Djaduk Ferianto's 'Gades Sumpeg' make shallow waves

By Franki Raden

JAKARTA (JP): Music for the theater often makes a valuable contribution to the contemporary music scene. Proof enough is that two of Indonesia's most talented composers, Embie C. Noer of Jakarta and Djaduk Ferianto of Yogyakarta, produce works for the theater.

It is worth noting that both musicians are self-taught. Embie made his debut as a composer of the music for Teater Kecil, the late Arifin's theater group. Djaduk Ferianto composed the music for Teater Gandrik.

Djaduk's performance at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center on April 8 and April 9 revealed the influence of his experience in the theater as he experimented with the creation of different atmospheres, ranging from comedy to drama.

A striking perceptiveness and sensitivity are apparent in Djaduk's work through his use of percussion instruments such as the Balinese gamelan (gender, reong, ketuk, kempul, gong, flute), Sundanese kendang, rebana, bedug, zither, rebab, trumpet, violin and keyboard.

In Djaduk's hands, all these instruments were integrated into an attractive orchestral presentation, rich in timbre and at the same time reflecting the diversity of ethnic music and instruments in Indonesia.

His show under the title Gades Sumpeg (taken from his Orkes Sumpeg compositions, literally meaning "stuffy" orchestra) started that evening with an opening number evoking a mystic pastoral landscape.

His compositions are colorful and innovative. However, expositional weaknesses in the music left it both cliched and one-dimensional.

The melody, rhythm, harmony and form of the second piece, Bali Kagol, lacked coherence, leaving the music both lifeless and fragmented.

Melody, rhythm, form, ambience, and idiom in the pieces changed continuously, creating a collage-like impression. In the Javanese gamelan, where Djaduk finds his musical background, the gendhing is fleeting, especially if used to accompany dance or wayang shadow puppets.

Traditional Javanese gamelan differs from Djaduk's contemporary style because it does not rely on the composition. Instead, it centers on the intricacies of the melody, upon which each player improvises. It is also formed through the textural beauty of combinations arising from the player's individual heterophonic and multidimensional melodies.

Spontaneous

Djaduk's composition depends on the composer's spontaneity and technique rather than the traditional improvisation. As such, the weak composition of Djaduk's work, despite richness elsewhere, still seems one-dimensional.

Another of Djaduk's strengths that evening was his blend of ethnic Balinese, Javanese, Sundanese and Banyuwangi (rebana) music, even African and Latin American musical styles. Besides structural problems, the audience gained the impression of an ethnic collage.

Djaduk's melodies found their way into the harmonies of conventional chord progressions by making use of Balinese, Javanese and Sundanese pentatonic scales.

In both Bali Kagol and Merapi Horeg there was a sharp discord in the pitch and interval of the gamelan instruments (gender and reong) with a violin and a keyboard. As a member of Kyai Kenjeng, a group which used the diatonic gamelan, Djaduk was formerly able to avoid this problem. In Jam Malam, Djaduk found a clever solution by distorting rebab so that it could accompany the violin.

By leading from the pentatonic melody into tonal music, Djaduk's works can communicate to modern urban audiences who tend to be more familiar with Western diatonic music.

Orkes Sumpeg made a good impression on the public who filled the Graha Bhakti Budaya theater on two separate days. In this, Djaduk Ferianto is on a par with Harry Roesli, Kyai Kanjeng and Emha Ainun Najib, who have brought a contemporary and populist dimension to Indonesian music.