Klenengan Pujangga Laras

Year 12, #11

26 April 2014
Home of Ki Purbo Asmoro, Sanggar Seni Mayangkara, Gebang, Kadipiro, Surakarta

On Saturday, 26 April 2014, we had the 11th klenèngan in the 12 year of Pujangga Laras. It was held at the home of Ki Purbo Asmoro, Gebang, Kadipiro, Solo and started at 8:15, finishing at 1:45. The gendhing were set by Ibu Sempruk Kaswari from Ceper, Klaten, and the intent with this event was to celebrate and embrace professional, highly-talented female instrumentalists.

Every April across Indonesia, people celebrate the birth month of women’s rights heroine Kartini, who was born in 1879 in Jepara, and to this day is considered the “mother” of the modern Indonesian woman. Female dhalang and female musicians are in high demand each April, as sponsors want to highlight “Women’s Month”. The problem is, it often feels like tokenism. It’s rarely thought appropriate to have women play together in one group with the male professionals, and once April is over that’s it. We’re attempting to do something different here, so we invited three highly talented female instrumentalists, had them play IN with the male professionals, with the hopes that they will start coming to Pujangga Laras regularly.

gendèr: Ibu Pringgo, of Manjungan, Klaten. (At birth she was given the name Sumyati and went by the nickname Drigul, in some circles is still called “Bu Sum”. She married Bp Kris Sukardi and therefore is also known as “Bu Kris”, and later on in life, when her husband took on the formal name Pringgo Hadiwiyono, has also gone by the name “Bu Pringgo”.) Age 73, Bu Pringgo has had a long and illustrious career as a gendèr player for many dhalang, ranging from various immediate family members to the late Ki Tristuti and Ki Sri Joko Raharjo. She has been featured on published recordings by Ki Purbo Asmoro, and was Ki Manteb Soedharsono’s gendèr player for approximately fifteen years before recently retiring from that position.

rebab: Ibu Sempruk Kaswari, of Ceper, Klaten. Ibu Sempruk is an excellent kendhang player, as well as a rebab player, a sindhèn, and a dancer. Approximately 55 years old, she was never formally schooled in karawitan, but played actively in the 1980s-1990s with male professional groups, on an equal par as a rebab or kendhang player, all over the general Solo area. Since 1997 or so she has been relatively inactive and this was the first time in some 15 years or more that many of the musicians had seen her.

kendhang: Ibu Ngesti Wahyuni, of Karanganyar, graduated from SMKI (High School of Performing Arts) as a karawitan musician in 1982, and ever since has been a leading and active member of women’s groups. She plays kendhang primarily for the Balai Kota women’s group at the Mayor’s Office in Solo.

There were many other events going on in Solo, so it was somewhat quiet:

Prof Dr Supanggah had taken a troupe to Jakarta to perform in his new dance drama, Pelung Gelung. Various ISI instructors were all there with him such as Bp Suraji, Bp Kamso, as well as sindhèn Ibu Mulyani Cendhani Laras and our new Pujangga Laras sindhèn U-ul Swarasmara.
The routine dance documentation event at SMKI that falls every 26th of the month, was quite special this month and featured the late Bp Ngaliman’s choreography. Many sponsors, players, and typical audience members of Pujangga Laras were there.
There was a wayang at Balé Agung/Kraton, also to celebrate Kartini Day, featuring twin female dhalang at SMKI, and many were there.
The Kraton itself also had an event, so Bp Saptono, Bp Wito/Ibu Dewi, Bp Karno/tuna nétra were all there.
Ki Manteb Soedharsono was performing in Semarang, and any musicians who normally follow him (Bp Budi Sutapa, Ibu Harjutri, Bp Heri, Bp Legiyo) were not able to attend.

This is a very good sign though—six major events on the same night! We had already rescheduled the event twice, and were unable to change the date again—many of the above events came to our attention only a few days prior.

Bp Wakidjo, while out of the hospital, is not well enough to attend. Bp Ngahono, a longtime member of Pujangga Laras, recently had surgery on his stomach and is as of yet able to attend.

—Kitsie Emerson, Solo/Jakarta