The music of the ensemble Orang Génggong is concentrated on traditional music and dance from the Indonesian Archipelago. The musicians exclusively recite their compositions on traditional Indonesian musical instruments.
All musicians are natives from the Indonesian Islands, except one. They all now live in the Netherlands. The heart of the group consists of five members - its musical strength is variable and is adapted to the form of dance.

naga pencak silat  - kembangan

Beside the variety of Indonesian music styles, Orang Génggong features also the visual part of the traditional warrior dance of Java, the Naga Pencak Silat . At least one specialist for this warrior dance (guru) is connected to the music group, but the number of warrior dancers can be varied.

The represented dance is indigenous to Java and amplifies the old tradition of low combat positions. The cosmogony of the Naga Pencak Silat is centered into the kembangan, the cosmic flower. The kembangan is very important to the individual feigned combats. The dance may appear in the kembangan in a traditional or in a spiritual fashion.

génggong∙susap∙suling∙engung∙tarompet∙
bonang panerus∙gongs∙saron∙čiblon∙kěndang∙tifa

Among the melody- and percussioninstruments we'll find the unique presence of the wooden Jew's harp of the Indonesian islands Bali and Lombok, the génggong which gives the group its name. Beside this the susap will be played, an oblong bamboo wooden Jew's harp from Papua Niugini.

Orang Génggong makes use of windinstruments such as suling, a bamboo melodyflute from the Sunda lands, the Balinese one-tone-reed engung, the shawn from Java tarompet, and a hornpipe-looking reedinstrument that may be indigenous to the inlands of Sumatera.

Percussion can be heard on metallophones like bonang panerus (West-Java), hanging gongs for the metrical interpunction, and the saron (a seven keys metallophone). Percussion will also take place on drums: the čiblon, a belly-formed bilateral drum from West-Java, a kěndang from Bali and the tifa-drum from the Maluku Archipelago.

musicians

Dris Alexander (Sulawesi)
bonang panerus∙čiblon∙kěndang∙saron

Kelas van de Gruiter (Java)
čiblon∙génggong

Phons Bakx (Netherlands)
génggongs∙susap∙engung

Franky Berhitu (Maluku)
suling∙riet∙tifa∙génggong∙tarompet∙engung

dancer

André Kleeman (Java)
dance forms: naga pencak silat∙kembangan

Foundation Ujung∙Foundation Antropodium

The music group Orang Génggong proceede from the colaboration between Foundation Ujung and Foundation Antropodium since the year 1993.

Foundation Ujung
...is concentrating on the traditional backgrounds of Indonesian people living in Holland, specially on the experimental interpretation of music and dance.

Foundation Antropodium
...organizes events on selected themes and subjects of ethno-musicology, cultural history and cultural anthropology. Antropodium is publisher of literature and CD's on above-mentioned topics.

Information

Information about performances of Orang Génggong is available at

Stichting Antropodium
Lijsterbeslaan 19
4334 BM
Middelburg (NL)
tel. + +.31.118.624.934

e-mail: Orang Génggong