Paul Seelig, composer from Bandung, Java

Paul Seelig (Funkenberg,Germany, 1876 – Batavia, 1945) lived most of his life in Bandung on the island of Java. Inspired by Javanese gamelan, kroncong, Comedy Stamboel and Malay pantun poetry, he composed a small but interesting oeuvre. He was quite successful abroad: in Siam, Austria, Australia and America. In Siam he was awarded the Order of the White Elephant, in Vienna he was called an Oriental Master, in Australia his Malaysian songs had great s...

Constant van de Wall, a European-Javanese composer

Constant van de Wall (Surabaya, 1871 – Nice, 1945) occupies a prominent place in the list of Indisch composers because of a number of uniquely European-Javanese compositions: songs, pieces for piano and for orchestra, chamber music, and the opera Attima. From this it is evident that his eyes and ears were open to the country where he was born and raised: the nature, Javanese antiquities, the shadow play, the Malay pantun, Javanese dance, g...

What can music ‘move’ in a hospital setting? This intriguing research question is at the heart of this book. The project Meaningful Music in Healthcare, in short MiMiC, described here, emerged from a collaboration between the research group Lifelong Learning in Music at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen and the department of Surgery at the University Medical Center in Groningen. There seemed to be interesting possibilities in bringing a ‘person-centred’ musical app...

James came behind me and I felt him putting his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. I knew James for a couple of hours but he made me feel familiar. The lights went on again and Sam came on stage with her guitar, a blond god sat behind the drums and a dark adonis followed them and started singing right away:

"Savage

I've seen this face before So many times I swore never again

But I can't escape who I am The savage I've become

From the freak that I was first Here I am I ...

They say that whatever you’re going through in life, Aretha has probably recorded a song about it. Well, it’s not just Aretha. Just been dumped? Roy Orbison has the song to get you through. Furious about the state of the world? Patti Smith knows how you feel. The Illustrated Book of Songs brings a collection of lists about the music that makes up the soundtrack to our lives, featuring hundreds of songs, old and new, famous and not-so-famous. With intriguing trivia, idle musings and cool i...