Music series explores local traditions

Seri Musik Indonesia (Indonesian Music Series)

CD Dian Records

Copyright: Masyarakat Seni Pertunjukan Indonesia

Distributor: PT Dian Pramudita Kusuma, Jakarta

Rp 25,000 per CD

First six CDs titled Musik Dari Pinggiran Jakarta; Musik Populer Indonesia; Musik Dari Nias & Sumatera Utara; Gandrung Banyuwangi; Musik Betawi Dan Sunda; Musik Malam Dari Sumatera Barat.

Informational booklets included in all CDs

JAKARTA (JP): Masyarakat Seni Pertunjukan Indonesia (Indonesian Performing Arts Society) launched six CDs of a variety of Indonesian musical forms on Aug. 2. These are the first of a series of 20 CDs produced by MSPI in cooperation with the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., with financial support from the Ford Foundation.

The scope of the project is nothing short of amazing -- the first six CDs cover more than 12 different types of Indonesian musical forms, some of which, like Gandrung Banyuwangi and the music from Nias and North Sumatra, are not often featured in the daily menu of Indonesian music, save in the areas whence they originate.

Kudos go to the team of compilers and recorders, headed by noted ethnomusicologists Philip Yampolsky and Anthony Seeger. I do not know exactly which areas the team has covered, but it is obvious that considerable efforts have been made to present as many types of Indonesian musical forms, including popular music such as dangdut and the kind of Batak music (Gendang Karo, Gondang Toba) which are worlds apart from the four-part harmony singing one associates with Batak music heard in hotel lobbies.

Nothing short of amazing and nothing short of timely. Some of the forms, especially those of a ritualistic nature which may well have their roots in times that precede the advent of major cultural waves including Islam and Christianity, could be on the brink of extinction. Perhaps extinction is too extreme, but what is at least certain is that music is a constantly evolving art, one that is far more susceptible to changing mores and values.

There are no better examples of this than in Western music itself. The music and songs in such medieval forms of entertainment as miracles and mysteries have, to my knowledge, left almost no trace. Despite the many commendable efforts to revive pre-18th century instruments, it is their modern descendants who are far more in the forefront, and Bach's French and English suites are these days performed more often on the piano than on the harpsichord for which they were composed.

About a year ago recordings of Gregorian chants reached the top of various pop music charts. But I am inclined to regard the latter more as a novelty (something of an oxymoron there) than an effort to create a decisive influence on the course of popular music.

What has ensured the continuity of these ancient types of music is notation -- a system invented by the Greeks who regarded music also as a science, aided in no small degree by the mathematician, Pythagoras. Ensuing civilizations, including the (Catholic) church adopted and further streamlined this system. The stave (not balok in Indonesian) is the system's direct descendant. This, then, is one of the aspects that guarantee the continued existence of ancient music, although it is by no means certain that today's interpretations are exactly like those rendered in the year 900.

So where do the traditional forms of Indonesian music stand? I'm not referring to established forms like the different types of gamelan for which, apart from the vast collection of recordings, there already exists a system of notation. As far as I am aware, none exists for the types of music practiced in the remotest parts of Indonesia.

In this instance, the contribution of MSPI and, of course, the Smithsonian Institution, is invaluable because the recordings are the only acknowledgement of the existence of the music of the faraway tribes of Nias, of Kalimantan, Irian Jaya. They are also far removed from mainstream Indonesian music today, including hybrid forms like kroncong and dangdut, so whether traditional forms will evolve further and become a source for future music in Indonesia, only time will tell.

Only then will it be possible to raise the question of intellectual property rights and protection for the practitioners. I have a hunch that the person or group of persons who chant mantras at certain rituals do not regard themselves as artists, but as protagonists of certain socioreligious-religious observances.

The reason I am touching on intellectual property rights is because the launching of the CDs was held in tandem with a seminar on such matters. Distinction perhaps needs to be made between the kind of music that serves a socioreligious purpose (I'm sure the MSPI's project covers a lot of this), and music based mostly on esthetic considerations, between a singer singing Kyrie Eleison in church and one who renders Schubert's Gretchen At The Spinning Wheel or Norwegian Wood. The former would probably not get paid, but the latter would insist on remuneration.

-- Gus Kairupan