Batak of North Sumatra

various artists compilation - Batak of North Sumatra

75 thousand years ago, a volcano erupted deep in the interior of North Sumatra, spreading ash as far as Sri Lanka and leaving behind a crater now known as Lake Toba. One hundred kilometers long, it is the largest volcanic crater lake in the world. The fertile volcanic soils of its shores have supported intensive agriculture for millenia. Its great natural beauty has made it Indonesia's third-largest tourist attraction. This is the original homeland of the Batak, a family of seven Indonesian ethnic groups with a population of perhaps two million.

These seven groups (Toba, Karo, Simalungun, Pak-pak, Dairi, Angkola, and Mandailing) have related but distinct languages, customs, and traditional arts. Such is the variety of Batak music and dance that no one program could present even a sampling of it all. Festival of Indonesia has chosen to concentrate on three highly contrasting traditions: those of the Toba, the Karo and the Mandailing.

The Batak groups are divided by religion (the Mandailing are Islamic; the Toba, Christian) and by language (Toba and Karo in particular are mutually unintelligible), but unified by a common passion for genealogy. It is not unusual to meet Batak men who can recite fluently the names of eight generations of their ancestors. These ancestral trees represent a sort of blueprint for Batak society; they explain the origins of and relations between the clans (marga) which dominate Batak social life.

Every Batak belongs to one of these patrilineal clans. They are exogamous: a man may not marry a woman from his own clan, but must search among other clans for a wife. The marriage ties which link clans form an intricate web of kinship which touches every aspect of Batak society. The clans also order Batak culture, ceremony, mythology and the arts.

There are musical compositions specific to one or another clan; clan membership determines the order of events at the life-cycle ceremonies at which music and dance are essential.

Music and dance play a crucial role in Batak society. The word for "ceremony" (gondang in Toba; gendang in Karo) is actually a musical term and refers both to the Batak orchestra of drums, gongs, and oboes and also to the tunes they play. The musicians are essential to a ceremony because they are the intermediaries between humanity and the Creator. The sounds of the drums and gongs convey human prayers to the spirit world.

Musicians thus command great respect in traditional Batak society and they must follow a certain code of behavior. "The musicians must be honest men," explained one old Toba Batak man, "otherwise they risk angering the spirits." (Marc Perlman from the liner notes)

TOBA tracks 1-3 - Music for ceremonies, healing rituals, or listening enjoyment.

Performed with hasapi (two-stringed mandolin), sarune etek (small clarinet), garantung (xylophone) and sulim (flute)

TOBA tracks 4-5 - Secular songs from Opera Batak, the musical theatre genre created by Tilhang Oberlin Gultom (1896-1970). The gondang hasapi ensemble with voice.

Performed with same instruments as tracks 1-3.

KARO tracks 6-7 - The haunting, unearthly music of the major Karo ceremonial ensemble.

Performed with sarune (shawm), gendang indungna (lead drum), gendang anakna (ostinato drum), surdam (flute).

MANDAILING tracks 8-10 - Ceremonial drum-ensemble music played on a single bamboo drum-zither.

TOBA tracks 11-14 - The most prestigious and sonically powerful Toba ensemble. In the fast tempo pieces recorded here, the sarune bolon and the taganing actually play the same melody, each in its own scale and fashion. The pieces are played as they might be at a Toba ceremony, in which the master of ceremonies must formally request each piece in a short speech punctuated by drumrolls.

Performed with taganing (five tuned drums, one low ostinato drum), sarune bolon (oboe with detachable bell (endpiece) and ogung (set of four gongs).

Tracklisting:

1. Gondang Hasapi Ensemble - Horud Baling {3:29}

2. Gondang Hasapi Ensemble - Parsirangan {2:24}

3. Gondang Hasapi Ensemble - Haro-Haro {3:47}

4. Gondang Hasapi Ensemble - Patahuak ni manuk {3:34}

5. Gondang Hasapi Ensemble - Pege sakarimpang {2:09}

6. Gendang Lima Sendalanen - Anggok/Iyo-Iyo {5:16}

7. Gendang Lima Sendalanen - Simalungun Rayat; Katoneng-katoneng {9:51}

8. Gondang Bulu - Jolo-jolo turun {4:08}

9. Gondang Bulu - Marungut-ungut {3:05}

10. Gondang Bulu - Marsitogal {2:29}

11. Gondang Sabangunan - Alu-alu tu Mula Jadi na Bolon {5:08}

12. Gondang Sabangunan - Malim {2:59}

13. Gondang Sabangunan - Hata Sopisik {4:44}

14. Gondang Sabangunan - Batara Guru {5:46}

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