The Music of Malaysia: The Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions

Abstract

Groemer reviews The Music of Malaysia: The Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions by Patricia Matusky and Tan Sooi Beng.

SOUTH EAST ASIA MATUSKY, PATRICIA, and TAN Sooi BENG. The Music of Malaysia: The Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions. SOAS Musicology Series. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate, 2004. xx + 473 pages. Map, drawings, photographs, music examples, appendix, bibliography, discography and videography, index. Hardcover £49.50; ISBN 0-7546-0831-x.

If the musical culture of Indonesia, Japan, and India has become something of a "canon" in the field of ethnomusicology, the music of Malaysia remains stubbornly on the "margins." Part of the reason may lie in the fact that collectors, composers, record producers, and anthropologists flocked to BaIi, Tokyo, and Bombay long before they marched into Kuala Lumpur. Those who did embark on an exploration of classical and folk Malaysian music, however, quickly discovered that these traditions share much with music of neighboring cultures and exist alongside a profusion of new and old syncretic traditions. Perhaps because of its complexity and diversity, scholars have shied from treating Malaysian music as a whole (much the same is of course true of many other Pacific and Asian countries). The curious or baffled who wished to accjuaint themselves with what lurked behind the sonic surface of Malaysian music have had to cobble together information gleaned from various articles published here and there, or make do with sketchy outlines found in various music dictionaries.

Matusky and Tan's The Music of Malaysia has changed all that. This book was in fact first published in the Malay language in 1997 as a guide for both music teachers in the Malaysian school system and Malaysian ethnomusicologists. Now, thanks to the appearance of this English-language translation, a far broader readership can begin to come terms with the splendid musical culture Malaysia.

After a brief Introduction introducing the diverse ethnic groups, languages, and religions that make up Malaysian society, and outlining the general types and characteristics of Malaysian music, the authors quickly move to Chapter 1, which is devoted to the music of major theatrical forms. These include the wayangkulit (shadow puppet plays), the makyung and mekniulung dance dramas, the bangsawan Malay opera (which combines Malay and Western musical elements), the randai dramatic presentation of the Minangkahau people, the syncretic theater of Penang known as boria, the menora folk dance theater found in northern Peninsular Malaysian states, and Chinese opera and po-tc-hi hand puppet theater. In each case the authors discuss the instruments, performance practices, textures, and forms of the music played, often presenting transcriptions of scales, melodies, and rhythmic patterns. With the exception of the Chinese-based genres, the music of most of these dramatic musical forms centers on small ensembles of percussion instruments (mostly knobbed gongs and drums) and one or more melody instruments, such as the double-reed shawm (serunai), or the threestringed bowed lute (rebab).

Chapter 2 moves to music of major dance forms (distinguished from the dramatic forms discussed in chapter 1 by the lack of dialogue and singing). An astounding number of dance forms accompanied by a kaleidoscopic variety of music can be found in Malaysia. The authors begin their discussion by describing joget gamelan, which developed in the Malay palace setting as an art or classical tradition. This genre is accompanied on the Malay gamelan, which differs considerably from its Indonesian counterpart. A discussion of a large number of other dance genres follows: tarinai (or terinat) in the folk (formely the classical) traditions of Keda and Perils, accompanied today on two gendang drums or two serunai and a pair of knobbed gongs hung from a wooden rack; zapm, introduced to Peninsular Malaysia by Arab communities, and accompanied on gambits (a lute), the harmonium, and drums; the "war dance" known as ngajat; the sumazau and magamng dances accompanied by a hanging gong ensemble of the Kadazan Dusun people of the Penampang area; and finally, the Chinese lion dance, with its cymbals, gongs, and percussion music.

In the next chapter the authors analyze the music of percussion ensembles, some of which have already been mentioned in connection with theatrical and dance forms. These include the gong ensembles calclempong and kulintangan, as well as hanging gong ensembles (especially in Sarawak and Sabah). Less well known are drum ensembles such as those featuring kompang (a frame drum with a single head) played to accompany the reading and singing of Islamic poetry, the rebana ubi ensembles of Kelantan heard at weddings and social occasions, and the "24 Season Drums" that have become popular in the Chinese schools and associations since the 1990s. Malaysian percussion ensembles, especially in Sarawak and Sabah, also include struck and stamping bamboo and wood ensembles. Less regional are the gendan silat (martial arts drums) that, together with a melody played on the serunai, accompany stylized martial arts movements usually performed as dance. The chapter ends with a discussion oinobat, an instrumental musical genre of the court tradition and used in all royal ceremonies. This was originally an Arabic musical genre; it generally includes serunai, nafiri (long silver trumpet), and drums.

Chapter 4 focuses on vocal and solo instrumental music. The authors introduce vocal genres such as zikir (monophonie Islamic songs that allow one to obtain peace, tranquility, and happiness), nasyid sung poetry on Islamic themes, as well as songs from Sabah and Sarawak including "welcoming songs," pantun (singing of verses), wa (sung narratives), kui (or kue, associated with rice cultivation), and timang (chants for inviting spirits to a feast for healing). This section also includes welcome musical examples, allowing one to imagine the sound of the music; but it would have been helpful if translations of the texts sung could have been included as well. The second half of chapter four introduces the music of mouth organs, flutes and free aerophones, tube zithers, lutes, and Jew's harps.

Chapter 5, entitled "Social Popular Music and Ensembles," covers music played for entertainment during celebrations such as weddings and formal or informal gatherings throughout rural and urban Malaysia. Included are rongcng (social dance accompanied by singing, violin, accordion, rebana drums, and gong), dondang sayang ("love songs," two singers singing in alternation and accompanied by violin, two rcbana drums and a knobbed gong), keroncong (Westernized popular songs of Indonesian origins, accompanied on violin, guitar, ukelele, banjo, cello and the like),ghazal (a syncretic popular music of Arabic origins), dikir barat (popular music originating in Thailand found in Kclanatan towns and villages), and the Chinese orchestra known as huayue titan. The chapter ends with a discussion of music in the Portuguese community in Malacca and Indian classical music (bund in Malaysia.

The last chapter commences with a glance at recent trends in both contemporary art music, including music written for piano, orchestra, and gamclan. The authors then quickly move to popular styles, which exhibit influence of both native traditions and popular genres from throughout the world. This is followed by an appendix of lengthy, full-score transcriptions of the keroncong asli "Sapu lidi," a dikit Aaraf piece recorded in Kelantan in 1994, and "'Ianah Air Ku" arranged for Chinese orchestra. A very useful bibliography/discography/ videography and good index close this whirlwind tour of musical Malaysia.

Besides discussing musical genres that have rarely been mentioned in other sources, this book will serve as an excellent sourcebook or textbook for courses on the music of Southeast Asia. Experts on the subject will no doubt lament that their favorite genre has received less space than it deserves, but readers who seek to obtain a broad overview (and in many cases considerable depth as well) the balance and sixc of this volume is just about right. Too bad that a CD recording could not be included so that the transcriptions come to life for those who do not already have this music in their mind's car.