The Music of Malaysia

The Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions

Patricia Matusky, Tan Sooi Beng

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351839648
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Subtopic: Musica

The Music of Malaysia, first published in Malay in 1997 and followed by an English edition in 2004 is still the only history, appreciation and analysis of Malaysian music in its many and varied forms available in English. The book categorizes the types of music genres found in Malaysian society and provides an overview of the development of music in that country. Analyses of the music are illustrated with many examples transcribed from original field recordings. Genres discussed include theatrical and dance forms, percussion ensembles, vocal and instrumental music and classical music. It is an excellent introduction to and exploration of the country's vibrant musical culture.

This new, fully revised and updated edition includes time lines, listening guides and downloadable resources of field recordings that are analysed and discussed in the text.

1Music of the major theatrical forms

The different styles of the various forms of traditional theatre in Malaysia reflect the regional characteristics of dramatic productions found throughout the country. This chapter offers an overview of the setting and background of the major theatrical forms such as the wayang kulit shadow puppet play, the makyung and mekmulung dance dramas, the bangsawan Malay opera, the randai dramatic presentation and the Chinese opera and hand-puppet theatre. However, the discussion here focuses mainly on the music that accompanies each of these genres.

In Malaysia, the music for nearly all the major theatrical forms is played by percussion-dominated ensembles. An orchestra or ensemble using a predominance of percussion instruments is important throughout Southeast Asia, and in Malaysia this type of ensemble usually features gongs and drums with only one melody-producing instrument. For example, the ensembles for the Kelantan shadow puppet play, the mekmulung dance drama, the tarinai dance music, and the gendang silat music for martial arts use a number of drums and gongs, while only a single serunai reed aerophone provides the melody. Likewise, the orchestras for the makyung dance drama and the main puteri healing ritual consist of specific drums and gongs and only one three-stringed rebab which carries the melody. The randai orchestra consists of gong-rows and drums with the pupuik reed pipe or bangsi flute, while the Chinese opera orchestra also features various drums, gongs, wood blocks and stringed instruments.

All the orchestras and ensembles for the major theatrical forms are essentially chamber ensembles. These small Malaysian ensembles contrast greatly with the large orchestras found in Southeast Asia such as the Javanese gamelan from Indonesia or the pi phat and mahori bands from Thailand. Although the Malaysian ensembles are small, they still feature struck percussion, both idiophones and membranophones, and usually one wind or stringed instrument, which provides the melody in the music.

The bangsawan orchestra, which has existed only since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is a mixture of traditional and modern orchestras because it developed using traditional instruments such as the gendang, rebana and gong along with musical instruments originating from the Western, Arab and Indian worlds. The bangsawan orchestra preceded the modern Malaysian orchestra, notably the RTM Orchestra (Orkes Radio Televisyen Malaysia [Orchestra of the Radio and Television of Malaysia]) and the orchestras which play the lagu asli social dance repertory today.

Shadow puppet theatre

The shadow puppet play (wayang kulit) is an ancient form of traditional theatre in Malaysia. The stories are told by a puppet master (dalang) who manipulates the puppets (called wayang) which are seen in shadows projected on a screen. In this very old form of theatre a small ensemble plays the music to accompany the movement of the puppets and the events in the stories. In Malaysia there are four types of shadow puppet play, each with a specific name and distinctive style. These are the wayang kulit Jawa (also called the wayang kulit purwa; the Javanese shadow puppet play), the wayang kulit gedek (or simply wayang gedek; a mixture of Thai and Malay folk styles of shadow puppet play), the wayang kulit Melayu (also called wayang Jawa; the Malay court form of shadow puppet play) and the wayang kulit Kelantan (also called the wayang kulit Siam; the Kelantanese folk shadow puppet play).

Wayang kulit Jawa

The wayang kulit Jawa, also known as the wayang kulit purwa [ancient shadow puppet play], originated in Indonesia and is performed today by the descendants of Javanese immigrants who settled in the southern state of Johore (and formerly in the state of Selangor) many decades ago. In Malaysia this form of shadow play still maintains the basic features of the wayang kulit purwa of Indonesia, including the use of the stories and characters from the Mahabharata epic and the musical accompaniment of the Javanese gamelan. The gamelan in this shadow play includes singers as well as xylophones, metallophones, and knobbed gongs just as in Indonesia.¹

Wayang kulit gedek

The wayang kulit gedek, performed in the northern Peninsular states of Perlis, Kedah and formerly in Kelantan, is highly influenced by a form of southern Thai shadow play called nang talung in Thailand. This type of Malay shadow puppet play originated in southern Thailand and features small-sized, flat leather puppets. In Malaysia the wayang gedek is performed by Thai and Malay peoples using a mixture of the Thai and Malay languages or just the southern Thai dialect, depending upon the audience. In past times the stories featured local tales and episodes from the Ramayana epic (called the Ramakien in Thailand), and today newly created stories are also told. The style of performance, music and puppet design show a distinct mixture of southern Thai and Malay traits including the small orchestra of drums, knobbed gongs, cymbals and formerly bowed stringed instruments. In former times, the wind instrument called pi or pi Jawa (a quadruple reed shawm) was included in this ensemble, and it is still often featured in the wayang gedek orchestra in Malaysia. At one time in southern Thailand the bowed lutes called saw uu and saw duang (originating from the huqin family of Chinese bowed lutes) were preferred in place of the pi, but today the pi is still found in ensemble providing melody along with a number of electric guitars and keyboard.

The drums in the wayang gedek ensemble include a Western drum set, and the Malay geduk, gedumbak and gendang (see the section ‘Wayang kulit Kelantan’, below). A small pair of finger cymbals (called ching) and the gong-row called mong (two knobbed gongs placed horizontally in a wooden box) complete the music ensemble.

Wayang kulit Melayu

The wayang kulit Melayu, also called wayang Jawa, was strongly influenced by the wayang kulit purwa of Indonesia. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this type of shadow play developed under the patronage of the sultan and existed as entertainment mainly for the aristocrats connected to the palaces of Kelantan and Kedah. In earlier times it was also performed in the Malay Sultanate of Patani located in present day southern Thailand. Today this sultanate no longer exists.

The stories of the wayang kulit Melayu focused on episodes of the Mahabharata epic, and the form and design of the puppets were nearly identical to the style of puppets from Java in Indonesia (Plate 1.1). During World War II this type of shadow puppet theatre was not performed; but after the war years it was revived as entertainment for villagers without the patronage of the sultans. By the 1980s experienced puppet masters were difficult to find and the wayang kulit Melayu, today, appears to be extinct.

The orchestra consisted of several bronze gongs including a pair of large, hanging knobbed gongs called tetawak, a single knobbed horizontal gong called the mong, and a set of six or more small horizontal gongs (a gong-row) called the canang. In add...