ISMAIL MARZUKI'S CENTENNIAL
A Short-Lived Maestro
Ismail Marzuki (1914-1958) died at the age of 44 from pleurisy.
During his life, the composer from Jakarta produced around 200 pieces of music whose themes range from nationalism to social critique to love. Even today, songs like Juwita Malam (Maiden of the Night) and Aryati still remain sweet to Indonesians' ears. May 11 marked Ismail's 100th birthday. An orchestra played his music to commemorate the event. In the following articles, Tempo traces Ismail's life, including the cause of his death.
Ismail's family believes his pleurisy worsened due a saxophone borrowed from a friend with which he often practiced.
Some also accused him of plagiarism.
May 20, 2014
Upon a sheet of A4 paper, a drawn woman appeared deep in thought. She wore a veil, but no smile on her lips, and her sobbing eyes stared at the petals spread on the ground before her. Beside her were sketched some musical notes. These were titled Goegoer Boenga di Taman Bakti (Falling Blossoms in the Battlefield).
The song is one of the late Ismail Marzuki's handwritten magnum opuses, the woman one of his sketches. The composer, one of Indonesia's
...