Acquired: during the Reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwana I
Type of Gamelan: archaic–sekati
Tuning: pélog
K.K. Gunturmadu (“thunder honey”) is one of the three gamelan pusaka allotted to the First Sultan at the Treaty of Giyanti in 1755 (see also K.K. Gunturlaut and K.K. Maésaganggang). It is an archaic form of gamelan called sekati, after which is named the event Sekatèn , a week-long festival leading up to the birthdate of the Prophet Muhammed in the Muslim lunar calendar. The creation of this type of gamelan is attributed in oral tradition to the 16th century Kingdom of Demak, located on the north coast of Java. It was there and at that time (approximately the second quarter of the 16th century) that Islam as a state religion took hold in Java. Credited with this significant change were nine missionaries (some of them foreign, some of them native) known as the Wali Sanga (“nine holymen”). Amongst them, one in particular, Sunan Kalijaga, advocated the utilization of a loud-style gamelan, similar to types already used in that period, to attract local populations to the newly established mosque of Demak and to Islam. Rulers of subsequent Javanese-muslim kingdoms have continued this practice up to the present. The origin of the Kraton Yogyakarta gamelan sekati K.K. Gunturmadu is placed in the 17th century Kingdom of Mataram during the reign of the much-admired Sultan Agung. Oral tradition has it that in 1644 CE Sultan Agung had a gamelan sekati constructed (the name of which is not known), which was then passed down to successive central Javanese rulers until the reign of Susuhunan Pakubuwana III of Surakarta (r. 1749-1788 CE). It was supposedly this old gamelan sekati, created in the previous century by Sultan Agung, that was divided by the Treaty of Giyanti in 1755, half of it remaining in Surakarta (filled out and eventually, in 1791, given the name K.K. Guntursari) and the other half going to the newly established Sultanate of Yogyakarta to become the core of K.K. Gunturmadu. Yogyakarta court chronicles report that K.K. Gunturmadu was made complete in its instrumentation and given new casings in 1757. I must remind the reader that the above recounting of the origin of K.K. Gunturmadu is oral history and should not be understood as factual information. However, it is the narrative, broadly known both inside and outside the Kraton Yogyakarta, that is attached to this gamelan and that shapes how Javanese muslims in the Yogyakarta region relate to this object. K.K. Gunturmadu, in effect, provides this community with a visual and sonic link to the much respected Mataram kingdom of Sultan Agung and, indirectly, to the introduction of Islam to the island of Java by the revered Wali Sanga.
K.K. Gunturmadu and its nearly identical twin K.K. Nagawilaga are used today exclusively for Sekatèn , which means they are sounded only for six days each year (from the 6th to the 12th of the Javanese/Muslim lunar month of Mulud). The restricted use of these sets and the timing (the week leading up to the marking of Mohammed’s birth) and location (at the Mesjid Ageng, the Great Mosque of Yogyakarta, in two purpose-built structures called pagongan, or gamelan buildings) of their utilization serve to further bolster their status as emblems both of Islam, as practiced in central Java, and of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, to whom they belong, as “Abdurrahman Sayidin Panata Gama” (“Generous Master Over the Religion”) and “Kalifatulah” (“Successor of Mohammed”). The high regard in which these two gamelans are held by members of both the palace community and the general public can be readily seen in the behavioral gestures demonstrated by people toward these objects during Sekatèn . Offerings are made to the gamelans before they are sounded; common people make requests for assistance (nyuwun berkah) to the spirits of these gamelans through religious intermediaries (see Video 1); and the palace mounts impressive procession spectacles (see Video 2) to deliver these sets to the Mesjid Ageng and return them to the palace. During these processions, instruments that are deemed particularly powerful in each set (their bonang barung, bedhug, and gong ageng) are carried beneath royal parasols (songsong) that are used specifically to mark the most significant individuals and objects in the kraton cultural domain.
The instrumentation of the two Kraton Yogyakarta gamelan sekati is spare in comparison to common practice gamelans and, for the most part, absent of archaic instruments save for a pair of bendé (small, vertically suspended gongs with shallow rims). Visually, their most distinguishing feature is the large size, vis-à-vis common practice gamelans, of their saron-type instruments and their bonang barung. This latter instrument is actually played by more than one musician and serves two separate musical functions: its jaler row (higher register) gongs, along with its two pengapit side gongs, is performed by one musician in the role of Lurah Gendhing (“melodic leader”) of the ensemble; the setren row (lower register) gongs are used as a set of phrase-marking instruments (like the kenong in a common practice gamelan) and played by one or two musicians. Also noteworthy regarding the instrumentation of these sets is the absence of kendhang; the only membranophone in each set is a bedhug.
For anyone experienced in listening to Javanese common practice gamelan music played in the pélog tuning system, the pélog tuning of K.K. Gunturmadu is noticeably lower by an interval of approximately a perfect fourth to an augmented fourth. This contributes considerably to the distinctive sound quality of this ensemble while at the same time making it impractical to incorporate common practice gamelan singing practices with the set. Therefore, all performance on this set is strictly instrumental and played soran (robust, loud style). The repertoire of pieces (gendhing) played on K.K. Gunturmadu is a complicated topic and will be explored elsewhere on this site. For now it will be said that many common practice gendhing can be played on the gamelan sekati, but some of these pieces have unique versions specifically for when they are played on these sets. There is also a core set of about fifteen gendhing that are strongly associated with the gamelan sekati, and many rules as to when they may or may not be sounded during the week of Sekaten. Regardless of whether a gendhing is specifically associated with the gamelan sekati or borrowed from the common practice gamelan repertoire, they all are shaped by the distinctive performance practice that has evolved for this archaic type of gamelan in the Kraton Yogyakarta and therefore have an unmistakeable sound when realized on them. A sense of this “gamelan sekati sound” can be garnered from viewing Video 3 on this page, which presents a short excerpt of K.K. Gunturmadu being performed during Sekatèn in 2007.
Like many of the archaic gamelans in the Kraton Yogyakarta, K.K. Gunturmadu is painted a rich, dark red (abrit sepuh). The highlighting of the basic borders and some vegetation carving is accentuated in gold, but the most pronounced carving motif–a majestic sawat (wings and tail feathers of the mythological garuda bird) that appears on several instrument surfaces–is highlighted in light blue and white.
The impressive appearance and sound of K.K. Gunturlaut, and its deep associations with Islam in Java and with Javanese kings, make it an effective agent in the ongoing relationship between the Kraton Yogyakarta and the general population of the Yogyakarta region. This relationship is symbolically refreshed each year during Sekatèn when the royal heirlooms K.K. Gunturmadu and K.K. Nagawilaga are ceremoniously paraded from the inner domain of the palace to the public space of the Mesjid Ageng where their distinctive sonic character and the beliefs it resonates are shared with the general public.
Inventory:
gong ageng (2)
kempyang (1)
bendhé (2)
bonang barung + 2 pengapit (1)
saron demung (1)
saron ricik/barung (2)
saron peking (1)
bedhug (1)
Audio and Video Clips:
Video 1 [A woman requests the assistance of K.K. Gunturmadu through a palace religious official at Bangsal Ponconiti during the opening of Sekatèn in 2007]
Video 2 [K.K. Gunturmadu being carried through Pagelaran during the procession from the palace to the Mesjid Ageng as part of Sekatèn in 2007]
Video 3 [Ladrang Sedya Asih performed on the gamelan sekati K.K. Gunturmadu in the Pagongan Kidul of the Mesjid Ageng, March 28, 2007]
