Gesang Martohartono (b. 1917) is a renowned Indonesian singer-songwriter from central Java, and composer of the song Bengawan Solo, a tune which has become famous throughout Indonesia, Japan and much of Asia, and which is almost synonymous with the kroncong style of Javanese music. He is most commonly known simply as Gesang. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... Map of Java Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Bengawan Solo is a famous Indonesian song about the Bengawan Solo River, which flows through central and eastern Java, Indonesia and is that islands longest river. ...

Gesang was born in the central Javanese city of Surakarta (Solo). His father owned a batik-fabric business, which however went bankrupt when Gesang was still in his teens, plunging the family into poverty. Gesang, a self-taught musician who was however illiterate in musical notation, supported himself and his family by writing songs and singing at local functions such as weddings and other formal occasions. The city of Solo, formally known as Surakarta, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Yogyakarta and slightly further southeast of Semarang in Java, Indonesia, was a center of power during the Mataram Kingdom. ... A batik painting depicting two Indian women. ... Music notation is a system of writing for music. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ...

In 1940, during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, the impoverished 23 year-old musician composed a tune (using a flute) in the popular urban local style known as kroncong, a musical tradition of the region which combined Javanese chord progressions with Westernised vocal stylings, instrumental arrangements and melodies. The style had its origins in the 17th century Portuguese influences on the region, and was at the time associated with the urban poor and as such had somewhat of an unsavoury reputation, particularly among traditionalists. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, is a series of chords played in an order. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

For the lyrics, Gesang turned to the city's river for inspiration. The Bengawan Solo River is Java's longest river and most important waterway for trade and agriculture, and seemed to Gesang to symbolise the durability of Javanese culture in those troubled times. Gesang himself would later remark "I had dreamt since my childhood about writing a song of praise for the immortal Solo River"^[1]. Lyric can have a number of meanings. ... The Bengawan Solo River (alternatively, Solo River) is the longest river on the Indonesian island of Java, approximately 540 km in length. ...

Gesang added the song, Bengawan Solo, to his repertoire, and it soon became widely popular among the local Javanese community. The song rose to national prominence when recordings of it were aired on local radio stations. It also found an appreciative audience among the Japanese occupation forces, some of whom took to singing it with lyrics translated into Japanese. It was popular also among the non-Javanese prisoners (principally Dutch civilians) of the Japanese internment camps, many of whom also spoke Indonesian. The simple but nostalgic lyrics and popular-sounding melody held equal appeal to the long-standing resident and the homesick soldier. Bengawan Solo is a famous Indonesian song about the Bengawan Solo River, which flows through central and eastern Java, Indonesia and is that islands longest river. ...

As World War II drew to a close, the returning soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army brought the song back to Japan. In the dark period immediately after Japan's defeat, the song caught the public mood, and its fame soon spread throughout the country after best-selling recordings of it were released by popular singers, starting with Toshi Matsuda's 1947 recording. It was to be periodically re-released by various popular artists, and the song soon became almost synonymous in Japan with Indonesian music, many assuming that it was a centuries-old traditional song^[2]. The Imperial Japanese Army (大日本帝国陸軍 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun) was in existence from the Meiji Reformation to the end of World War II. It was created to replace the traditional Japanese samurai with a modern Western-style conscript army. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Indonesia is culturally diverse and is home to hundreds of forms of music, with those from the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali being the most frequently recorded. ...

Versions of the song were also released in other Asian countries, and it has since been recorded many times by famous artists worldwide.

Gesang remained in the city of his birth, continuing to compose and sing, his fame spreading through the decades. He became regarded as the leading exponent and senior figurehead of the Solonese kroncong style, which is now regarded as a respectable, even somewhat starchy and dated style, well and truly assimilated from its humble and scandalous prior associations^[3].

In 1991, a group of appreciative Japanese war veterans arranged for a life-sized statue of Gesang to be erected in a Surakarta park, to mark their respects for the composer of the tune that had managed to cross the cultural barriers of wartime^[4]. 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The city of Solo, formally known as Surakarta, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Yogyakarta and slightly further southeast of Semarang in Java, Indonesia, was a center of power during the Mataram Kingdom. ...

References

1. ^  Asian Economic News, 1999
2. ^  Ibid.
3. ^  Indonesia Music- kroncong
4. ^  Asian Economic News, op. cit.