Djaduk Ferianto's 'Gades Sumpeg' make shallow waves
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.