Long distance call
Greek and Turkish Cypriots will sing the same song at the same time in two languages to mark a UN milestone this week
Even before graduating from the Conservatorium of Amsterdam Merlijn Twaalfhoven was predisposed to alternative concert locations: a shipyard in Amsterdam harbour, an old warehouse, sand dunes. This time, the young Dutch composer has chosen the rooftops of Nicosia in, what he calls, a three-dimensional piece entitled Long Distance Call.
The concert marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the UN as an instrument of peace and human rights, and has been specially composed for all Cypriots. Musicians will play and students and children from both sides of Nicosia will perform Cypriot songs, in their own languages from rooftops, balconies and streets along either side of the Green Line. The musical score consists of wind instruments, percussion and voices while the composition is based on folk melodies familiar to both Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots.
This is a bi-communal event with two differences. Firstly, it isn’t looking for a solution to the problem, neither is it trying to pre-empt one, its simply looking, and acknowledging. Secondly, it’s happening on the rooftops! And it’s for everybody, and is orchestrated by one of Europe’s most cutting edge composer/artists.
As well as being characterised by an unusual choice of venues (Kursk; poetic musical theatre in a Russian submarine), Merlijn’s projects also invite the audience to surrender to a total sensory experience – hence the 3D description.
“I realise that, as a composer I’m responsible not only for the notes on the musicians’ stands, but for the entire experience of the spectators. Space and sound are inseparable and the visual always influences the aural.”
The Dutchman has always been concerned with the workings of space and how it defines sound, a quest that has sent him wandering outside the usual musical confines and collaborating with visual artists, choreographers, directors and DJs.
“You always watch and feel your surroundings, so location defines a lot of my plans and you always have a total perception,” he says.
Long Distance Call involves 400 people and takes places in the natural light of dusk. Everyone stands, both audiences and performers, in an informal organic environment. Oil barrels and pieces of metal found in local workshops are among the percussion instruments that will be used in a sort of symbolic question and answer repartee echoing through the Green line. All this is accompanied with audiences clapping, dancers dancing, kids and choirs singing, the same song at the same time in two different languages.
“So many composers compose in large buildings outside of normal systems. First, I look for location, then I start composing. Gradually this developed and I wanted interaction – not only with location, but with the people who belong to that location. I wanted to involve people that have their own story.”
Merlijn has worked in many locations around Europe, always collaborating with local performers because he believes that a professional musician erases his own character to the composer. As a composer he wants to give space to musicians.
He first visited Cyprus a year ago when invited to perform in a “normal” concert. “I came, I performed and I left. I thought, ‘this is not enough’. I also wanted to hear your story.
“When I visited here a year ago, I’d read about the Cyprus problem but my knowledge of the conflict was very little. It was never really talked about in the Netherlands. When I came here, I stayed at the house of Dutch diplomat Quirine Van Der Linden. Her house is in the buffer zone with the UN observation post in her backyard. It was so special. I’d wanted to see the Green Line, then I realised I was actually in it.
“I have no private relationship with this conflict so I’m an observer – I don’t feel the pain, I haven’t lost my loved ones or my home, I have no history, I know this, I just observe what is now and maybe can get other people to do that too.”
Merlijn explains that rather trying to bring on a solution, the project endeavours to reflect reality, with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots performing simultaneously on their respective ‘sides’. This, he hopes, may offer local people a chance to see things in a fresh way.
While there is collaboration in the project’s work process, in his artistic statement, there is separation. “I stay on my first impression and I want to show it as an outside view for people on the inside. Everyone has their own story, their own opinion for why they do cross over or don’t cross over. There’s not just two, there are a million sides to the story.”
His doctrine for simple observation goes beyond artistic statement and ties in with his doctrine for a whole sensory experience as he incorporates and allows all natural sounds to permeate his work.
“In my concert, there’s no difference between the noise of the city and music. Kids learn that when you sing a song, its music, and all else is noise. I will teach them every sound can be music. If you are very open, you can enjoy a lot. If a car passes or a phone rings in a concert, it will be incorporated. It’s a very western view to see the world as imperfect. I am very inspired by Buddhist and Japanese views, who say the world, if you’re open to it, is perfect!
”I can study history, and try to come up with a solution for this conflict,” he says, “instead of that, I just want to look around.”
Music From The Rooftops In No Man’s Land. Part of UN Day in Nicosia. Musical production bridges the Green Line in Long distance call from Dutch composer Merlijn Twaalhoven. October 24. Rooftops of Nicosia’s buffer zone. 8am morning call, 1pm noon call, 4.30pm children singing. 5pm Long Distance Call. Free. www.laviesurterre.nl
