Muziek en Dans in de Buitengewesten (1946)

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tagsdocument, publication, musicology, ethnomusicology, colonial, dutch, 1946
aliasesMusic and Dance in the Outer Islands, Mededeling No. LXVII, Afdeling Volkenkunde No. 20

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Muziek en Dans in de Buitengewesten is a scholarly monograph on the music and dance traditions of the Indonesian archipelago outside Java and Bali, authored by the Dutch ethnomusicologist Jaap Kunst and published in 1946 as Mededeling No. LXVII (Communication No. 67) of the Afdeling Volkenkunde No. 20 (Department of Ethnology No. 20) by the Koninklijke Vereeniging ‘Indisch Instituut’ (Royal Dutch Indies Institute) in Amsterdam, printed by E. J. Brill in Leiden. The work is based on Kunst’s field research conducted during his residence in the Indonesian archipelago from 1919–1934.

Context and Purpose

The monograph was written on the eve of profound political and social transformations in the Indonesian archipelago, with the Japanese invasion (1942) marking a watershed moment. Kunst explicitly frames the work as an urgent documentation project: with the Japanese occupation and the accelerating pace of cultural change, the traditional regional music and dance forms that had survived until the Japanese invasion faced imminent extinction or degeneration. He notes that the necessity to record “in word and image as much as possible of the old, characteristic forms” applies to no aspect of Indonesian culture more urgently than to music and dance.

Kunst acknowledges that comprehensive monographs already existed for only a portion of the archipelago — principally Nias, Java, Madura, Bali, Celebes, Flores, the Kai Islands, and New Guinea — while for the remainder of the archipelago only fragmentary notices existed in ethnological treatises, travel reports, colonial administrative reports, mission reports, and the encyclopedic summary of knowledge as of ca. 1917 by J. H. F. Snelleman. This monograph aims to fill that lacuna, drawing on Kunst’s personal observations during his fifteen-year residence in the archipelago.

Scope and Structure

The work proceeds geographically from west to east, beginning with Sumatra and its surrounding islands, then proceeding through Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and New Guinea. For each region, Kunst provides a summary overview of musical instruments and dance forms, highlighting the most characteristic forms. He explicitly refrains from providing musical notation examples, referring readers to the specialized monographs cited in the footnotes.

The publication contains 49 illustrations (afbeeldingen) depicting instruments, dancers, and performances, numbered across plates (platen) I–XXIV.

Aceh-Related Content

Musical Instruments of Aceh (Atjēh)

Kunst identifies the following instruments as characteristic of Acheh (Atjēh), the northernmost region of Sumatra:

Islamic/Persian-Arabic derived instruments:

  • Gambus (Dutch: gamboes) — a typically seven-stringed, pear-shaped lute (tokkelluit), of Persian-Arabic origin, characteristic of Islamic regions of the archipelago. (Illustration 1a)
  • Rabana or Redep — a frame drum, intermediate between a tambourine and a drum; lijsttrommel (frame drum) is the official Dutch term. (Illustration 22)
  • Marwas — a small, flat, double-headed drum. (Illustrations 1b and 28b)
  • Bangei — a bamboo nose flute with 6 or 7 finger holes.
  • Serunai (Dutch: s(o)erunai, from Persian surnāy) — a shawm-like double-reed instrument, the characteristic oboe-type instrument of Islamic regions. (Illustration 2)

Indigenous Indonesian instruments also found in Aceh:

  • Genggong — the jaw harp, known by its Malay name gènggong. (Illustrations 3 and 4)
  • Kendang / Gendang / Geundrang / Geundra — the two-headed drum, known by various regional names.
  • Hareubab — a bowed spike lute (gestreken spiesluit), also found in the Batak lands (arbah) and Nias (lagija). This is specifically noted as occurring “also more northerly, namely in Atjeh.” (Illustration not separately numbered for Aceh)
  • Geudoemba — a small, single-headed barrel drum (kleine éénvellige vaastrommel), specific to Aceh.
  • Tjanang Triëng — a three-stringed bamboo zither (driesnarige bamboe-cither), specific to Aceh.

Dances of Aceh and the Gayo Lands

Kunst describes the following dances for Acheh and the Gajoelanden:

  • Sedati — a slow, graceful dance-play (dansspel) centering on a young boy, performed simultaneously by a large number of young men. (Illustration 9)
  • Bersaman — a dance leading to religious ecstasy, performed by young men sitting in a long row on their knees, with violent swaying of head and upper body.
  • Bineus — a dance distinguished by beauty of movement, performed with waving of kains (sarongs), danced either by men or by women.

The Gayo Lands are explicitly mentioned as sharing the sedati and bersaman traditions with Aceh.

Other Sumatran Regions Covered

The monograph also covers the musical and dance traditions of:

  • Batak Lands (Toba and Karo) — including hasapi lute, tuned drum ensembles (tataganing, gondang), sibaso dance, cooden mask dance
  • Nias — including lagija lute, doli-doli xylophone, koko bamboo zither, gongs (gong, faritia, saraina), war dances, maloeaja (rei-dansen)
  • Minangkabau — pentjak (silat dance), tari piring (plate dance)
  • South Sumatra and Central Sumatra — gadis dances, dakoet/dikoet (pigeon whistle flute)
  • Riau-Lingga Archipelago — orok-orok (fish rattle)

Significance

This monograph represents one of the earliest systematic ethnomusicological surveys of the “Outer Islands” (Buitengewesten) of the Dutch East Indies by a professionally trained musicologist. Kunst’s fifteen years of field residence (1919–1934) gave him exceptional access to traditions that were already under pressure from colonial modernity (gramophones, imported clothing, harmoniums, rubber boom economics) and would be further devastated by the Japanese occupation (1942–1945) and the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution (1945–1949). For Aceh specifically, the work provides one of the few detailed organological and choreological records from the early 20th century, documenting instruments (hareubab, geudoemba, tjanang triëng) and dances (sedati, bersaman, bineus) that are emblematic of Acehnese cultural identity and its synthesis of indigenous and Islamic traditions.

See Also

Source

Muziek en Dans in de Buitengewesten, by Mr. J. Kunst, Mededeling No. LXVII, Afdeling Volkenkunde No. 20, Koninklijke Vereeniging “Indisch Instituut” te Amsterdam, met 49 afbeeldingen (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1946), pp. 1–50. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark: 1080 8696. Based on field research conducted 1919–1934.

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