Kroncong Orchestration of Millennial Generation
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Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (2) (2019), 117-125 p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v19i2.16893 Kroncong Orchestration of Millennial Generation Victor Ganap Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia Submitted: November 22, 2018. Revised: November 4, 2019. Accepted: December 28, 2019 Abstract Kroncong is the urban popular music of Indonesia, which some scholars suggest was brought by Portuguese in the early sixteenth century. Kroncong becomes popular across the archipelago as accompaniment in its musical genre, theatre and film. Although popular music has long been an integral part of Indonesian cultural domain, genres such as kroncong have been overlooked by music scholars. This article aims to introduce kroncong orchestration that could be performed in an updated style for incorporating repertoire from any other genres into idiomatic kroncong, that will be adopted by the millennial generation. Therefore, the reinvention of kroncong will not only be a significant contribution to scholarship on Indonesian popular music, but it will also contrib- ute to a wider understanding of the complexities of indigenous ethnicity, political power, social class, and gender. The orchestration that will retain its rhythm pattern and vocal ornamentation, while reinforcing the strings and winds as melodic carriers. Keywords: Kroncong; Orchestration; Millennial Generation How to Cite: Ganap, V. (2019). Kroncong Orchestration of Millennial Generation. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research And Education, 19(2), 117-125. INTRODUCTION has survived to this day as an example of a cultural expression that creatively com- Kroncong is the music of the urban bines various musical elements from the cultural community that grew and deve- West and the East. After completing the loped in Indonesia, which was originally research, the writer obtained a doctorate brought by Portuguese sailors since the from Gadjah Mada University, with a dis- sixteenth century. By the twentieth cen- sertation title: “Krontjong Toegoe: History tury, kroncong became popular among of The Existence of Community and Music Indonesian urban communities, as an in- in Tugu village, Cilincing, North Jakarta” dependent music genre and in its functi- (Ganap, 2011). on as musical illustrations for theater and In May 2018, the writer with an Ame- film. The writer began to research kroncong rican kroncong researcher named Hannah in a group of kroncong musicians in Tugu Standiford appeared in a panel discussion village North Jakarta where the communi- entitled “Reinventing Kroncong Music”, ty believed to have created kroncong as a which was held at the Postgraduate School combination of Portuguese fado elements of Gadjah Mada University in collaborati- from Islamic Moorish and Nusantara mu- on with the American Institute for Indo- sic. The music which was created produced nesian Studies (AIFIS) Yogyakarta. Han- a genre called Krontjong Toegoe, which nah is a singer and leader of the Kroncong Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected] 117 118 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (2) (2019): 117-125 Grass orchestra in America, supported by they are an octave higher than the notes American musicians in playing the kron- that are common on a high compass, which cong instrument. She is an awardee of Ful- demands the use of the falsetto technique, bright Scholarship to conduct research on imitating Nasal vocalization, a Moor voca- kroncong in Indonesia based in Surakarta. list who sings without opening his mouth The first meeting with Hannah made the widely according to Islamic rules. But the writer realized that kroncong music had Portuguese couldn’t imitate the nasal vo- developed outside Indonesia, thus this calizations, so they replaced them with inspired him to conduct research on kron- the falsetto technique. When Moresco was cong orchestration of millennial generati- introduced in the East, native vocalists ten- on, through a research grant of Postgra- ded to shout to be able to reach these high duate lecturer at Gadjah Mada University notes, before they finally used nasal voca- in 2018. lization. Moresco’s lyrics describe a melo- Typically, scientific research con- dic atmosphere according to fados, such ducted on Indonesian music is focused on as the Portuguese folk song despedida (fa- gamelan music in palace traditions, such rewell song) and saudade (song humming as Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese ga- longing) that characterizes the kroncong melan. Although popular music has long poetry in general. The uniqueness of East been an integral part of the realm of Indo- and West cultural interaction is an interes- nesian culture, still a musical genre such as ting phenomenon, where the Islamic Moo- kroncong is not a topic of concern for rese- rish genre brought by Catholic Portuguese archers in general. This situation also en- to the East, became popular music in Goa, courages the writer to conduct research in Hindustani India, and was introduced by welcoming the possible contribution that Portuguese soldiers from Goa who had be- can be made by millennial generation to come Catholic to Tugu village musicians kroncong music, and strives to disseminate who were Protestants before being known the results of his research to international by the people of the city of Batavia. readers. It is believed that the results of this In 1933, based on his experience each research will not only benefit Indonesian year watching Moresco’s performances at music studies, but will also contribute to a the Krontjong Concours Jaarmarkt Night broader and more in-depth understanding Market in Surabaja, Kusbini wrote a tran- of the complexity of the study of Indone- scription of Moresco’s songs based on his sian indigenous ethnicity, the influence of creations, which later became the stan- cultural politics, social groups, and gender dard repertoire of Indonesian kroncong in the context of the development of kron- songs in the form of da capo aria, using van cong music in millennial generations. Ophuisen’s spelling poetry. The standard musical source for Indonesian kroncong is Moresco’s song, which was first written according to the transcription of Manusama (1919), in tem- po moderato con amore, transcription written Djikalau tuan mendengarkan ini Haraplah supaja, senang di hati Ai, me- in high notes on the first four bars which metik gitar, sambil bernjanji Membikin are challenging to sing like the following pendengar gembira di hati example. Ai, Krontjong Moritsku aku dendangkan Agar hati rindu mendjadi gembira However, Kusbini has made history by writing Moresco as the first kroncong The high notes in the Moresco open- repertoire in the Indonesian music genre ing melody groove (A2-E3-D3-B2) cannot group. Kusbini created a new form called be sung by an untrained vocalist, because the Original Kroncong along 28 bars in the Victor Ganap, Kroncong Orchestration of Millennial Generation 119 form of through-composed (Durch-Kompo- le complement in the percussion section, niert), interspersed with four instrumen- which in its development also uses bongo tal interlude bars that appeared after the Latin American music genre in an eight- opening melody of eight bars. The original stroke musical play in each bar, with ac- Kroncong form of the Moresco song is re- centuation that fall on the seventh and cognized as a generic form of Indonesian eighth blows. kroncong. The orchestration of the Original Kroncong form is marked by the play- ing of the rasguado from the ukulele, as a rhythmic pattern of the musical accom- The combination of various instru- paniment. Thus, every kroncong orchestra ments played above is the standard iden- always uses a ukulele paired with a man- tity of a traditional kroncong orchestration, dolin in playing the rhythm pattern which the meaning of which will be discussed is played as follows. later. Becker (1976) acknowledged that kroncong became a category of a popu- lar genre, sentimental songs and found throughout Indonesia. He suspected that the kroncong was introduced by the Portu- guese since the sixteenth century. Europe- an-style vocalizations and simple chords as an accompaniment are usually played on the guitar, have distinguished kroncong Kroncong orchestration accompanied from other popular forms of music. Kron- chords from ukulele is intended to accom- cong was brought to eastern Indonesia, pany the melody on the violin or flute. The specifically Maluku, along with a guitar-li- melody complemented with the counter- ke instrument owned by a Portuguese sai- melody of the guitar through a flowing lor, which was apparently accepted by in- melody-like of flowing water. digenous Malukan populations. However, kroncong requires quite a long time before it can set foot firmly on the land of Java is- land. According to some historical sources cited, the new kroncong appeared in Java at the end of the nineteenth century, on the coast which is now Jakarta. Kroncong re- mains urban music, where in the twentieth century almost every village in Jakarta had Kroncong orchestration is also charac- its own kroncong orchestras and musicians. terized by playing bass on cellos and bass, Becker’s statement gives importance to the playing syncopation motifs marking the recognition of the legitimacy of the Portu- characteristic pattern of kroncong. guese element of the history of Indonesian kroncong music. Castelo-Branco (2002) acknowledged that the kroncong guitar is an Indonesian adaptation of the Portuguese cavaquin- ho guitar, which in its historical journey throughout the world gained various nick- names such as the braguinha in Madeira As music inherited from Moorish because it came from the Braga district, the Islam, tambourine plays as an inseparab- nickname of the machette in Brazil because 120 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 19 (2) (2019): 117-125 it became an accompaniment instrument Indies government in Batavia around the for Portuguese dance which was always XVII and XIX centuries.