Musical Pluralism in Java: Three Local Traditions

Abstract

tudents of in Indonesia, and in other heterogenous countries whose boundaries were formed during era of European colonial domination, often face questions concerning Conscious efforts have been made during twentienth century to mold an Indonesian national culture. But in a country of many thousands of islands, with over 250 distinct ethno-linguistic groups, culture presents formidable problems. 1 Some Indonesian intellectuals feel it necessary to restrain impulses of diverse local cultures in interests of nation as a whole. Others disagree. Umar Kayam has earned a reputation as a champion of Indonesian national embracing plurality rather than effacing it. He asks whether it is possible to forge a homogenous national culture, given such plurality, or whether, instead, the very condition of plurality might not be Indonesia's dynamic force, which is favorable for building a new sort of solidarity. (Umar Kayam 1981:17)2 That solidarity may be taking shape, but in arts it is a gradual process. It would be hard to overestimate aesthetic gulf separating musical traditions in Indonesia today. A Minangkabau woman I talked with while travelling in West Sumatra in 1979 was openly shocked that I was in Indonesia primarily to study Javanese gamelan music. Her own music at least had a clear tune, like western classical music, she said. But Javanese music? All murky-ornamentation without substance. At national university-level conservatory (Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia) in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, one finds, in addition to various local instruments old and new, a complete central Javanese gamelan. The director, Bustanul Arifin, said he found little value in Javanese music and did not encourage his students to study it. The gamelan now sits covered with dust, touched only to be moved out of way for performances of Sumatran traditions. Arifin smiled as he told me that his institution was presented with gamelan because most highly placed men in national department of education and were Javanese. To them, a conservatory of traditional arts anywhere in Indonesia should have a Javanese gamelan.3 In 1979. I attended a festival held at Taman Ismael Marzuki Art Center in Jakarta of high school level conservatories from widely scattered