Kalit's music speaks to the soul
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
One of Indonesia's most prolific composers to date is Nortier Panahatan Simanungkalit. On his music scores he is known only as N. Simanungkalit, and to his colleagues and friends, simply as Pak Kalit.
Kalit has composed both the 1999 and 2004 general election theme songs. The songs of several political parties, such as Golkar and PDI, were also penned by him, and the official anthems of various government ministries were born from his musings.
Five years ago, on his 70th birthday, his former students and friends dubbed him the Father of Indonesian Choirs. A fitting title for the man who kicked off the development of university choirs by establishing the Gajah Mada University Choir in 1955, and becoming its first conductor.
Kalit's compositions not only struck a chord with Indonesians, but also imbued a spirit of brotherhood in athletes from around the region at the 1979 South East Asian Games (SEA Games) in Jakarta with his SEA Games march and hymn. Abroad, his composition, the Chapter Song for the National Capital Chapter of the American Red Cross in 1999 was lauded for its inspirational words and musical arrangement.
More than 250 hymns and marches had been born out of his genius, and in this his 75th year, Kalit shows no signs of slowing down.
"There will be no retirement. I am 75 but only two weeks ago Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh asked me to help with the writing of a Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam anthem," he said.
His home reflects his dedication to music and to choirs. A small assembly hall has been built on the second floor -- complete with a stage and piano -- for choirs to practice and choir committees to meet.
I interviewed Kalit amid the friendly clutter of his workroom, with the evidence of more than 40 years of work kept neatly in alphabetical folders on the shelves lining the walls.
One wall had a mirror -- to practice poise and stance -- while up against another was a home theater, with speakers of all sizes competing for space with his collection of music scores.
A drawing of that mathematical genius Albert Einstein adorned one wall. "He was also a violinist, you know," Kalit said.
A special space was reserved for his war medals and military decoration. A samurai sword was displayed in pride of place -- "war booty from during the Japanese occupation," Kalit explained.
Ironically, for all his dedication and his great contribution to music, he has never received any recognition from his own government.
"I have been honored and recognized by many people and institutions here and abroad, but not once by my government," said the former member of UNESCO's International Music Committee (IMC).
Pak Kalit belongs to a rare breed of people whose genius lies quietly dormant for many years and then explodes onto the surface like a river in flood. In Kalit's case, the flood gates let the torrent loose after the war of independence.
Kalit was born in Tarutung, North Sumatra, in 1929 to Manasse Simanungkalit, a teacher at the Sipaholon Seminary, and Julia Boru Sitompul.
His father was among the first pupils of German Lutheran missionary Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen and was the church's first Batak pipe organ (orgel in Dutch) player.
Despite this early musical influence, Kalit's memories of his early life was of struggle and warfare.
When he was only 16 years old, Kalit joined the laskar rakyat (people's paramilitary troops) in Tarutung, and by the time he was 19 became the Tapanuli Student Army commander.
"There was no (time for) music. I was a sniper. It was kill or be killed," Kalit said.
When the Student Army was disbanded, he was given the choice of staying in the army or continuing his secondary education. In 1949, leading like-minded fellow soldiers, Kalit arrived in Yogyakarta to continue his studies.
The music bug bit him when he least expected it.
"In Yogya just before starting university, I owned a small transistor radio. I listened (to music programs) and liked them. (The music) entered my soul, it helped me remember things better. I thought that if the composers could make such beautiful music, why couldn't I?"
"But I didn't know how to read music so I bought a book and studied," Kalit explained. He has never had any formal musical training.
In 1952 Kalit composed Sekuntum Bunga di Taman (A Flower Stem in the Garden) -- "at a time when one was young and full of puppy love" -- and offered it to Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI)'s Yogyakarta station.
"Surprisingly, RRI Yogyakarta liked it, made the orchestral arrangement, and played the song on the radio," Kalit said, explaining that this was the point when his musical self- confidence grew and led him to experiment.
He was later appointed the head of the music section of the Gajah Mada University Student Arts Council, and established the Gajah Mada University Student Choir in 1955.
"I felt ashamed that as the head of the music section I knew nothing about music. That's when I started to study (music)," Kalit said, adding that when the council needed an oboe player, he stepped up and studied the instrument for two months.
"It may be a gift. I also then learned how to play the piano and keyboard. Because, I couldn't before".
This gift for music became even more evident when Kalit began composing.
"I visualize vocal sounds as if I were listening to them. I conjecture musical notes and write them down. I make piano scores the same way. Then I let someone else play the piece on the piano," he explained, adding that the actual piano sound was usually the same as he had envisaged it.
Kalit says that he finds his muse in the unlikeliest ways. For the Ministry of Communications anthem, for example, he had to devise a whole new philosophy of transportation and communications, which was eventually adopted as the ministry's own philosophy.
Despite his early experiments in pop music, Kalit realized that his vocation was in what he calls "art music" -- music that balances melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre, which he believes can stimulate the human brain and increase intelligence.
"It's a shame that the kind of music we produce nowadays is all about terjing (teriak-jingkrak -- shouting and prancing, Kalit's own definition of modern music), which does nothing to increase intelligence," said Kalit, who has three grown daughters and four grandchildren.
Kalit listens to music from the Baroque, Rococo and Romantic eras, and admits that although influenced by their styles, he never deliberately writes a composition based on any one style.
"It all depends on what the composition needs, depends on the inspiration. If there's a nagging feeling, of something that needs to be fulfilled, then the end result may be romantically styled."
The most important thing in a composition, he said, was whether or not its message was captured by the listener. How the music made people feel, whether they were influenced by it or simply entertained.
"The most important thing is awareness, not physical sensations," he stressed, once again expressing his contempt for terjing music, which that according to him focuses more on the physical.
"Does the music talk to you? If it is able to influence you, then that's art, pure art".