Poignant album

Emmer, son of news anchor Fred Emmer, has had an intense year. “My dearest wish was for my mother, who used to be a dancer with the Scapino Ballet, to meet her grandson one more time. She was in a nursing home, aged 95, and wasn't doing very well anymore. She always remained beautiful. Until the very end, she was still dancing salsa there. She was still the fittest and still dressed beautifully in tailored suits."

Non-verbal encounter

Emmer's mother met her great-grandson for one hour; it was a non-verbal encounter. I sat watching it as both a supporter and an outsider. It was special, but also strange that they met just once. My mother had Alzheimer's and didn't really know who that child was. Not long after that, she passed away."

But the photo Emmer took of his grandson's finger and her 95-year-old hand turned out to be an unexpected source of inspiration for new music. "That photo touched me."

Indies past

In old photo albums that the Amsterdam composer found after her passing, he saw her entire Indies past pass before his eyes. "She was born on the island of Ambon. Not long after, I started delving into the local music. That inspired me to create a visual instrumental tribute to my mother. It is a kind of grieving process."

Orphan

Emmer got the feeling that he had become an orphan. "Suddenly it is there. That you realize that you are next. That gave me a sense of urgency, because I still want to do so many fun things."

Amboina

The song Amboina, which he wrote for his mother, ends with the choirs welcoming her at the gates of heaven. "If heaven exists at all, what would that have sounded like?"

Benja's birth

For his grandson, the music lab technician wrote Benja's birth. That composition became more joyful. Emmer added children's sounds to it. “Children from Ambon sing a local children's song in the intro of that composition, taken from a historically discovered recording,” he explains. “For me, those sounds refer to the place where his family comes from. That is how I try to pass the baton in my family. 'Benja's Birth' is the prelude to the life that awaits him.”

Emmer’s new album Asymmetrical Dot has already won three international music awards: a Fenix ​​Award for Best Composition, a Ravel Award IMC for Best Composition, and a European International Music Award.

Composer quits after over a thousand TV theme tunes

Over the past decades, Emmer earned his living creating theme tunes for TV programs such as RTL Boulevard, Tijd voor Max, and NOS Journaal. “There have been more than a thousand of them. It has brought me a lot, but I don't feel like doing that anymore. With those earnings, I can make music that no one is waiting for. I feel very privileged to be able to do that.”

The album Asymmetrical Dot is out now.

[De Telegraaf - Richard van de Crommert]

Listen to the new Asymmetrical Dot album by Stephen Emmer here

Or click here to buy Asymmetrical Dot on CD in the Stephen Emmer Bandcamp shop