Singapore - HE`S the man behind a song that echoes across Singapore every day. Yet few know much more about the late Zubir Said other than that he composed the national anthem, Majulah Singapura.
Now, many decades of silence are about to end.
A publishing deal that his family inked with Universal Music Publishing (UMP) recentlypromises to reveal more behind the virtuoso, who was said to prefer art over commercialism.
The family has handed over 1,500 mostly unreleased works for UMP to publish, though it will still hold the copyright.
The songs range from traditional tunes to songs and background music he had written for films produced by Cathay Keris, part of Cathay Organisation Holdings, in the 1950s and 60s.
Zubir died of liver failure in 1987 at the age of 80.
Less than 10% of the collection of songs, all in their raw, manuscript form, were ever recorded, much less heard by the public.
Financial details of the deal are being kept confidential by UMP and Zubir`s family.
But under it, Indonesian-born Zubir`s works will now be available for recording by contemporary artistes and for use in commercials and even mobile downloads, says a UMP spokesman.
Zubir`s youngest daughter, Dr Rohana Zubir-Hamid, 68, says it is an arrangement that her father, who spent much of his life nurturing young musicians, would have approved of.
Dr Rohana, a Singaporean retiree who is a former associate professor at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, recalls how the family home in Singapore was always abuzz with music and discussions between her father and musicians who would come over for advice.
“My father would be the heart of the conversation, very enthused and very willing to share and give out pearls of wisdom,” she says. “Knowing him, he would have liked to see others benefit from his work.”
This generosity extended to other areas of his life too, his daughter points out.
“He would often help his family in Sumatra and adoptive families in Singapore, giving what he could afford and placing importance on sending medicine,” she says, adding that this was even though the family was not well off at the time.
In fact, despite his legacy, Zubir died with only S$20,000 to his name and the family had no home to call its own, Dr Rohana reveals.
“My father was never motivated by money. He needed money only to stay alive and look after the family; the music lessons and his compositions for the film world sustained us.” Of the UMP deal, she says while she is open to modern interpretations of traditional songs, she has specified that the spirit of her father`s songs should remain intact.
“He valued honesty and sincerity in his work and placed importance on purity and originality, whether in his music, lyrics or style of singing,” she says.
“Once, he was so angry about being asked to cut costs (of production) by borrowing from existing music for dubbing onto the background music of some films that he stopped his work and turned to teaching music.”
Indeed, Singaporean artiste Dick Lee, who is managed by artiste management company Music and Movement, says that it is important that UMP first lists repertoires of Zubir`s pieces, or releases recordings of them.
“Otherwise, how would you use or re-record a song that you know nothing about,” says the singer who is known for his love for infusing Asian elements into his works.
Khalid Shukur Bakri, curator and senior manager of the Malay Heritage Centre at Sultan Gate, also stresses that the deal should not be a matter of simply keeping the songs safe.
“How are they going to be managed? How are they going to be catalogued and made accessible for research?” Khalid asks.
“Nonetheless, if this is what the family wants, we fully support it. It could spark new interest in Zubir Said.”
Already, Universiti Malaya has indicated interest in embarking on a study of Zubir, says the general manager of UMP in Malaysia, Jack Teo.
“There is a clause in the contract that states that UMP will grant third-party rights to use the compositions for free for purposes of non-profit research, private study or any charitable cause,” Teo adds.
At present, Zubir`s life and works as a passionate and patriotic musician have been documented in publications such as the 1990 book, Zubir Said: His Songs.
The deal with UMP is bound to spur new interest.
Dr Rohana says: “This economic side to the deal is only secondary. The focus should be on my father and the rebirth of his vast collection of songs.
“I hope that his songs can live on in the hearts of people not only in Singapore and Malaysia, but wherever people are interested."
Source: www.star-ecentral.com (25 Oktober 2007)
