The Story of a Living Legend
THIS is the story of Javanese gending (musical composition for gamelan), of Ki Tjokrowasito, a maestro who turned 100 last week. Tjokrowasito is a relatively unknown personality to the general public. But his tracks are firmly impressed on Javanese campursari, in the traditional songs played on the popular solo organ in the villages, in the humorous tembang sung between goro-goro scenes in the wayang play and in karawitan carrying messages of development on the radio. Tjokrowasito befriended John Cage, Steve Reich, Morton Feldman, Yoko Matsuda, and Lou Harrison, a veritable Who's Who of avant garde music in the world. He's the man who brought gamelan out of the Javanese courts to the villages and beyond to the outside world. Who is Tjokrowasito? What has he done? And what is the significance of his contributions to contemporary music? TEMPO retraces the life and achievements of this man called a "living legend."
August 3, 2004
SUDDENLY the shriveled body moved as if receiving new life. Until 2pm that afternoon he was still lying on a bed, an empty chamber pot on the floor. He couldn't rise and leave the room, the bones having been weakened by old age. Only with help could he sit up with difficulty. His eyes were half closed.
A miracle happened. As soon as the sounds of the gamelan reached his ears, his body suddenly came alive as if injected with energy. His hands
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