Gamelan music and Oud, a traditional Turkish musical instrument, echoed in the “Turkish Classical Music Monophonic Concert” concert at the Makara Art Center Auditorium, University of Indonesia (MAC UI). MAC UI presented a monophonic performance of traditional Turkish musical instruments by Prof. Mustafa Hilmi Bulut from Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey and gamelan performances from the Gamelan Team, Faculty Humanity Universitas Indonesia (FIB UI). The concert was also broadcast online through MAC Universitas Indonesia’s official Youtube account. Prof. Bulut is a professor at Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey. His scientific work has been presented at symposiums that took place in Turkey, Poland, America, Ukraine, to Hong Kong. Besides being active in the academic field, Prof. Bulut is active in the music world—as evidenced by the Cunhuriyet University hymn composed by him. Prof. Bulut holds many music concerts, both nationally and internationally. The music concerts held were not only in the form of traditional Turkish music, but also Western music.
According to Prof. Bulut, a traditional Turkish instrument, is unique, including the Turkish Maqam. Turkish Maqam is a type of melody used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. “There is a complex set of rules for every composition and performance. Each maqam determines a unique intervalic structure in the development of the melody,” said Prof. Bulut.
Head of MAC UI, Dr. Ngatawi Al-Zastrouw, S.Ag., M.Sc., warmly welcomed the arrival of Prof. Feathers in the Universitas Indonesia. In his opening remarks, Dr. Zastrow hopes that this event can be a place for cultural collaboration between the two universities. “Through this event, we can deepen Indonesia-Turkey relations and build communication bridges for the communities within them,” said Dr. Zastrouw.
The concert began with the appearance of the Universitas Indonesia Faculty of Humanity Gamelan Team who performed the traditional song “Talu Burdah”. This song displays the nuances of acculturating Javanese and Islamic cultures which contains dhikr to remember divine values. Head of the Center for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (PPKB FCS) Universitas Indonesia, Dr. Ari Prasetyo, said that art is a beautiful culture. The beauty of art is universal so there is no right or wrong word in art.
“There is no right or wrong dialogue in music. Both traditional Javanese music and traditional Turkish music, both are beautiful so that they can be combined as a medium to convey goodness. MAC Universitas Indonesia and PPKB Faculty of Humanity Universitas Indonesia through cultural performances continue to try to eliminate intolerance in society,” said Dr. Ari who is also the supervisor of the Javanese Gamelan UKM, Sekar Widya Makara Universitas Indonesia.
Pertunjukan gamelan ini dilanjutkan dengan penampilan musik dari Prof. Bulut. Dengan diiringi petikan Oud, Prof. Bulut memainkan lima lagu dengan musik khas Turki, yaitu Çârgâh maqam, Bûselik maqam, Rast maqam, Uşşâk maqam, dan Acem maqam. Lantunan nada khas Timur Tengah yang unik dan jarang didengar di Indonesia ini mampu mengambil atensi para penonton.
At the end of the event which was attended by Universitas Indonesia academics on Wednesday (20/07), Prof. Bulut collaborated with the Universitas Indonesia Gamelan Team to sing a song from Turkey. The calm and harmonious expression that results from the harmony of gamelan and Oud music seems to describe the collaboration of two countries. The collaborative action of these two cultures also received high appreciation from the audience. Some of the audience even did a standing ovation.
