In memoriam: An adaptable, talented and highly popular 'dalang'

V. Sudarna, Contributor, Surakarta

Oct. 7, 2005, marks the 20th anniversary of the death of the highly regarded Javanese dalang (wayang puppeteer) Ki Nartosabdo.

During his life he was a favorite with wayang-lovers, including late president Sukarno. The latter even gave him a set of his formal clothing that was still in perfect condition, complete with peci (black velvet cap) as a special gift to the wayang (Javanese leather puppet show) maestro.

Ki Nartosabdo was born on Aug. 25, 1925, in a small village, Wedi, Klaten, Central Java province. He was buried at Bergota cemetery, Semarang.

Although he was only an elementary school graduate, Ki Narto became an expert in Javanese language and literature. He studied many books on wayang stories, Javanese songs, lessons and techniques in how to be a good dalang etc., at museums and libraries in Surakarta.

He wrote innumerable Javanese music compositions and lyrics for gamelan, which soon made him popular as a modern Javanese lagu dolanan (popular song) composer. Among his well-known works are Turi-Turi Putih, Ibu Pertiwi, Swara Suling and Perahu Layar.

In 1969, Ki Narto established a wonderful krawitan (a 15-piece Javanese orchestra that uses traditional musical instruments, accompanied by songs using male and female voices) known as Condong Raos.

The group still exists to this day, meeting at Ki Narto's house in Semarang.

Hundreds of audio cassettes containing Javanese songs with krawitan" accompaniment have been produced by the group. Unfortunately, videotaping was unusual then, so little exists of Ki Narto in performance by way of recorded moving images.

However, some forty wayang stories recorded on eight, hour- long cassettes are still available in large towns.

Among these are stories of Narayana's wedding, the birth of Wisanggeni and Pandawa's descent into gambling, Gatotkaca's graduation ceremony as a young and handsome king in Kayangan (heaven), Anoman's rage over Alengka, the death of Kumbokarno, Sinta's virginity testimony, and so on.

Ki Narto was given the formal title dalang for his onstage performance at Radio Republic Indonesia Jakarta in 1958. Since then, his name became much more widely known. Suara Merdeka daily newspaper in Semarang awarded him the title "Man of the Year" in 1979.

One year beforehand, he was proclaimed the most favorite dalang and, in 1982, the Department of Education and Culture awarded him the title Anugerah Seni. According to Suara Merdeka, his last performance was in front of the Semarang local government office on Sept. 15, 1985, to welcome the Javanese new year (1 Syuro).

Ki Nartosabdo also succeeded in organizing a popular group of Yogyakarta comedians (the Basiyo group) into an association of Javanese traditional art lovers, where he occasionally joined in as one of the jokers.

Many of this group's audio recordings are still available for those who enjoy listening to dagelan (Javanese skits) that last about an hour.

Before his debut as a famous puppeteer, Ki Narto was a member of the gamelan orchestra in the well-known wayang orang theater group, Ngesti Pandawa, in Semarang. This was led by Ki Sastrosabdo who, besides playing the role of Petruk, always kept a firm hand on the organizational tiller.

Ki Narto's favorite part in the orchestra was to play drums. (He could play more than four simultaneously).

In every performance as dalang Ki Narto not only presented his wayang figures in Surakarta style but also included elements of other styles that originated from Banyumas, the Mataram kingdom, Sunda, Surabaya and elsewhere.

These variations were evident in the narrative style, suluk (recitation of lyrics), antawacana (voices used for the various puppet characters), the gamelan playing style and so on.

He also succeeded in bridging the gap between the Surakarta and Mataraman styles.

May this maestro of local art and culture rest in peace.