Classical history: The well-known De Concordia Symphony Orchestra performs in Batavia with their progressive conductor, Nico J. Gerharz in the middle. There is a long history of classical music in Indonesia, with the modern Twilite Orchestra the latest incarnation. Courtesy of Franki Raden

The Twilite Orchestra recently made its debut in the Sydney Opera House before a large audience, in what was the first performance by an Indonesian orchestra in Australia, a land whose culture is associated with Europe, where orchestral music originated.

This accomplishment by the Twilite Orchestra opened up new horizons for the acceptance of Indonesian classical musicians in the West.

At the very least, the government that sponsored the event should be confident that these musicians can be both part of cultural diplomacy abroad and tools for promoting tourism, as was the case with the Twilite Orchestra.

The history of symphony orchestra in Indonesia dates back to the colonial era. In the mid-18th century, a staff member of the Batavia Academy of Arts and Sciences named Von Wurmb mentioned in a letter to his family in Germany that the classical music scene in Batavia was as active as that of Prague, then the center of classical music in Europe.

This was the time when Batavia was dubbed “the Queen of Asia”. Because of its active administrative, business and cultural spheres, Jakarta was known as one of the most prosperous cities in the world.

It was, of course, also a time of slavery. Each Dutch landlord could have more than 100 slaves in his household. In private homes, there was always light classical music entertainment for the family and their guests almost every single night after supper.

For a small ensemble, members of the family normally played the music themselves. This was a way to show off their social status in the colony. However, for a larger ensemble, the landlord certainly needed more players and they were recruited from the native slaves. Thus, during this time the idea of the “slave orchestra” was born.

The native slaves came from different parts of the archipelago, including Java, Bali, Makassar, the Moluccas and Ambon. People from these various islands were known for their distinctive musical gifts.

By taking a little effort to train them to play Western musical instruments and read Western musical notation, the landlords could form house symphony orchestras.

As a result, almost every landowner in Java had his or her own house orchestra, which was called the slave orchestra.

A counterpart of the slave orchestra came from the military. As many Dutch people in the colony were members of the military, the military’s musical activities became dominant.

Each Dutch military corps in Java normally had its own marching band. Some of them managed to form symphony orchestras and actively performed in the Societet, or community hall.

As it turned out, this was the origin of the Jakarta indigenous musical tradition called tanjidor that employs many Western instruments such as brass and woodwind instruments and the snare and bass drum. Some tanjidor groups in Jakarta still play songs that originated from
the slave and military orchestra period, such as the maras (march) and ewas (waltz).

During the British Interregnum in 1811–1816, the practice of classical music in Batavia was even more active. The British, who were more sophisticated culturally than the Dutch, built the first theater hall in the colony, “The Military Bachelor Theater”, in 1814, which was used for dramatic and classical music performances.

In 1821, the Dutch rebuilt the theater and renamed it “Schouwburg”. Today, it is known as Gedung Kesenian Jakarta. During his tenure as lieutenant governor general for Batavia, Thomas Stamford Raffles, abolished slavery.

The Dutch who came to the colony after Raffles left were much better educated than their predecessors. Due to its success in the (enforced) plantation business, Java also turned into one of the most prosperous islands in the world.

From 1830 onward, the revenue gained from this enforced labor provided the entire annual national budget for the Netherlands.

As a result, many European musicians and opera troupes from Italy and France came to visit Java and never left.

Some of these musicians became court musicians in Solo and Yogyakarta and directed the symphony orchestra in those courts.

In 1904, the Dutch managed to form an art circle (kunstkring) across the archipelago. This art circle was in charge of touring European musicians who came to perform in the colony. In Batavia, their office was located in the building that used to be the Central Jakarta Immigration Office (Menteng).

The early 20th century was a fruitful time for the life of the symphony orchestra. Many local composer–conductors such as Fred Belloni, Paul Seelig and Constant van de Wall had their own orchestras. In Yogyakarta, Walter Spies was in charge of the court orchestra.

The Dutch ethical policy also managed to produce Indonesian intellectuals such as Ki Hadjar Dewantara (Soewardi Soerjoningrat) and Tan Malaka, who practiced aspects of European culture such as classical music.

However, it was not until the Japanese occupation that professional Indonesian classical musicians such as Amir Pasaribu could become members of a high-quality local (government) symphony orchestra led by Nobuo Iida.

After the Japanese left, the orchestra became the Indonesian government’s radio symphony orchestra (RRI) directed by Jos Cleber.

This was the origin of the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, which routinely performed during the New Order period under the direction of Adidharma and guest conductors such as Frans Haryadi.

Under Haryadi’s baton, the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra (Orkes Simfoni Jakarta) managed to perform a few standard pieces of 20th-century orchestral music.

As the symphony orchestra became popular in the pop music scene, a few talented local arrangers, such as Elfa Secoria, founded their own pop orchestras. Prior to this, there were several pop orchestras led by senior RRI musicians such as Iskandar and Isbandi.

In 1991, a young arranger named Addie MS founded a new pop orchestra called the Twilite Orchestra. This was the era when the booming Indonesian economy boosted the emergence of young Indonesian tycoons such as Indra Bakrie, who financed the Twilite Orchestra.

Over the years, Addie MS, a self-taught conductor, proved that he has engaged in his new career seriously. In the mid-1990s, the Twilite Orchestra became very popular in Indonesia. Although the tickets for the orchestra’s concerts in Jakarta were not inexpensive, the performances always sold out.

The success of the Twilite Orchestra could also be viewed as an indication of the emergence of a young upper-middle class in Jakarta, with a new urban lifestyle.

Although Addie MS considers his creation to be a pop orchestra, modeled after Boston Pop, he seemed to be interested in performing a standard classical repertoire.

In his recent debut at the Sydney Opera House, Addie took up the big challenge of performing a standard piece of 20th-century music, that is, Tabuh-Tabuhan by Colin McPhee.

This piece was composed in 1936 after the Canadian composer returned to New York from his first stay in Bali. McPhee happened to be in Bali at the same time as Walter Spies, who moved there from Yogyakarta.

As McPhee lived in Bali for many years, he could be considered an expatriate who has direct and strong connections with Balinese culture.

In Tabuh-Tabuhan, McPhee strove to “translate” Balinese music into something for a symphony orchestra. Those who are familiar with Balinese music can easily catch his main musical ideas upon hearing it.

Indeed, the piece could be considered an expatriate Western composer’s reflection on Balinese culture.

Hence, the connection between the performance of Tabuh-Tabuhan (“Balinese music” by a Western composer) and the Twilite Orchestra (a Western orchestra composed of Indonesian musicians) was an intriguing international concept.

Yet by performing this standard 20th-century piece in the Sydney Opera House, a world-famous concert hall, the Twilite Orchestra was able to justify its debut in the international music scene.

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