'Trunthung', contemporary music from Merbabu

'Trunthung', contemporary music from Merbabu

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

At times, the sounds are soft, but at other times, they are
strong. Resembling a heavy downpour, tambourines respond to one
another, producing a pleasant sound to the ears.

The music that echoed through Warangan, a remote village on
the western slope of Mount Merbabu in Central Java, came from
Trunthung music, played by some 60 people aged between eight and
75 years old, who shook and beat their terbang (tambourines) of
various sizes, while dancing around the arena.

The audience, standing or sitting in spaces between banana
trees near the stage, seemed to be hypnotized by this rural
music. They moved their heads to the regular rhythm of the music,
or even clapped their hands.

Some 20 foreign musicians in the audience could not hide their
deep admiration for the music, a unique performance by the Mount
Merbabu orchestra. The musicians, coming from Canada, New
Zealand, Japan and Australia, had just attended the recent
Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival 2002.

Some of the foreign musicians even experimented in simple ways
with the music, covering their ears and then uncovering them or
joining the orchestral group by playing the tambourines and
dancing among the villagers.

"Fantastic, beautiful and authentic," praised Jack Body, a
composer from New Zealand.

The music master from Auckland Teacher's College in 1967, Body
said the local residents' music performance was really admirable.

"The villagers do not simply produce sound with their
instruments, but they even use their feelings and instincts to
present this performance. This was the root of the art of music,
and the basis of art in general," Body said.

The first winner of the Fourth International Concourse of
Electro-Acoustic Music held in Bourges, France, said that
Trunthung music from Warangan was an expression of art from
inside a human being. Therefore, he went on, its value was high,
while the music was beautiful. The music is authentic and
original since the players can create harmony between movement
and rhythm in their music and routine life.

Trunthung music is actually intended to complement the
traditional Trunthung art show from Mount Merbabu, which
resembles the Jathilan, a performance where the dancers ride
horses made of plait work, locally known as kuda lumping. During
the traditional Truntung performance, one person plays the
tambourine, but during the music performance, some 60 people will
play them.

In the process, the local residents also improvise and
experiment with the music, creating a sound like an orchestra.

"Who claims that contemporary music is monopolized only by
urbanites and the educated? Villagers from Warangan have been
familiar with contemporary music for a long time. The latest
example is Trunthung music," said Sutanto, a musician and art
organizer now living in the Mendut area of Magelang, Central
Java.

Sutanto, who helped spark the emergence of Trunthung music,
said it had become an inseparable part of the villagers although
they started experimenting with it over the last four months.

"The residents always longed to play and didn't care whether
they were paid or not. That's why we can watch their performance
in this village at almost any time," he said.

And the group has performed in various cities, even as far
away as Jakarta. The group enjoyed warm applause from the
audience when they recently performed in the area around the
National Museum in Central Jakarta.

Trunthung music, which is presented by the local growers of
cloves, tobacco leaves, roses and vegetables, is simple in rhythm
but arranged in such a way that it creates harmony, leaving no
empty spaces. The performers also move their bodies like Jathilan
dancers while beating their tambourines. In the show, the music
reflects the simplicity of the performers.