From Singkil to Natal

Abstract

This chapter examines the two main musical genres performed at northwest-coastal Sumatran weddings and baby thanksgiving ceremonies between Singkil and Natal: lagu sikambang asli (original sikambang songs) and lagu sikambang kapri (sikambang songs with violin, harmony, and couples dancing). It considers the vocal style of the sikambang asli songs and how the harmonically generated violin accompaniment is blended with the Malay vocal style and frame-drum part in the sikambang kapri songs. The chapter begins with a discussion of “Buai,” a ceremonial lullaby, the Penang Island Song and the Umbrella Dance, and “Lagu Sikambang Tarian Anak” (“Sikambang Song-Dance [to celebrate the birth of a] Child”). It then describes some Pasisir song-dances that are also performed by artists in and around other Malay areas, along with the spread of the violin and couples dancing to the Pasisir Sumando coast. The chapter hypothesizes that the musical genre's harmonic elements and use of the violin are derived from Malay-Portuguese contact during the Portuguese colonial era in Southeast Asia (1511–1641).