Kafka, Postmortem is based on Kafka’s story titled “The Judgment.” At the end of the story, the protagonist committed suicide after his father condemned him to death by drowning (“And therefore take note: I sentence you now to death by drowning!”). The absurdity!⁠⁠ Who would drown themselves right after hearing such a literal condemnation? The story is strange without even adding elements of magical realism or surrealism; Kafka simply creates the story in a realistic manner, but with characters acting strangely, distant from how human usually acts. In the spirit of this strangeness, I asked Redian Pragina Jali to create a Javanese translation of the story’s ending. By working with a Javanese translation of this unusual text, I intend to turn the language into a strange unto itself. I sang this text with a style in between sulukan, Debussy’s Pelleas & Melisande, and kargyraa: recitative after recitative, and at several moments, accompanied by a syntactical breakdown into harsh noise (kargyraa+rebab overpressure+electronic distortion). While writing the vocal part, I was inspired by the idea of asemic writing⁠—a kind of writing in that represents grammatical breakdown⁠—and by Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic/the symbolic⁠—the semiotic refers to rhythm and tone, and the symbolic refers to grammar and syntax⁠—, where noise would function as the breaking point of the symbolic to the semiotic. I attempt to push forward the experiments that we did with our previous piece; here, we utilized four new gendèrs, which in total would form a 36-tone tuning system (two of the gendèr do not have octave repetition). The electronic materials are sourced from field recordings as well as from Denis Smalley’s Base Metals—I intend this to be an homage to the first piece that gave me a deep understanding of the power behind bell’s timbre.

Text
English: 
His father said pityingly, in an offhand manner: “I suppose you wanted to say that sooner. But now it doesn’t matter.” And in a louder voice: “So now you know what else there was in the world besides yourself, till now you’ve known only about yourself! An innocent child, yes, that you were, truly, but still more truly have you been a devilish human being!—And therefore take note: I sentence you now to death by drowning!”
...
He swung himself over, like the distinguished gymnast he had once been in his youth, to his parents’ pride. With weakening grip he was still holding on when he spied between the railings a motor bus coming which would easily cover the noise of his fall, called in a low voice: “Dear parents, I have always loved you, all the same,” and let himself drop.

Javanese: 
Bapakke kandha karo memělas, swarane ngěmu rasa pasrah, “Tak kira yen kowe bakale ngandhani luwih cěpět. Ning, arěpa saiki ya ora dadi pěrkara.” Swarane sangsaya bantěr: “Dadi saiki kowe ngěrti apa maneh ing donya iki kajaba mung dhapurmu dhewe, tekan sěprene mung ngěrti pěrkara dhapurmu tok! Kowe bocah sing lugu, ya, pancen běněr kuwi sipatmu sing biyěn, nanging luwih běněr yen kowe saiki pancene bocah kěparat! Saiki gatekna, kowe tak ukum pati, tak blěběgke urip-uripan!” 
...
Georg gěgeyongan kaya dene atlit, mempěr kayata sing tahu dilakoni Georg nom-nomane biyen, kabeh mau dilakoni kanggo nuwuhake rasa mongkog wong tuwane. Gěgěmane sangsaya suwe sangsaya suda dayane, ing wěktu kuwi uga dheweke nyawang bus sing arěp liwat, swarane kaprungu guměděr, swarane bisa dadi srana anyamarake tibaning si Georg. Dheweke kandha nganggo swarane sing gěrok, “Pake, Bune, aku tětěp trěsna karo Panjěněngan kabeh. Salawase!”, Georg banjur nglalu nibakake dhiri. 


Composer: Dion Nataraja

Performer:
Sandikala Ensemble
Yustiawan Paradigma Umar (gendèr)
Suseno Setyo Wibowo (gendèr)
Roni Driyastoto (rebab)
Mustika Garis Sejati (rebab)
Michael Wimberly (percussion)
Dion Nataraja (voice and electronics)

Translator (to Javanese): Redian Pragina Jali

Producer: Yustiawan Paradigma Umar

Mixing & mastering: Luke Taylor

Kafka, Postmortem

Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy looks at rhythmic complexities in Steve Reich, Messiaen, Ewe music from Ghana and a piece lasting 1000 years. 

Maths and Music: 1/4. Counter Culture

An audio narration of our Starter Pack issue on new music communities,  generated using Eleven Labs and trained on Water & Music founder Cherie Hu's voice.

Original article: https://www.waterandmusic.com/starter-packs-new-music-communities/

Eleven Labs beta: https://beta.elevenlabs.io/

Starter Packs: New music communities

My series of essays entitled The Secret Mathematicians untangles the fascinating maths hidden beneath the surface of some of our great contemporary and historical works of art. The first essay explores the intimate connection between architecture and mathematics through the work of Zaha Hadid, Le Corbusier and Palladio. 

The Secret Mathematicians - Architecture

The second essay in my series untangling the fascinating maths hidden beneath the surface of some of our great contemporary and historical works of art considers the work of Anish Kapoor, Salvador Dali and Jackson Pollock.

The Secret Mathematicians - Art

In my fourth essay I reveal that writers, just like musicians and visual artists, have found ways to use maths to structure their writing. From the short stories of Borges to the plays of Stoppard, from Eleanor Catton's Booker prize winning book The Luminaries to the poetry of the Oulipo movement in Paris, mathematics and literature are much more connected than one might imagine.

The Secret Mathematicians - Literature

In the final essay I flip the tables and explore how mathematics is something of a hidden art. I relate my own route into maths and my realisation that the creativity of maths is more important than its usefulness.

The Secret Artist

Time and time again, I still have to remind myself that the only great and everlasting joy can only be found in God, and in Him alone.

The world, the devil, and the flesh have won many times, and will continue to battle against me in this fight for joy. My only hope rests in having a Father that leads His sons back to Him through the haze, doubt, and fears of this life. 

I would like to dedicate this song to Aunty Dita, who just recently turned 50 last month. Thank you for always pointing us to the truth, thank you for being patient with us, and thank you for showing us prime example of Godly living. We are grateful to have you in our family :) 

[Infomercial]

Btw, I just started a new podcast with Jeremy, and we would love to have you join our discussions on our facebook page and soundcloud :D

Will post the lyrics and video to the page too! #DiskusiPodcast

I Have Found My Joy

Day 4

Can AI be Creative? Can it navigate the vagaries of natural language? To mark the launch of his new book The Creativity Code Marcus du Sautoy looks at how AI is being programmed to be creative in language and the arts, and what that means for the human touch. Interview begins at 31:23.

Start the Week

The Creativity Code on Start The Week

On Essential Classics on BBC Radio 3 I explored my cultural inspirations with Suzy Klein to coincide with publication of my new book The Creativity Code. First up: Theatre. My choice: Anything for a Quiet Life by Complicite. (18 March 2019)

My Cultural Inspirations: Theatre

Indonesian I 10.10.96 | TheOvertunes | YNWA! 

Soundcloud: a musical journal? 

Well let's hope we can hear progress with each sound uploaded :) 

Enjoy!


Follow: 
@TheOvertunes_Sound


HelloTheOvertunes@Gmail.com

I Have Found My Joy

Reu_Nathaniel

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