Acquired: during the Reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwana I
Type of Gamelan: common practice–modernized
Tuning: sléndro
Sources are not entirely in agreement as to when and where K.K. Surak (“battle cry”) was made, but they generally concur that it was prior to the founding of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat when Prince Mangkubumi (later to become the First Sultan) was a member of the Mataram court in Surakarta. When he rebelled against his uncle Pakubuwana III (who ascended to the Mataram throne in 1749), a six-year struggle ensued that also involved another rebellious courtier, Mas Said, and the Dutch East Indies Company (hereafter the “V.O.C.”). Legend has it that K.K. Surak was in the possession of Mangkubumi during, if not prior to, the hostilities of 1749-1755, and may even have been used at a meeting between him, Pakubuwana III, and the V.O.C. two days after the signing of the Treaty of Giyanti in February 1755. [1] “Surak” means “battle cry”, so the name of this set even suggests that it likely was a gamelan that Mangkubumi had on hand at the time of the rebellion and that was used to “summon the courage of his troops” on the battlefield. [2] What these legends and historical facts suggest and, more importantly, what they reveal in regard to the beliefs about this gamelan held by Yogyanese royalty, aristocrats, and retainers, is that K.K. Surak was a participant in the very creation of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and in essence is inseparable from the persona of the founder of that dynasty, the First Sultan (Mankubumi). With such a biography, it should come as no surprise that this cherished gamelan is considered a pusaka by members of the palace community.
K.K. Surak appears to have always been much admired by members of the palace community not only because of its age and its ties to the First Sultan, but also because of its majestic sound. Madukusuma relates a story “from olden times” about how K.K. Surak, after being tuned under the supervision of the sultan’s prime minister, would be tested by being played at the Sitihinggil. The tuning would be judged successful only if the gamelan’s sound was audible in the village of Kricak, over two miles to the north of the Sitihinggil.[3] A bit hyperbolic, but the tale helps us understand the Javanese perception of this set’s robust voice and its semiotics–the power of its sound stands for its greatness and for its suitability to be associated with the greatness of the First Sultan. We do not know for sure what the instrumental makeup of this gamelan was in the middle of the 18th century, but if it already had the saron section of its pre-modern instrumentation–four saron demung and eight saron ricik; other loud-sounding metallophones in the set included a gambang gangsa and a slentho–then it was certainly capable of producing a great volume of sound when played in the soran (loud) style. It very likely did have such an instrumentation, because two of the other three palace gamelans that possess a comparable saron section (K.K. Guntursari and K.K. Kancilbelik) also date from the reign of the First Sultan (the third set is K.K. Panji, dating from the reign of the Sixth Sultan). The early instrumentation of K.K. Surak almost certainly included soft-sounding instruments (gendèr barung, gambang kayu, and rebab), three sizes/registers of gong chime instruments (bonang panembung, barung, and penerus), phrase marking gongs (two gong ageng, one kempul, one kenong jaler, one kenong japan, and one kethuk), and drums (one kendhang gendhing, one kendhang ketipung) as well. During the reign of the Eighth Sultan, types of instruments that had fallen out of favor, such as the gambang gangsa and the slentho, were put into storage. The later instrument was replaced by the gendèr panembung, and other newly established instruments were added (a gendèr penerus and a clempung, and several each of gong siyem, kempul, and kenong jaler) to make this set’s instrumentation fully modern. New cases for this set were made at that time as well. A recording of K.K. Surak being performed with its full modern instrumentation is heard on Audio 1.
Unlike the archaic palace gamelans, there are no gamelan pieces (gendhing) that are specific to K.K. Surak even though it is used today to provide music for a variety of private palace ceremonies. For such occasions, which take place at the ceremonial heart of the palace, Bangsal Kencana, it is the first choice, along with the gamelan pélog K.K. Kancilbelik. These two gamelans, dating from the reign of the First Sultan, are set up on and sounded from the verandas of the two gamelan storage buildings (gedhong gangsa sléndro and gedhong gangsa pélog) that face Bangsal Kencana.[4] Every fifth year these same two gamelans are set up in Bangsal Kasatriyan and used for the Uyon-uyon Hadiluhung celebrations marking the sultan’s weton (birthdate in the Javanese 35-day calendric cycle), which are broadcast over the government radio station. In the course of its history, K.K. Surak has been orchestrated into several different, and now no longer practiced, private and public palace events. It, along with the gamelan kodhok ngorek K.K. Maésaganggang, was used for the spectacle staged in the great North Square of the palace (Alun-alun Lor) that pitted a water buffalo against a tiger in mortal combat, the gamelan kodhok ngorèk during the fight, K.K. Surak as the loser bled to death (the buffalo typically emerged victorious).[5] At least into, if not to the end of, the reign of the Eighth Sultan, K.K. Surak was played while being carried on litters in the three yearly grebeg celebrations–for Grebeg Mulud in the year Dal it was carried in front of the Nyutra brigade of the palace troops (prajurit)[6]; and for Grebeg Puwasa and Grebeg Besar it followed the court functionaries known as the Lurah Prayalata.[7] K.K. Surak has been used at times in its history as part of the celebrations surrounding a sultan’s birthday, marriage, or circumcision, or the marriage or circumcision of the crown prince.[8]
This regal gamelan is painted ivory with gold highlight that is in places set off by a dark red background. The main carving motif is the sawat, a stylized rendering of the wings and tail feathers of the mythological garuda bird. On the gendèr front boards the tail feathers are replaced by the letters H and B (for Hamengku Buwana) and the numeral 8, all in Javanese script, which remind us that the modernizing of this set took place during the reign of the Eighth Sultan. There are also to be found vegetation and geometric motifs on some of the surfaces of instruments in this set.
Inventory:
gong ageng (2)
gong siyem/suwukan (3)
kempul (4)
kenong jaler (5)
kenong japan (1)
kethuk (1)
bonang penembung (1)
bonang barung (1)
bonang penerus (1)
saron demung (4)
saron ricik/barung (8)
slentho (1)
gendèr penembung/slenthem (1)
gendèr barung (1)
gendèr penerus (1)
gambang gongsa/gangsa (1)
gambang kayu (1)
clempung/celempung (1)
kendhang ageng/gendhing (1)
kendhang ketipung (1)
kendhang alit/batangan (1)
suling (1)
bendhé (1)
bedhug (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
rebab (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
siter (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
kemanak (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
kecèr (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
keprak (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
Audio and Video Clips:
Audio 1 [Gendhing Bondhet minggah ladrang Wirangrong, performed on K.K. Surak on September 15, 1982.]
