Gesang stays true to his music<\/p>\n
Ahmad Solikhan, Contributor, Surakarta, Central Java<\/p>\n
Anytime one hears the popular Bengawan Solo (Solo River), a clear
\npicture of the famous river flowing through the Central Java town
\nof Surakarta, which is better known as Solo, will come to mind.<\/p>\n
Though written in the 1940s, the legendary song is still
\npopular today, and is often sung by popular artists.<\/p>\n
Today, the river might be not as clean as depicted in the
\nsong. But at the time, its composer, Gesang Marto Hartono, sailed
\nalong the river to witness its beauty for himself.<\/p>\n
\"The Bengawan Solo is no longer as beautiful as when I wrote
\nthe song. There are many people who like this song, not only here
\nbut also overseas. Most are disappointed to learn that the song
\nis no longer true,\" Gesang once said.<\/p>\n
Now, despite his gray hair and wrinkled skin, at 85 Gesang
\nstill has music close to his heart.<\/p>\n
Born in Kemlayan, Surakarta, on Oct. 1, 1917, Gesang was given
\nthe name Soetadi by his parents, who owned a batik business in
\nthe city. But his name was later changed to Gesang, meaning
\nalive, after he recovered from a serious illness while still a
\nbaby.<\/p>\n
His decision to take up a career in music was not supported by
\nhis parents, who wanted him to help them run the family business.<\/p>\n
But his willpower was strong. Little Gesang showed great
\ninterest, especially in keroncong, Javanese traditional tunes. He
\nloved to sing to himself, or watched local keroncong groups.
\nLater on, after finishing school, he secretly joined keroncong
\ngroups like Marco, Sinar Bulan and Monte Carlo in Surakarta.<\/p>\n
Now he has dozens of songs to his credit, including Si Piatu
\n(The Orphan) -- the first song he composed at the age of 21
\ntelling about an orphan who led a miserable life under the Dutch
\ncolonial government, and others like Roda Dunia (Wheel of the
\nWorld, 1939), Saputangan (Handkerchief, 1941), Tirtonadi (1942),
\nand Jembatan Merah (Red Bridge, 1943).<\/p>\n
His songs not only made him famous here, but also abroad.
\nSongs like Saputangan and Jembatan Merah were used as film
\nsoundtracks. He also traveled to many countries. In 1963, he went
\nto China and North Korea as the Indonesian art envoy and in 1972,
\nhe introduced Bengawan Solo to Singaporeans. He also traveled as
\nfar as Japan and Malaysia to perform his songs.<\/p>\n
\"When I performed in Singapore, the response was warm, even
\nfrom young audiences,\" recalled Gesang, who is recovering from a
\nbroken leg and now suffers from diabetes.<\/p>\n
His music is created through a unique process since Gesang
\ncannot even read music and can only play a single musical
\ninstrument, the flute. In composing a song, he uses his flute and
\nthen improves it by singing out loud.<\/p>\n
\"In composing a song, I cannot say whether I start with the
\nlyrics and then a melody or the other way around,\" Gesang said in
\nhis simple home. In a keroncong performance in Bandung in 1980,
\nhis flute was auctioned for Rp 10 million to an anonymous fan.<\/p>\n
Gesang started to gain a wider audience after he started
\nsinging on radio. He sang on a radio station owned by
\nMangkunegaran (SRV) and on SRI, which was owned by Kasunanan.<\/p>\n
When the state radio RRI was set up in 1950 in Surakarta,
\nGesang was asked to perform a keroncong program alongside a group
\nfrom the then Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and another one
\nby the People's Arts Council (Lekra), which was set up by pro-PKI
\n(Indonesian Communist Party) artists and writers in 1950.
\nBut due to Lekra's political connections, Gesang was no longer
\nallowed to sing on RRI. He was back to the station after he
\nreturned with his groups Bunga Mawar and Irama Sehat.<\/p>\n
Later on, Gesang appeared regularly alongside the Bintang
\nSurakarta group under popular keroncong singer Waljinah and Radio
\nOrkes Surakarta (ROS) for the local RRI station.<\/p>\n
When after the 1965 tragedy people linked his name with Lekra,
\nthe great composer seemed to isolate himself. But recently, as
\npeople realized that it was the organization that manipulated
\nGesang's reputation for its own purposes, he finally received the
\nrecognition he deserved.<\/p>\n
Now the composer lives alone in the house that he inherited
\nfrom his father, tending to his grocery kiosk. He married his
\nneighbor Waliyah in 1941 and the wedding lasted for 22 years
\nbefore the two divorced, with no children.<\/p>\n
In his leisure time, he has witnessed many developments in
\nmusic, especially the emergence of campursari -- a blend of
\nkeroncong and gamelan traditional orchestras, which actually
\nresembles Langgam Jawa -- keroncong songs in Javanese. Gesang's
\nKalung Mutiara is one example of this popular Langgam Jawa, which
\nusually has simple lyrics and is easy to listen to. Its
\nperformers are usually singers from Javanese shadow puppet shows,
\nor ketoprak, traditional Javanese drama and keroncong singers.<\/p>\n
But later on, as he watched television and live performances,
\nGesang found that campursari had changed. Not only were the
\nmusical instruments more modern, including electric guitars and
\ndrums, but the lyrics had become duller -- dominated by love
\nthemes, the music had become too noisy while the performers
\nswayed their bodies too much, even suggestively.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, I like seeing this new development. But I think it
\nwould be better if the 'swaying' were adjusted to match the
\nsongs' lyrics,\" said Gesang, whose Javanese song Pamitan
\n(Goodbye) was later rendered into Indonesian and performed by the
\nlate Broery Pesolima in 1998.<\/p>\n
He said campursari could be much better, with lyrics touching
\none's emotions, not simply catering to market demand.<\/p>\n
\"If I had only catered to the market demand, I would have
\nwritten thousands of songs.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gesang-stays-true-to-his-music-1447893297",
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