I remember, some time ago, I used to play it on the desktop. Vanessa-Mae’s version from her China Girl. I love it because it’s lyrical and at some point grandeur. It’s a beautiful marriage of Chinese-style music and Western orchestration. The violin, of course, is the king.
One morning Fiona asked, “Whose music
is it?”
Vanessa-Mae’s, said I.
“It’s so Chinese style.”
It’s the Butterfly Lovers Violin
Orchestra.
“Butterfly what? Oh, I know, it’s Sampek
Engtay!”
I had no idea what or who Sampek Engtay was. So I consulted a book.
Long long time ago in the Middle
Kingdom, Engtay, just like Fa Mulan, cleverly disguised herself as a
boy in order to get education. She met Sampek. Long story short,
they fell in love. Sadly, they got separated because Engtay’s
parents forced her to marry their colleague’s son. Sampek,
heartbroken, fell ill and soon, died. On her way to some place on her
wedding day, Engtay passed by Sampek’s grave. She took some time to
pray. Hearing this, the sky thundered, the grave broke open, and
Engtay jumped into it. Then a pair of butterfly flew from inside the
grave to the sky….
Years later from the converation, I managed to watch the show. Exactly last weekend. Watching the show (Teater Koma’s version is not accompanied with the Violin Orchestra but by their own musical pieces), I realized why some parts of the Violin Orchestra is so melancholic. The way the violin cries sounds like a woman in agony. And near the end of the third move, it roars grandly, I bet it's when the grave breaks open. What music.
As for the show, this year’s Sampek
Engtay is the 25th year celebration of the show. Back in
1988, the show caused a stir for portraying many Chinese inspiration.
Chinese culture was banned in public from late 1960s to late 1990’s
by the regime. Cleverly the director, Nano Riantiarno rewrote the
centuries old love story and set it in Indonesia. It was a clever
move. So the show is a friendly reminder of what a regime could do
and also a celebration of what freedom can inspire.
