Sunday, April 13, 2014
Saung Angklung Udjo is located at Padasuka street no. 118
Bandung, and established in 1966 by Udjo Ngalagena (Born: March 5th, 1929,
Died: 2001) himself. SAU was established because of the commitment of Mr. Udjo
to traditional art and his willingness to create good and beneficial work. In
1971, the Department of Tourism made SAU as one of the city’s tourism projects.
Saung Angklung Mang Udjo not only performs angklung shows and children dances but
there is also a souvenir shop which provides many handmade goods. Moreover
there are courses for children (school age) who wants to know how to make and
how to play angklung.
The angklung is a musical instrument made of two bamboo tubes
attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when
struck and are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held in one hand, whilst the
other hand strikes the instrument. This causes a repeating note to sound. Each
of three or more performers in an angklung ensemble play just one note or more,
but altogether complete melodies are produced. The angklung is popular
throughout Southeast Asia, but it originated in what is now Indonesia and
has been played by the Sundanese for many centuries.
The word "angklung" was originated from Sundanese "angkleung-angkleungan",
that means the movement of angklung player and the sound "klung" that
comes from the instrument.
Another theory suggested that the word "angklung"
was formed from two Balinese words - angka and lung. Angka
means "tone", and lung means "broken" or
"lost". Angklung thus means an "incomplete tone". According
to Dr.Groneman, angklung had already been a favorite musical instrument of the
entire archipelago even before the Hindu era. According to Jaap Kunst
in Music in Java, besides West Java, angklung also exists in South
Sumatra and Kalimantan. Lampung, East Java and Central Java are also familiar
with the instrument.
In the Hindu period and the
time of the Kingdom of Sunda, the angklung played an important
role in ceremonies. The angklung was played to honor Dewi Sri, the goddess of fertility, so she
would bless their land and lives. The angklung also signaled the time for
prayers, and was said to have been played since the 7th century in Kingdom of
Sunda. In the Kingdom of Sunda, it provided martial music during the Battle of Bubat, as told in
the Kidung Sunda. The oldest
surviving angklung is 400 years old Angklung Gubrag. It was made in the 17th
century in Jasinga, Bogor. Other antique angklung are stored in the Sri Baduga Museum, Bandung. The oldest angklung tradition is
called "Angklung Buhun" (Sundanese:
"Ancient Angklung") from Lebak Regency, Banten Angklung buhun is an ancient type
of angklung played by Baduy people of inland Banten province during Seren Taun harvest ceremony.
Daeng
Soetigna in 1971
In 1938,
Daeng Soetigna, from Bandung, created an angklung that is based
on the diatonic scale instead of the traditional pélog or sléndro scales. Since then, the angklung
has returned to popularity and is used for education and entertainment, and may
even accompany western instruments in an orchestra. One of the first
performances of angklung in an orchestra was in 1955 during the Bandung Conference. In 1966 Udjo Ngalagena, a student of Daeng Soetigna, opened his "Saung Angklung" (House of
Angklung) as a centre for its preservation and development.
UNESCO designated
the angklung a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on
November 18, 2010.
Balinese Gamelan Angklung
In Bali, an ensemble of angklung is called gamelan
angklung (anklung). While the ensemble gets its name from the bamboo
shakers, these days most compositions for Gamelan Angklung do not use them. An
ensemble of mostly bronze metallophones is used instead, generally with
about 20 musicians.
While the
instrumentation of gamelan angklung is similar to gamelan gong kebyar, it has
several critical differences. First, the instruments are tuned to a 5-tone slendro scale, though actually most
ensembles use a four-tone mode of the five-tone scale played on instruments
with four keys. An exception is the five-tone angklung from the north of Bali.
But even in four-tone angklung groups, the flute players will occasionally
touch on the fifth implied tone. Secondly, whereas many of the instruments in
gong kebyar span multiple octaves of its pentatonic scale, mosts gamelan
angklung instruments only contain one octave, although some five-tone ensembles
have roughly an octave and a half. The instruments are considerably smaller
than those of the gong kebyar.
Gamelan
angklung is heard in Balinese temples, where it supplies musical accompaniment
to temple anniversaries (odalan). It is also characteristic of rituals
related to death, and therefore connected in Balinese culture to the invisible
spiritual realm and transitions from life to death and beyond. Because of its
portability, gamelan angklung may be carried in processions while a funeral
bier is carried from temporary burial in a cemetery to the cremation site. The
musicians also often play music to accompany the cremation ceremony. Thus many
Balinese listeners associate angklung music with strong emotions evoking a
combination of sacred sweetness and sadness.
The
structure of the music is similar to gong kebyar, although employing a four
tone scale. Jublag and jegog carry the basic melody, which is elaborated by
gangsa, reyong, ceng-ceng, drum, and flute. A medium sized gong, called kempur,
is generally used to punctuate a piece's major sections.
Most older
compositions do not employ gong kebyar's more ostentatious virtuosity and
showmanship. Recently many Balinese composers have created kebyar-style works
for gamelan angklung or have rearranged kebyar melodies to fit the angklung's
more restricted four tone scale. These new pieces often feature dance, so the
gamelan angklung is augmented with more gongs and heavier gongs. Additionally, some
modern composers have created experimental instrumental pieces for the gamelan
angklung.
Outside Indonesia
Sundanese
boys playing the Angklung in 1918.
The angklung
was first invented in West Java, Indonesia; with a possibility of cultural
transmittance to various other places such as Malaysia & the Philippines
over the course of several centuries. In the early 20th century during the time
of Dutch East Indies, the angklung
was adopted in Thailand, where it is called angkalung
(อังกะลุง). It was
recorded that angklung was brought to Siam in 1908 by Luang Pradit Pairoh,
royal musician in the entourage of HRH Field Marshal Prince Bhanurangsi
Savangwongse of Siam, who paid a royal visit to Java that year (27 years after the
first state visit of his elder brother, King Chulalongkorn to Java in 1871.) The Thai angklung
are typically tuned in the Thai tuning system of seven equidistant steps per
octave, and each angklung has three bamboo tubes tuned in three separate
octaves rather than two, as is typical in Indonesia.
In 2008,
there was a grand celebration in the Thai traditional music circle, to mark the
100th anniversary of the introduction of angklung to Thailand. Both the Thai
and Indonesian governments supported to celebration.
Angklung has
also been adopted by its Austronesian-speaking neighbors, in particular
by Malaysia and the Philippines, where they are played as part of
bamboo xylophone orchestras. Formally introduced into Malaysia sometime after
the end of the Confrontation, angklung found immediate popularity.[6] They are generally played using a pentatonic scale similar to the Indonesian slendro, although in the Philippines, sets
also come in the diatonic and minor scales used to perform various Spanish-influenced folk music in addition to native songs in
pentatonic.
At least one
Sundanese angklung buncis ensemble exists in the United States. Angklung
Buncis Sukahejo is an ensemble at The Evergreen
State College, and includes eighteen double rattles (nine tuned
pairs) and four dog-dog drums.
Many
angklung videos are available on YouTube. People have even started to play pop
songs on them, which just goes to show how quickly this generation is going by.
