Komposisi Baru: On Contemporary Composition in Indonesia

P E R S P E C T I V E S O N E X P E R I M E N T A L M U S I C KomposisiBaru :On Contemporary Compositionin Indonesia I WayanSadra withJody Diamond INTRODUCTION BYJODY DIAMOND This paper is an edited and annotated translation of a paper presented in 1988 at the eighth Pekan Komponis [Composers Festival) by I Wayan Sadra. For this article, I added extensive references and notes to cla~@Indonesian concepts and toprovide additional infmmation. Pekan Komponis is an annualfestival o f new music held in Jakarta, thecafitalcity of Indonesia. The$nt suchevent tookplace in 1979, billed as thePekan Komponis Muda, or Young Composers ’Festival [11. ThePekan Komponis was sponsored by the Jakarta Arts Council and was spearheaded by the efforts of Suka Harjana [23,festival arganizerand panel moderator, who traveled all over Indonesia searchingfor young experimental composers. while some composers workingwith European instruments or electronicswereinvited , themajorityof theparticipants wereartistswith regionalbackgroundsexpm‘mactingwith traditional materials, or who took the o#mtunity to do so when the invitation camePom Jakarta. A composerinvited tothePekanKomponisisextended a certain artisticlicensethat may well be unique to theurban, multi-cultural environment ofJakarta, whichproducesan open-mindedaudience accustomed to the proscenium stage and experiments designed to takeplace there. There have been otherfestivals in Indonesia that support the innovative and expm‘mental,butfew with as long a history OT as important a role in creatinga contextfor new music as a concert p r e . Each year thefestival includesperformances by the invited composm, a keynoteaddressand discussionswithparticipantsand invited observers [31. Fig. 1. IWayanSadra, at farright, playsabamboogambuhfrom Bali, with (leftt oright)A. SunardiplayingaJavanesebamboo stding Rafiiosaplayingaviolin fromWest Sumatra,andI Nengah MulyanaplayingaCentralJavanesemetallophone.The ensemble i sperformingSadra’s composition“Miba”. (Photo:Diamondand P O W ) In 1969,the year the Iakarta Arts Council was I founded, the creativity of traditional artists began to be discussed in a wider scope, notably from the perspective of Indonesian national-rather than regional-arts [4]. This was a very different situationfrom earlier years,when traditional arts were discussed only by a few, and were rarely topics for publication. Jakarta became the cultural center of Indonesia-a place where many culturesintersectedandwere brought together by an exchange of information.Artists fromvillages outside ofJakarta were invited to perform at festivals and concerts and experts participated in discussions and conferences at educationalinstitutionsand public artscenters.Artistsfrom Jakarta also traveled to the regional areas.This atmosphere encouraged discussionof art and culture and the exchange of ideas and experiences among artists from various areas in Indonesia as well as from other countries (Fig. 1). In the past we have always absorbed regional elements and foreign influence in our arts. But since the creation of theJakarta A r t s Council,we have been made more aware of this, particularly as the development of traditional arts begins to be debated. Someof these issues were first discussedat FestivalDesember 1975, an important precursor to the Pekan Komponis. Some of the questions discussed during this symposium were reported in the publication Conclusionsfrom the Symposium of Traditional Music. These questions address the situationof traditionalmusic,the inclinationsof society(the audience), the quality of traditional and contemporary music and the social conditions of artists. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. To what extent should traditional music be taken as a foundation for contemporary composition? Is it absolutely necessary to compare traditional music with music from other cultures in order to find a direction for contemporary music? What roles do village (rural) music and city (urban) music play in the development of traditional music? What does traditional music communicate to the society? What is the influence of popular opinion on the development of traditional music? What is the orientation of contemporary composition? I Wayan Sadra (composer, writer.educator),Music Department,STSI,Surakarta, Kentingan,Jebres, Surakarta57126, CentralJava,Indonesia. Jody Diamond (composer, writer, educator),American GamelanInstitute,BoxA-96, Hanwer, NH 03755,USA. Received 17July 1991. Manuscriptsolicited by Lany Polansky. TranslatedbyJody Diamond, Ayi Solehuddin andTheresa Rohlck. 01991 ISAST PergamonPressplc. Printedin GreatBriain. 0961-1215/91 53.00+0.00 LEONARD0 MUSICJOURNAL,Vol. 1, No.1, pp. 19-24,1991 19 Should it be derived from the internal experience of our traditions or follow the traditions of a foreign music? 7. What...