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MUSIC OF INDONESIA

COURSE STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION

January 18 Introduction

January 20 Indonesia – An overview

January 25 Java, Bali, Sumatra

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MUSIC OF INDONESIA

COURSE STRUCTURE

JAVA

January 27 Gamelan – An introduction

February 1 Musical instruments

February 3 Gamelan – Basic principles

February 8 Repertoires and formal structures

February 10 Gamelan aesthetics

February 15 Music, dance, theater

February 17 Wayang purwa

February 22 Gamelan in practice

February 24 mock exam

March 1 exam

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MUSIC OF INDONESIA

COURSE STRUCTURE

BALI

March 3 Video: “The three worlds of Bali”

March 8 Basic principles

March 10 Wayang

March 11 Wayang Bali. Performance by Larry Reed

March 22 Gong kebyar

March 24 Topeng and Legong

March 29 Video: “Bali beyond the postcard”

March 31 exam

e

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MUSIC OF INDONESIA

COURSE STRUCTURE

SUMATRA

April 5 Minangkbau culture

April 7 Talempong

April 12 Saluang jo dendang

April 14 Randai

April 19 Islamic music

April 21 Batak Toba culture and music

April 26 no class

April 28 Melayu culture and music

May 3 Mock exam

May 5 Discussion of exam

May 13 Final exam

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau culture

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureKey aspects:

• Adat (tradition) and Islam

• Matrilinearity/matrifocality

• Islam and modernity

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureKey elements of adat

• Nagari (village)

• Suku (Clan)

Key elements of Islam

• Universalism

• Individual

Rumah gendang

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureAdat (tradition) and Islam

The image on the top right is of a mosque near Padangpanjang; the one below of the mosque in Koto Baru. What does the architectural style of these two mosques suggest about the place of Islam in Minang?

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureMatrilinearity/matrifocality

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureIslam and modernity

Western-style education

Rantau (migration)

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SUMATRA

18. Minangkabau cultureWhat is the relationship between Islam and adat? Has it always been the same? What are the social forces that have shaped this relationship over time?

Does the strong matrifocal character of Minangkabau society mean that women are “in charge?”

How do Islam and modernity relate to each other?

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Assignment for Next Class

Hanefi: Traditional Minangkabau Music

“Sumatra”

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongHanefi: “Traditional Minangkabau Music”

Music and adat• Orality (kaba)• Morality (“how a young man or woman should behave”)• Locality (nagari)

Islam (?)

Musical instruments

Regions• Heartland (darek)• Coast (pasisir)

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongTalempong duduak

Talempong pacik

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongTalempong duduak

29. “Talempoang Payakumbuah”

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongTalempong pacik

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongInstruments

• Talempong• Gandang• Pupuik batang padi (or pupuik tanduak)• (Agueng)

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongStructure

Labuan

O O O

O O O

anak induek paningkah

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongLocal variations

Nagari Pariangan (Kbp. Tanah Datar)

After B.Arifin Adam: Talempong. Musik tradisi Minangkabau

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongLocal variations

Nagari Padang Magek (Kbp. Tanah Datar)

After B.Arifin Adam: Talempong. Musik tradisi Minangkabau

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempong• Interlocking

• Bakacimang (“harmony, agreement”)

• “Uneconomic”

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempong• Adat

Talempong is played for adat ceremonies (e.g. at inauguration of village elder)

• Women

Talempong was traditionally played by women

• Rice

Talempong is said to imitate the sound of rice-pounding

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongTalempong

Three worlds?

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SUMATRA

19. Minangkabau music: talempongWhat does the photograph on the previous slide suggest?

How is the notion of nagari expressed in talempong music?

What view does Islam take of talempong music?

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangSaluang (flute)

Dendang (Song)

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangSaluang (end-blown/rim-blown oblique flute)

• Pentatonic (four holes)

• Circular breathing

• Vibrato

• Embouchure

30. Abdul-Rahman Canduang Basamarajo (top left):

“Indang Toboh” (The Drum at Toboh)

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangSong types

• Ratok (Lament)

• Gembirah (Happy)

• Setengah gembira (Semi-happy)

• porno (Bawdy)

• Lagu asal (Song of place/origin)

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangBagurau (amusement)

Competition

Individualism/nagari

Suborang Botuang

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangPantun

• Stanza of two segments consisting of equal numbers of lines (e.g. 2 + 2)

• 8 or 9 syllables per line

• End-rhyme in corresponding lines

• First segment alludes to nagari

• Second segment about human experience or life of singer

Tinggi nagari Koto Tuo

Di mudiak kampuang rang Pambatan

Nan lah acok hati taibo

Tagak dek iman bataguahkan

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangPantun

“Ratok Koto Tuo”

Tinggi nagari Koto Tuo

Koto Tuo is up in the hills

Di mudiak kampuang rang Pambatan

Higher up than Pambatan

Nan lah acok hati taibo

Often my heart is sad

Tagak dek iman bataguahkan

But my faith is strenghtened

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangPantun

31. “Ratok Koto Tuo”

Kok indak diujak ribuik

It takes a typhoon

Alun pandan den kabadarak

To destroy a pandanus tree

Nan kok indak dek bansaik induik

It takes poverty

Alun badan den kamarasai

To make life so miserable

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangPantun (sound or meaning?)

“The relation in meaning between the two halves is often obscure, and in many cases it seems that the connection is less one of sense than of sound, with the first half foreshadowing the second in rhyme.”

(Hanefi and Philip Yampolsky: Night Music of West Sumatra)

Kok indak diujak ribuik

It takes a typhoon

Alun pandan den kabadarak

To destroy a pandanus tree

Nan kok indak dek bansaik induik

It takes poverty

Alun badan den kamarasai

To make life so miserable

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SUMATRA

20. Saluang jo dendangHow important is meaning in pantun?

What role do alliteration and rhyme play in the lyrics of saluang jo dendang songs?

How is saluang jo dendang interconnected with the idea of nagari?