Kroncong
Encyclopedia
Kroncong is the name of a ukulele
-type instrument and an Indonesia
n musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong (the sound chrong-chrong-chrong comes from this instrument, so the music is called keronchong), the band or combo or ensemble (it called as keronchong orchestra) consist of a flute
, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato style, string bass also in pizzicato, and a female or male singer.
, a guitar
and a bass
. These instruments, especially the pair of ukeleles, interlock as do the instruments in a gamelan
orchestra, and it is clear that the musical traditions of Indonesia have been applied to an orchestra of European instruments. Formerly they use also Portuguese musical instruments called cavaquinho
, a four steel stringed musical instrument that looks like a guitar. Cavaquinho was then modified into prounga, a 3 nylon stringed instrument with low pitch and macina
, a 4 nylon stringed instrument with high pitch.
One ukulele, called the "cak" may be steel-stringed and the instrumentalist strums chords with up to 8 strums per beat in 4/4 rhythm. The off-beat strums are accentuated. The other ukulele, called the "cuk" , is larger and may have 3 gut or nylon strings. The instrumentalist may pluck arpeggio
s and tremolo
es using a plectrum, and the on-beat is emphasised. As a set, the cak and cuk form an interlocking pair that mostly gives Kroncong its characteristic kron and chong.
The cello may have 3 gut or nylon strings and chords are plucked rapidly, often with a unique skipped-beat, using the thumb and one finger. This instrument then adds both rhythm and tone. The guitar may play similarly to either cak or cuk but, more often, plays extended scalar
runs that provide an undulating background to a chord or bridge chord changes. The bass often is played in a minimalist style reminiscent of the large gongs
in a gamelan.
On top of this rhythmic layer the melody and elaborate ornamentation is carried by a voice, flute or violin. The violin or flute are used to play introductory passages (often elaborate), fills and scalar runs, both faster and more elaborate than the guitar. The vocalist sings the melody which, in traditional Kroncong, is slow with sustained notes.
The repertoire largely uses the Western major key with some arrangements in the minor
. One departure from this occurs when Kroncong orchestras play Java
nese songs (Langgam Jawa). Javanese music ordinarily uses scales and intervals that do not occur in Western music. Kroncong Jawa maintains Western intervals but adopts a 5-tone scale that approximates one of the main Javanese septatonic scales. When playing this style, cak and cuk leave their characteristic interplay and both play arpeggios to approximate the sound and style of the Javanese instrument the siter
, a kind of zither
. The cello adopts a different rhythmic style as well.
brought Portuguese instruments and music to Indonesia
. Lower-class citizens and gangs, commonly called buaya (a reference to "buaya darat" or crocodile on land, a term used to describe playboys to this day) adopted the new musical styles. Eventually, they were assimilated by the upper-class citizens. Paul Fisher writes,
Kroncong (currently spelled Keroncong in Indonesian
) is now considered old-fashioned folk music by most Indonesian youth, although efforts have been made since the 1960s to modernise the genre by adding electric guitar
s, keyboard
s and drums, notably in so-called Pop Keroncong sung by Hetty Koes Endang. The melancholic spirit of traditional, acoustic Kroncong (so similar to Portuguese Fado
music) has been recorded by Samuel Quiko and the members of his Jakarta
n Krontjong Tugu Orchestra, who have performed at the well-known Indo festival 'Pasar Malam Besar
' in The Hague
. Considered a Eurasian art form Kroncong features prominently each year at the Tong Tong Fair. The genre is also being evolved in new directions by Indo artists in the Netherlands.
During the Era of Tempo Doeloe or the Time of Stamboel Songs (1880–1920), there were 3 types of Stamboel Songs, i.e.: Stamboel I (Nina Bobo, Potong Padi, Soleram); Stamboel II (Si Jampang, Jali-Jali); and Stamboel III (Kemayoran). The Stamboel songs were 16 bars characteristic songs, and played in a fast tempo (like Allegro, as fast as 110 tick per minute). The songs were played in the following song structure:
Stambul I:
The songs in these category such as St I Terang Bulan, St I Potong Padi, St I Nina Bobo, St I Sarinande, St I O Ina Ni Keke, St I Bolelebo, etc. and the structure is A - B - A - B or A - B - C - D (16 bars):
Stambul II:
The songs in these category are St II Si Jampang, St II Jali-Jali. In these categories the song opens (in the first beat) with broken chord of I, then in the first 3 bars are in tacet position and at the end of first 4 bars directly enter the sub-dominant chord (IV); and the structure is A - B - A - C (16 bars):
Stambul III:
The title Kemayoran is a Stamboel III category, misspelled as Keroncong Asli, but it consist of 16 bars, it means staboel category. The structure it is Prelude - A - Interlude - B - C (16 bars):
The center of development moved to Solo City (Middle Java), and it has slower movement (like Moderato, use 80 ticks per minute).
Langgam Keroncong:
This structure has a binary form like pop songs: Verse A - Verse A - Bridge B - Verse A (32 bars long). Here is the structure:
Stambul Keroncong:
Stambul Keroncong has a unique structure (A-B-A-B') x 2 = 16 bars x 2 = 32 bars, a modification of Stambul II that only has 16 bars, and doubled becomes 32 bars as Stamboel Keroncong (to adjust as new standard song 32 bars).
The structure of Stambul Keroncong is as follows: sign - means tacet
Keroncong Asli
The Keroncong Asli has A - B - B' structure. The song consists of 8 rows, and all together 32 bars long. The first PRELUDE consist of 4 bars played instrumentally (same as 7th row, in the middle there is a modulation (4 bars), then comes INTERLUDE (4 bars long too). The structure then as follow:
Kronchong Cadenza
The harmony theory explain about cadenza, i.e. a chord progression for full or half stop of a song. There are 4 candenzes in the classical harmony theory, i.e. as follows:
Javanese Genre
The gamelan influenced to kroncong music, including the Javanese Modal Tunes that already exist in these areas. The characteristic of Javanese Music are Javanese Modal Tune (Pelog or Slendro Pentatonic Mode); the use of so called siter (a string instrument plucked like lying harp); kendang (Javanese drum) which was played by plucked cello; kempul (a metal instrument like gong but lying position); metal and wood marimbas; gongs, and the style of Javanese Singers.
The songs structure still use pop song. i.e. Binary Form: A - A - B - A or sometimes A - B - C - D with 32 bars long. It began in 1958 composed by Anjar Any (1936–2008), the famous song is: Yen Ing Tawang Ana Lintang (If there is a star in the sky), and borned together with Waljinah
the winner of local radio singer contest at Solo in 1958.
Keroncong Beat
Rudy Pirngadie and his goup at Jakarta (Yayasan Tetap Segar / Foundation) in 1959 that promoted Kronchong Beat for accompanying various songs, lokal or foreign music, and in 1964 he join the New York World's Fair USA for introducing kronchong music to global audiences. Idris Sardi (Indonesian Violin Virtous) present a hit pop song entitle I left my heart in San Francisco with kronchong beat, but he fined by the US Music Authority, due the violent to US Copyright.
The Kronchong Beat promote various songs, including use of major and minor scale, quartel or triple beat, use more various chords, etc. Exactly, global music genre could be performed by an accompanying Kronchong Beat.
Campur Sari
An area so called Gunung Kidul (at Yogyakarta) in 1968, a local musician named Manthous introduced so called Campur Sari, a collaboration of gamelan music and kronchong. Now it have been developed in vicinity around Solo, i.e. Solo City, Sragen, Ngawi.
Kronchong Koes-Plus
Koes Plus
, a famous rock pop musician origin from Solo that introduce kronchong music in rock style (1974). The Group produced albums in kronchong style music, one of the song is entitled Kroncong Pertemuan which in the use of combined on Stamboel II and Langgam Kronchong (see above for each structure).
fusion kroncong and hip-hop with his group, Bondan Prakoso & Fade 2 Black. We still waiting so far of this experiments and we hoping that it will be developed as the millennium kroncong.
In 2008 @ Solo International Keroncong Festival, Harmony Chinese Music Group
make some different atmosphere to Keroncong by adding Chinese musical instrument as main component & they called the genre as Indonesian Chinese Keroncong.
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
-type instrument and an Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong (the sound chrong-chrong-chrong comes from this instrument, so the music is called keronchong), the band or combo or ensemble (it called as keronchong orchestra) consist of a flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, a violin, a melody guitar, a cello in pizzicato style, string bass also in pizzicato, and a female or male singer.
Characteristics
The name "Kroncong" may be derived from the jingling sound of the kerincing rebana, as heard in the rhythmic background to the music created by the interlocking of instruments playing on or off the beat. This background rhythm runs faster than the (often) slow vocal or melody, and is created, typically, by two ukuleles, a celloCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and a bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. These instruments, especially the pair of ukeleles, interlock as do the instruments in a gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
orchestra, and it is clear that the musical traditions of Indonesia have been applied to an orchestra of European instruments. Formerly they use also Portuguese musical instruments called cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
, a four steel stringed musical instrument that looks like a guitar. Cavaquinho was then modified into prounga, a 3 nylon stringed instrument with low pitch and macina
Macina
Macina may refer to:*Macina Empire , former state located in present-day Mali*Macina , the area in Mali once controlled by the empire*Macina, Mali-See also:*Masina *Messina...
, a 4 nylon stringed instrument with high pitch.
One ukulele, called the "cak" may be steel-stringed and the instrumentalist strums chords with up to 8 strums per beat in 4/4 rhythm. The off-beat strums are accentuated. The other ukulele, called the "cuk" , is larger and may have 3 gut or nylon strings. The instrumentalist may pluck arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s and tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
es using a plectrum, and the on-beat is emphasised. As a set, the cak and cuk form an interlocking pair that mostly gives Kroncong its characteristic kron and chong.
The cello may have 3 gut or nylon strings and chords are plucked rapidly, often with a unique skipped-beat, using the thumb and one finger. This instrument then adds both rhythm and tone. The guitar may play similarly to either cak or cuk but, more often, plays extended scalar
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
runs that provide an undulating background to a chord or bridge chord changes. The bass often is played in a minimalist style reminiscent of the large gongs
Gong ageng
The gong ageng is . It is the largest of the bronze gongs in the Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestra...
in a gamelan.
On top of this rhythmic layer the melody and elaborate ornamentation is carried by a voice, flute or violin. The violin or flute are used to play introductory passages (often elaborate), fills and scalar runs, both faster and more elaborate than the guitar. The vocalist sings the melody which, in traditional Kroncong, is slow with sustained notes.
The repertoire largely uses the Western major key with some arrangements in the minor
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
. One departure from this occurs when Kroncong orchestras play Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
nese songs (Langgam Jawa). Javanese music ordinarily uses scales and intervals that do not occur in Western music. Kroncong Jawa maintains Western intervals but adopts a 5-tone scale that approximates one of the main Javanese septatonic scales. When playing this style, cak and cuk leave their characteristic interplay and both play arpeggios to approximate the sound and style of the Javanese instrument the siter
Siter
The siter and celempung are plucked string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. They are related to the kacapi used in Sundanese gamelan....
, a kind of zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
. The cello adopts a different rhythmic style as well.
History
Kroncong music began in the 16th century as sailors from the Portuguese EmpirePortuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
brought Portuguese instruments and music to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Lower-class citizens and gangs, commonly called buaya (a reference to "buaya darat" or crocodile on land, a term used to describe playboys to this day) adopted the new musical styles. Eventually, they were assimilated by the upper-class citizens. Paul Fisher writes,
The small kroncong guitar, also the name of a music, is derived from the Portuguese braguinha, sharing its root with the HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an ukulele. Kroncong music is believed to have originated in the communities of freed Portuguese slaves in the 16th century. European influence from this time can also be heard in the music of the BatakBatak (Indonesia)Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and...
people of North SumatraNorth SumatraNorth Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, and from the end of the 19th century, the beginnings of guitar accompaniment incorporated within a distinctly Indonesian idiom in music from Sumatra, South SulawesiSouth SulawesiSouth Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi Island. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi province to the north, South East Sulawesi province to the east and West Sulawesi province to the west...
and elsewhere.
Kroncong (currently spelled Keroncong in Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
) is now considered old-fashioned folk music by most Indonesian youth, although efforts have been made since the 1960s to modernise the genre by adding electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s and drums, notably in so-called Pop Keroncong sung by Hetty Koes Endang. The melancholic spirit of traditional, acoustic Kroncong (so similar to Portuguese Fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
music) has been recorded by Samuel Quiko and the members of his Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
n Krontjong Tugu Orchestra, who have performed at the well-known Indo festival 'Pasar Malam Besar
Pasar Malam Besar
The Tong Tong Fair is the largest festival in the world for Indo culture, held annually in The Netherlands. In 2009 it was renamed to 'Tong Tong Fair'. Established in 1959 it is one of the oldest festivals and the fourth largest grand fair in The Netherlands...
' in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. Considered a Eurasian art form Kroncong features prominently each year at the Tong Tong Fair. The genre is also being evolved in new directions by Indo artists in the Netherlands.
The Evolution of Kroncong Music
Early Long Evolution 1552–1880
Since Portuguese sailors landed in Malacca (1552) and Portuguese slaves were freed in Kampung Tugu (north Jakarta) in 1661, a genre of music that was to become known as Keroncong has started to take shape. But the real keroncong music has not existed yet at the time. It has only began since 1880, when the main instrument of modern keroncong, the ukulele, was invented in Hawaaii. The so-called "long evolution" of 1552-1879 was a preliminary stage of development, leading to the creation of keroncong as we know it in 1880s. Since then keroncong is in a stage of development referred to as "short evolution" by Indonesian critics.The Last Short Evolution 1880–now
The last short evolutions were taken place, divided in four short evolution periods, i.e.The Era of Tempo Doeloe (1880–1920)
Tempo Doeloe is Oldies Time (tempo=time, doeloe=oldies). Komedie Stamboel was an Indo touring comedy company that performed folk entertainment which was very popular during the end of nineteenth century (1891–1903) especially in East-Java. It performed 1001 night tales, European folk tales, as well as local folk tales. Examples are: Ali Baba, Cinderella, Si Pitoeng, etc. The tours were made by railway as well as ships. They toured to Malysia and all parts of Indonesia. Between the scenes there were musical intermezzos such as marches, polkas, waltzes, as well as kronchong music called stamboel.During the Era of Tempo Doeloe or the Time of Stamboel Songs (1880–1920), there were 3 types of Stamboel Songs, i.e.: Stamboel I (Nina Bobo, Potong Padi, Soleram); Stamboel II (Si Jampang, Jali-Jali); and Stamboel III (Kemayoran). The Stamboel songs were 16 bars characteristic songs, and played in a fast tempo (like Allegro, as fast as 110 tick per minute). The songs were played in the following song structure:
Stambul I:
The songs in these category such as St I Terang Bulan, St I Potong Padi, St I Nina Bobo, St I Sarinande, St I O Ina Ni Keke, St I Bolelebo, etc. and the structure is A - B - A - B or A - B - C - D (16 bars):
- |I,,, |,,,, |,,,, |V7,,, |
- |,,,, |,,,, |,,,, |I,,, |
- |I7,,, |IV,,, |,, V7, |I,,, |
- |,,,, |V7,,, |,,,, |I,,, ||
Stambul II:
The songs in these category are St II Si Jampang, St II Jali-Jali. In these categories the song opens (in the first beat) with broken chord of I, then in the first 3 bars are in tacet position and at the end of first 4 bars directly enter the sub-dominant chord (IV); and the structure is A - B - A - C (16 bars):
- |I . . . |. . . . |. . . . |IV,,, | (Open with Chord I, then in tacet position within the first 3 bars, after that directly to chord IV)
- |,,,, |,,,, |,, V7, |I,,, |
- |,,,, |,,,, |,,,, |V7,,, |
- |,,,, |,,,, |,,,, |I,,, ||
Stambul III:
The title Kemayoran is a Stamboel III category, misspelled as Keroncong Asli, but it consist of 16 bars, it means staboel category. The structure it is Prelude - A - Interlude - B - C (16 bars):
- Pr |I,,, |,,,, | Prelude 2 bars
- A1 |,,,, |,,,, |
- A2 |II#,,,|V7,,, | 'Modulation 2 bars to the Double Dominant
- In |,,,, |IV,,, | Interlude 2 bars
- B1|,,,, |I,,, |
- B2|V7,,, |I,,, |
- C1|,,,, |,,,, |
- C2|V7,,, |I,,, ||
The Era of Kronchong Eternity (1920-1960)
After World War I, American Popular Music came to the ballroom music in hotels in Indonesia. The musicians mostly came from the Filipino (such as Pablo, Sambayon, etc.), and the new American Pop Songs consist of 32 bars, and it also influenced the local music. Like Indonesia Raya (composed in 1924) also has 32 bars long. The Bengawan Solo was composed by Gesang in this Era.The center of development moved to Solo City (Middle Java), and it has slower movement (like Moderato, use 80 ticks per minute).
Langgam Keroncong:
This structure has a binary form like pop songs: Verse A - Verse A - Bridge B - Verse A (32 bars long). Here is the structure:
- Verse A | V7,,, |I,,, | IV, V7, | I,,, | I,,, | V7,,, | V7,,, | I,,, |
- Verse A |V7,,, | I,,, | IV, V7, | I,,, | I,,, | V7,,, | V7,,, | I,,, |
- Bridge B |I7,,, |IV,,, | IV, V, | I,,, | I,,, | II#,,, | II#,,, | V,,,| Modulation to the Double Dominant as usual in Bridge of pop song
- Verse A |V7,,, |I,,, | IV, V7, | I,,, | I,,, | V7,,, | V7,,, | I,,, |
Stambul Keroncong:
Stambul Keroncong has a unique structure (A-B-A-B') x 2 = 16 bars x 2 = 32 bars, a modification of Stambul II that only has 16 bars, and doubled becomes 32 bars as Stamboel Keroncong (to adjust as new standard song 32 bars).
The structure of Stambul Keroncong is as follows: sign - means tacet
- |I - - - | - - - - | - - - - |IV,,, | Opening break chord I and directly enter chord IV
- |IV,,, |IV,,, |IV, V,|I,,, |
- |I,,, |I,,, |I,,, |V,,, |
- |V,,, |V,,, |V,,, |I,,, |
- |I,,, |I,,, |I,,, |IV,,, | these 16 bars is repetition of first 16 bars, but no tacet position, it means in full play position
- |IV,,, |IV,,, |IV, V, |I,,, |
- |I,,, |I,,, |I,,, |V,,, |
- |V,,, |V,,, |V,,, |I,,, |
Keroncong Asli
The Keroncong Asli has A - B - B' structure. The song consists of 8 rows, and all together 32 bars long. The first PRELUDE consist of 4 bars played instrumentally (same as 7th row, in the middle there is a modulation (4 bars), then comes INTERLUDE (4 bars long too). The structure then as follow:
- |V,,, |I, I7, |IV, V7, |I,,, | prelude 4 bars taken from 7th row (B3)
- (A1) | I,,, | I,,, | V,,, | V,,, |
- (A2) |II#,,, | II#,,, | V,,, | a modulation as long as 4 bars to the Double Dominant
- |V,,, | V,,, | V,,, |IV,,, | interlude 4 bars become standard for all songs
- (B1) | IV,,,| IV,,,|V7,,, | I,,, |
- (B2) |I,,, | V7,,, | V7,,, | I, I7, |
- (B3) |IV, V7, |I, I7, | IV, V7, |I,,, |
- (B2) | I,,, | V7,,, | V7,,,| I,,, |
Kronchong Cadenza
The harmony theory explain about cadenza, i.e. a chord progression for full or half stop of a song. There are 4 candenzes in the classical harmony theory, i.e. as follows:
- a. Perfect Cadenza, i.e. chord progression of V-I for full stop a song
- b. Unperperfect Cadenza, i.e. the song ended with chord of V7, such as II-V7, IV-V7, VI-V7, etc.
- c. Interupted Cadenza X-VI, t.e. if the song ended with chord progression such as V-VI, II-VI, etc.
- d. Plagal Candenza, i.e. chord progression of IV-I like "Amien" in prayer
- e. Even Tierce de Picardy is not a cadenza, but it usually used in the end of a minor key with full close in a mayor key
- f. Kronchong Cadenza, was developed in kroncong music, i.e. a chord progression of I-I7-IV-V7-I will ended a kronchong song.
The Era of Modern Kronchong (1960–2000)
Kronchong Music continued to develop in the vicinity of Solo City. Some the Kronchong Musicians moved to other parts of Indonesia, like Yogya or Jakarta.Javanese Genre
The gamelan influenced to kroncong music, including the Javanese Modal Tunes that already exist in these areas. The characteristic of Javanese Music are Javanese Modal Tune (Pelog or Slendro Pentatonic Mode); the use of so called siter (a string instrument plucked like lying harp); kendang (Javanese drum) which was played by plucked cello; kempul (a metal instrument like gong but lying position); metal and wood marimbas; gongs, and the style of Javanese Singers.
The songs structure still use pop song. i.e. Binary Form: A - A - B - A or sometimes A - B - C - D with 32 bars long. It began in 1958 composed by Anjar Any (1936–2008), the famous song is: Yen Ing Tawang Ana Lintang (If there is a star in the sky), and borned together with Waljinah
Waljinah
Waljinah is one the most famous and beloved Javanese traditional singers, especially with her song "Walangkekek" which made her very popular among the javanese. She also has made some collaborations with top Indonesian artists such as Didi Kempot, Gesang, Titik Puspa and so on.She was born in...
the winner of local radio singer contest at Solo in 1958.
Keroncong Beat
Rudy Pirngadie and his goup at Jakarta (Yayasan Tetap Segar / Foundation) in 1959 that promoted Kronchong Beat for accompanying various songs, lokal or foreign music, and in 1964 he join the New York World's Fair USA for introducing kronchong music to global audiences. Idris Sardi (Indonesian Violin Virtous) present a hit pop song entitle I left my heart in San Francisco with kronchong beat, but he fined by the US Music Authority, due the violent to US Copyright.
The Kronchong Beat promote various songs, including use of major and minor scale, quartel or triple beat, use more various chords, etc. Exactly, global music genre could be performed by an accompanying Kronchong Beat.
Campur Sari
An area so called Gunung Kidul (at Yogyakarta) in 1968, a local musician named Manthous introduced so called Campur Sari, a collaboration of gamelan music and kronchong. Now it have been developed in vicinity around Solo, i.e. Solo City, Sragen, Ngawi.
Kronchong Koes-Plus
Koes Plus
Koes Plus
Koes Plus is an Indonesian musical group that enjoyed success in the 1970s. Known as one of Indonesia's classic musical acts, the band peaked in popularity in the days far before the advent of private television companies, delivering stripped-down pop and rock songs at the then-only TV station,...
, a famous rock pop musician origin from Solo that introduce kronchong music in rock style (1974). The Group produced albums in kronchong style music, one of the song is entitled Kroncong Pertemuan which in the use of combined on Stamboel II and Langgam Kronchong (see above for each structure).
The Era of Millennium Keroncong (2000-now)
Even the kronchong music in the millennium (since the year of 2000), that the pop music industry until now does not produces as industrial music, but some groups have been make experiments on it. The group called "Keroncong Merah Putih", the kroncong group in Bandung that made some experiments on it which use the elements of combined rap music with background of kronchong music. Furthermore Bondan PrakosoBondan Prakoso
Bondan Prakoso is an Indonesian singer-songwriter, bass guitarist, and record producer. He is known as the former bassist of rock band Funky Kopral and the lead singer of the rap rock collaboration band, Bondan Prakoso & Fade 2 Black...
fusion kroncong and hip-hop with his group, Bondan Prakoso & Fade 2 Black. We still waiting so far of this experiments and we hoping that it will be developed as the millennium kroncong.
In 2008 @ Solo International Keroncong Festival, Harmony Chinese Music Group
Harmony Chinese Music Group
Harmony Chinese Music Group - 和聲中樂團 -History:The Harmony Chinese Music Group is a unique Chinese music group that was founded in 2001 by Chinese descendant in Bandung Indonesia. The group seeks to promote a wide variety of world music based on Indonesian culture such as keroncong, sundanese, batak...
make some different atmosphere to Keroncong by adding Chinese musical instrument as main component & they called the genre as Indonesian Chinese Keroncong.
External links
- Fisher, Paul. "The Rough Guide to the Music of Indonesia." Liner notes to recording of the same title http://www.farsidemusic.com/RG_INDONESIA.html
- Indonesian Heritage Society. Mariah Waworuntu and Ann Triman, "History of Keroncong Music, http://www.heritagejkt.org/Keroncong_history.php
- Kompas. Sonya Hellen Sinombor, "Keroncong Harus Mengikuti Zaman", http://m.kompas.com/news/read/data/2008.12.13.15120283
Discography
- Listen for Kronchong Music in Indonesian Songs Collection, such as Orkest Lief Java, Orkes Keroncong Cafarino Toegoe, George de Fretes, Orkes Keroncong Restu, Waljinah, and other keroncong artis, please refer to http://batusura.de/lagu/