “formalist” and its composer shipped off to Siberia.

Though the term classical music was an attempt to canonize the period between Johann Sebastian Bach and Beethoven as the music’s golden age, it originally signified certain aspects of upper-level society with a high level of technical mastery.

The type of music itself is rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music since the 11th century, using a staff notation first introduced in the 16th century and commonly practiced between 1550 and 1900.

This is why the term “classical music” did not appear until the early 19th century, in which the earliest reference to the term was in the oxford English Dictionary in 1836.

Another form of classical music is chamber music, which basically allows the music to flow from within a small chamber. This requires specific arrangements for small groups of instruments, from one performer to a part and usually does not include solo instrument performances.

Becoming the most renowned type of music starting from tradition, in which others fall under the category of world music, it’s only a matter of time until people uses classical music to build bridges between cultures. And that’s exactly what The Dutch Chamber Music Company (DCMC) is aiming to do with its chamber music.

Seven talented musicians from the Brabants Orchestra -- Arno van Houtert on clarinet, Jozsef Auer on bassoon, Raymond Vievermanns on trumpet, Quirijn van de Bijlaard on trombone, Tijmen Wehlburg on violin, Pia Pirtinaho on bass and Han Vogel on percussion -- decided to form DCMC, closely working with composers to build projects that fuse contemporary chamber music with folklore elements.

Their previous project involved children, largely playing in the Netherlands’s former colonies such as Antilles, Suriname and Indonesia.

DCMC will play for two nights next month, on the evenings of Aug. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. at the auditorium of Erasmus Huis at Jl. H.R.Rasuna Said Kav.S-3 Jakarta Selatan Jl. H.R.Rasuna Said Kav.S-3.

On the first day, they will perform three assignment pieces by Slamet Sjukur, Gatot Danar Sulistiyanto (with singer Ika Sri Wahuningsih) and Michael Asmara, followed by a theatrical performance titled “Mau ketemu Iblis…?” (l’Histoire du Soldat) from Igor Stravinsky. Martin Schwab, also known as Jamaludin Latief, will act as narrator, in which dancers Eko Supriyanto, Martinus Miroto and Sri Qadariatin will perform to choreography by Gerard Mosterd. On the second day, DCMC will play the music of Dutch composer Theo Loevendie, accompanying the fairy tale “Si Bulbul” (the Nightingale” performed by shadow puppet master Slamet Gundono. “Mau ketemu Iblis…?” will be performed once again later that night.

“The sight of so many beautiful dark brown, young eyes, accessible, curious, excited, has been engraved in our memories and provides the spark necessary to start new projects every time, in spite of the long and tedious process that precedes it,” the group said in a statement.

Call Erasmus Huis at (021) 5241069 or (021) 5275978 or email erasmushuis@minbuza.nl for free tickets, and don’t forget to take your kids.