Slamet A. Sjukur

Slamet A. Sjukur

was born in 1935 in Surabaya. He learned to play the piano as a child, and his maternal grandfather introduced him to concepts in number theory. Between 1952 and 1956 Slamet A. Sjukur studied at the first Indonesian institute for Western music, “Sekolah Musik Indonesia”. In 1962 Sjukur travelled to Paris and stayed there for the next fourteen years. Following his return in 1976, he began to teach music theory and composition at the art academy IKJ (Institut Kesenian Jakarta) in Jakarta. From 1981-1983 he directed the institute and also served as chair of the music department for the cultural council of Jakarta from 1977-1981. In 1987 he ended his teaching duties at the academy; however, nearly all of the young composers followed Sjukur and continued to study privately with him. He then worked as a freelance composer, teacher and essayist. As of 2000, Slamet A. Sjukur has resumed his teaching with a post in undergraduate composition at the art academy STSI Surakarta. It is no exaggeration to call Slamet A. Sjukur the father of new contemporary music in Indonesia, for nearly all important composers of the younger generation have been shaped or inspired by him. Abroad, primarily in France, Hungary and Germany, he is one of the few Indonesian composers to earn such great acclaim—something which is apparent in his numerous commissions, concerts and awards.

It is nearly impossible to describe Sjukur’s artistic aims in the space available here. He has written predominantly chamber music pieces, particularly for Western instruments and in a musical language of free tonality based on Western influences. Multi-media elements, spiritual concepts and number theory play a significant role in his work. Sjukur also sees music as a tool for pushing the limits of perception, returning to the awareness of nuances, details, acoustic richness, and microcosms of sounds. Sjukur sees this stance as a sort of musical ecology for our times – a way to counteract “musical smog”, especially in the urban areas of Indonesia.

It is thus no surprise that pedagogically oriented works enjoy a high status in his oeuvre. For Sjukur, working with non-musicians means attempting to sharpen human perception and to encouraging people not to give in passively to bad habits.

“Indonesia is made up of many different regions, and each region has its own musical tradition. But since none of them is accessible via overland routes, one needs money to be able to travel from place to place. The musical traditions in Java, Maduku and Sulawesi are entirely different because the people there never encounter each other. I, myself, was asked to compose gamelan music in the Bandung style, and I needed four months to learn it.” Slamet A. Sjukur