Introduction : Ananda Sukarlan & Musik Sastra

It is indisputable that Indonesia possesses a vast variety of music. Indonesia is a country with a population of 251 million –with more than two hundred ethnic groups, four hundred languages and dialects, and six official religions.2 The arrivals of Chinese, Arabian, and Indian traders, also the encounters with the Europeans and Japanese in the colonization era, have added new essences in Indonesian society, and have resulted on the birth of various types of music. Not only it has unique traditional music like angklung (bamboo rattle) and gamelan (a hybridized culture of the indigenous pre- Hindu culture, Hindu-Buddhist culture, and Islamic culture), but it also has new popular and art music (both influenced by European and American culture), such as keroncong, dangdut, and musik seriosa. The rich diversity of music genres in Indonesia has attracted many music researchers, and has culminated with a number of researches. However it is usually traditional music –particularly gamelan in Java and Bali –which has come to attention. As a matter of fact, although scholarships about gamelan are still requisite, it is undeniable that researches regarding other traditional music of the outer islands of Java and other contemporary genres are limited.3 .............................................................................................................................................. In this study, I would aim for a more contemporary genre which is considerably influenced by the Western classical music. Western music (classical as well as popular) reception in Indonesia can be traced back to the sixteenth century, where the performances were done among aristocrats for more than three centuries. Nevertheless it was not until the early period of twentieth century that Western music became acknowledged in a broader range of Indonesians. After the colonial government applied the Ethical Policy(4) in 1901, the education systems in Indonesia were improved, and had also influenced on the increasing number of Indonesians who became familiar with Western music. During 1920s the first generation of Indonesian composers came to existence, and had contributed to the development of modern music (both classical and popular) in Indonesia. Many of Indonesian composers went overseas to study, for example Amir Pasaribu, Trisutji Kamal, Paul Goetama Soegiyo, Suka Hardjana, and Ananda Sukarlan. Especially in the era of globalization today where people can travel anywhere and anytime, more and more Indonesian composers have had the opportunities to study Western music in the West, or even in the East (China, Japan, Philippines, etc.). .............................................................................................................................................. Ananda Sukarlan (b.1968) is an Indonesian composer who has studied Western classical music in the Netherlands. Currently a permanent resident of Spain, he has composed numerous works, such as “Rapsodia Nusantara (lit. Rhapsodies of the Indonesian archipelago)” for solo piano, “Ibu, yang anaknya diculik itu (Mother, whose son was kidnapped)” for a chamber opera, “Bibirku Bersujud di Bibirmu (My lips kneel on your lips)” for ballet, “Dalam Doaku (in my prayer)” for art songs, and many more. In defining his music, Sukarlan calls his music “Musik Sastra”. To describe what “musik sastra” refers to, I will elucidate the definition of the words “musik” and “sastra” according to the third edition of Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI, the Great Dictionary of Indonesian language)5, as follows: “musik” (derives from the Dutch word “muziek”, which was introduced in the eighteenth century.) 6 .............................................................................................................................................. 1) The art or science (knowledge) to arrange notes or sounds in sequence which forms a unity and continuity; .............................................................................................................................................. 2) Notes or sounds that are arranged in a particular way which contain rhythm, melody, and harmony (especially the sounds produced by utilizing instruments). .............................................................................................................................................. “sastra” (derives from Sanskrit) 1) Language (words, style of language) which were used in ancient books (not language used in daily conversation); .............................................................................................................................................. 2) Kesusastraan (literature); .............................................................................................................................................. 3) Hindu texts; holy books of knowledge; .............................................................................................................................................. 4) Kitab (holy books); pustaka (holy books); primbon (almanacs that consist of horoscope, calculation, etc.); .............................................................................................................................................. 5) Writings; letters. .............................................................................................................................................. What does Sukarlan want to express with the word “sastra”? .............................................................................................................................................. The term “musik kontemporer (contemporary music)” also exists, as proposed by many musicologists in Indonesia. Suka Hardjana, a clarinetist as well as a musicologist, wrote on his book “Corat-coret Musik Kontemporer Dulu dan Kini (Sketches of Contemporary Music in the Past and the Present)”: “Musik kontemporer grows in a limitless environment, in an era which always change, full of controversy. If we try to specify them, serial music and twelvetone music (which we call ‘contemporary music’) in the previous century will be ‘classical’. Musik kontemporer doesn’t have any limit of time.” (Hardjana, 2003: 257). .............................................................................................................................................. Whereas Andrew Clay McGraw, an ethnomusicologist, wrote on his book, “Radical Traditions Reimagining Culture in Balinese Contemporary Music”: “Musik Kontemporer was a scene in which individuals self-consciously expressed new ideas about authorship, originality, time, space, transnational experience, politics, sexuality, tradition, and modernity.” (McGraw, 2013: xxx) .............................................................................................................................................. With those various definitions of the term, could we call Sukarlan’s music “musik kontemporer” as his music “sometimes” sounds like a gamelan, written in the twenty-first century, and express new ideas? One of the aims of this study is to clarify the concept and meaning of “musik sastra” in Sukarlan’s music. In order to elucidate that, it is necessary to explain the points below: .............................................................................................................................................. 1. Sukarlan’s proposal to name his music “musik sastra” is because it is written down in the notes.7 He also mentioned “musik etnik (ethnic music)” to juxtapose that it was different from musik sastra for it was not written in scores. Thus is it acceptable to assume from the meanings above that “musik sastra” denotes “sounds arranged in a particular way that are written or penned on scores”, not something specifically related to literature (poems, old writings)? .............................................................................................................................................. 2. Is “musik sastra” a relevant label for merely music with words or all of his compositions including instrumental works? .............................................................................................................................................. 3. Why does Sukarlan not use the term musik kontemporer for his music? .............................................................................................................................................. The other aim of the study is to elaborate his style of composing, in which I would select Sukarlan’s Tembang Puitik (lit. poetic songs) as an example. His Tembang Puitik are inspired by literature (poems) and are the greatest in number of all his compositions. He has composed more than a hundred of them. The first chapter of the research will cover the history of western music reception in Indonesia – where the Portuguese and the Dutch occupation in Indonesian islands has influenced the Indonesian society in music, Christianity, and later music education. The second chapter carries on with the commencement of modern music in Indonesia and its development until the present time. The origin and definition of Tembang Puitik in Indonesia will also be explained here. In chapter three, I will explain about Sukarlan’s life both in Indonesia and Europe, his music and idea, and his Tembang Puitik in general. Chapter four will cover comprehensive analysis of Sukarlan’s cycle of Tembang Puitik entitled “Senyap dalam Derai (Silence in noise)”. In the last chapter, I will recapitulate the entire research by pointing out the thrusts of this study.