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Mixing rumba and 'angklung'
Maestro: Eugenio Silva conducts his angklung orchestra for a performance at an Indonesian diplomatic reception in September at the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana
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Maestro: Eugenio Silva conducts his angklung orchestra for a performance at an Indonesian diplomatic reception in September at the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana. The Jose White Music Conservatory students are wearing tenun ikat from the private collection of Lucia Cornelis, wife of Indonesiaâs ambassador to Cuba. (Arief Wicaksono) (Arief Wicaksono)
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span class="inline inline-none">Maestro: Eugenio Silva conducts his angklung orchestra for a performance at an Indonesian diplomatic reception in September at the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana. The Jose White Music Conservatory students are wearing tenun ikat from the private collection of Lucia Cornelis, wife of Indonesia's ambassador to Cuba. (Arief Wicaksono)
Cubans are legendary for having dancing and singing in their blood. There is a saying that goes: 'Cubans are not Cubans if they don't drink rum, dance salsa, sing or smoke cigars'. If you asked an average Cuban on the street, they would proudly admit that dancing and singing are part of their daily routine. It is one of the elements that have allowed them to survive the harsh economic blockade by the US.
Indonesia is lucky to have preserved the angklung tradition with music professor Eugenio Silva, a lecturer, musician and percussionist from Camaguey, a province in central Cuba, where he teaches at the Jose White Music Conservatory.
At first sight his appearance is Cuban in general ' tall, fair-skinned, almond wavy hair. However, in contrast to Cubans who are usually expressive, he is very soft spoken and polite. He began to learn about the angklung at the end of 2006 when the government of Indonesia, through its embassy in Havana, donated angklung sets to elementary schools (to commemorate president Sukarno's visit in 1960) in Marti and Jaguey Grande, in Matanzas Province, and Guanajay, Artemisa Province. As those schools were not music schools, they had difficulty in teaching angklung to their pupils.
This was understandable; the angklung is quite a complex instrument that requires melodic mastery and control. Hence the instruments were brought to the conservatory for them to be studied and played.
Silva was the one who was then given the task of understanding the instrument. Knowing nothing about it, Silva learned how to play it himself. When he first performed with his angklung orchestra it was pointed out to him by one of the audience that he (and his orchestra) was holding the angklung the wrong way around. He instantly ordered his orchestra to turn the angklung to the right positions.
Now, not only has he mastered how to hold the angklung properly, but he has also taken the angklung to a new level. In his hands he has combined the angklung with other instruments, including the flute and bass. He has also successfully combined the rhythms of angklung with the rumba, a type of Cuban music where the percussion is made from wood boxes, spoons and glass. His orchestra currently has an impressive 50 pieces in their repertoire (some of which he has composed himself) with songs ranging from Indonesian to Cuban to international songs.
His orchestra has also performed all over Cuba and at universities, churches and other events to which they have been invited. Asked how Cuban audiences react to the angklung, his one word answer is 'spectacular', adding that frequently it is the first time for Cubans to see a bamboo instrument such as the angklung. Hence, they are interested in how this instrument sounds.
At the Jose White Conservatory, the angklung has perhaps surprisingly become a prestigious subject. Each year, a screening process is held by the school to select 12 students to be taught angklung in class. Silva stressed that only high achievers could be admitted to this class since to play the angklung students should have the ability to understand musical notes.
This fact was acknowledged by student Elvira Larrinaga Garcia, 18, when she said that, 'For me, the angklung is not only a musical instrument, but also a tool to respect other cultures. Playing the angklung at Jose White is not a compulsory subject, which means that the students have to be competitive to be chosen for that class. The selection is based on grades, musical ability, and discipline; so I am honored to take part.'
The angklung has been taught for nearly seven years at Jose White. Silva explains why he respects the angklung. As a child he only knew Indonesia from the map, through the angklung he has had the chance to create music and even produce a book on the angklung entitled 'El Angklung: Teoria y Practica Musical'.
For an Indonesian to have such fondness for one of our traditional musical instruments is an ordinary thing. However to have a foreigner who has such respect for the angklung and who preserves it and takes it to another level is extraordinary.
