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Nicolas: Musical Terms in Malay Literature NSC Working Paper No. 24
in the hands of a few musicians and aristocrats, hence limited as well in the styles, the
instrumentation, the creation of new melodies and pieces, and the more crucial task of
handing down to a new generation an oral tradition among the musicians, dancers, and
their audiences. What perhaps differentiated the Malay sultanates from Java, Thailand,
Cambodia or Laos was the role of the court in directing the path of artistic development in
the area. The Malay naubat diraja remained within the confines of the Malay courts, and
was never imitated or duplicated outside it (for it was in the first place, of foreign origin,
hence the difficulty in imitation and spread), with the surrounding villages practicing a
music of diverse types: Javanese, Minangkabau, Achenese, Bugis, and Thai, in addition to
which are the rich traditions of the Chinese and Indians, played during important religious
and cyclical rites. The absence of one strong Malay court centre or cultural centre from
where diffusion of musical and artistic ideas can germinate and spread is a consequence
of the conglomerated character of the Malay sultanates—a cluster or network of eight
sultanates in West Malaysia and Brunei.
From Bunyi-Bunyian to Nobat: Conversion to Islam
The Sultanates of West Malaysia, Sumatra and Brunei adapted the nobat as state regalia
and as court music upon or ater the conversion of the monarchs to Islam. It is interesting
to note that all these kingdoms spoke and wrote in classical Malay, and ater the conversion
and the transformation of former Hindu or local kingdoms, chiefdoms or polities into
sultanates, the attributes of court power and the accompanying musical shit were
borrowed partly from the Middle East, while retaining some aspects of their indigenous
and Indic-influenced past.
This is not the case with the sultanates of Maguindanao, Maranao, and Sulu in the
southern Philippines, where the kulintang music tradition maintained its importance in
courts and villages. The Javanese Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, ater conversion to Islam,
did not adopt the nobat. From the 16th century, gamelan ensembles in Java flourished,
developing into diverse types of music within the strong court centres. These types
remained exclusive to courts, but other types of musics and dances flourished in villages.
The gamelan sekaten today plays for a whole week during the celebration of Maulud
(Prophet Muhammad’s birthday) in the grand mosques of Surakarta and Jogyakarta’s
palaces.
In the Sejarah Melayu, gong ensembles and nobat ensembles are mentioned in
different contexts. This 17th century manuscript indicates that two types of musics were
played in the palace—an older gong ensemble and a new ensemble—nobat. Today, this is
replicated in the Terengganu palace, where the gamelan and the nobat are part of the state
regalia. The following passage refers to the term ‘gong’ in the Sejarah Melayu:
Sejarah Melayu 117:13: Maka bunyi-bunyian Melayu dengan bunyi-bunyian Jawa pun
bertarulah bunyinya; gong, gendang, serunai, nafiri, nagara, gendir, sambiannya, sekati,
kopak, ceracap, celimpong dan rebab, gelinang, suling, gambang, dandi, tiadalah
sangka bunyi lagi.
Thus, there were Malay musical instruments that clashed with the sounds of Javanese
musical instruments: gong, gendang, serunai, nafiri, nagara, gendir, sambiannya, sekati,
kopak, ceracap, celimpong dan rebab, gelinang, suling, gambang, dandi… (tr. Arsenio
Nicolas)
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