Rahayu Supanggah

Rahayu Supanggah

Rahayu Supanggah was born in 1949 to a family of shadow theatre actors, virtually guaranteeing that he would follow the path of an artist. Today, he is considered one of the few Indonesian composers of international renown to have made an outstanding contribution to the renewal of the gamelan tradition of Central Java. Following studies at the art academy STSI Surakarta, he received his Ph.D. in 1985 in music ethnology at the Université de Paris VII in France. Already at the age of 16, he belonged to a group of selected artists who visited China, Korea and Japan as part of an official mission of artists. In addition to his authority with regard to traditional gamelan music, Rahayu Supanggah has always chartered new territory and made important contributions to contemporary developments in gamelan music as a “rebel pioneer” (Supanggah).

Still as a student, he became director of the karawitan department (karawitan is the Indonesian expression for indigenous musical forms) of his art academy in Surakarta. From 1997-2002 he served as rector of the art academy, establishing a pioneering, nationwide course of study in composition, among other disciplines. Numerous guest professorships have taken him to San Diego University, the University of Cambridge, and other private institutions throughout the world. He is now director of the post-graduate programme at STSI Surakarta, where he teaches composition and aesthetics. But Supanggah is not only a composer, though he has written approximately 100 works to date; he is also a renowned practicing musician working in the old Javanese tradition and an artistic director for large productions and cultural missions.

In addition to numerous commissions at the national level as an ethnomusicologist and art critic, Rahyu Supanggah has also worked at the international level with artists such as Peter Brook, Sergio Leone, Robert Wilson and Ong Ken Sen.

Rahayu Supanggah is the archetypal Javanese artist, placing himself squarely within the collective spirit at the same time that he provides subtle, individual impulses that lead to the desired processes within the collective whole. For Supanggah, the distinction between tradition and Javanese modernism has never existed, and he sees no contradiction in employing customary styles to preserve traditional culture while also composing works in visionary and innovative musical forms. Yet even with his unusual constellations of sounds, one senses Supanggah’s deep roots in a Central Javanese aesthetic. For this reason, he is less a reckless avant-garde artist and more a responsible innovator.

“I don’t see any point in problematising, in an artistic fashion, the so-called dichotomy between old and new. In my opinion, this is all a question of taking a responsible stance. Indeed, one can mix traditional and contemporary elements, as I also did in the production of King Lear, a collaboration with artists from six countries.” Rahayu Supanggah