Not many people noticed that the Dutch colonization benefitted the Indonesian music culture by introducing indonesian music into the world of classical music. The opera, ATTIMA, ‘een Javaanse Liefdestragedie’ (A Javanese Love Tragedy) is a brilliant opera full of acculturation between eastern and western cultures. The music and libretto are created by Constant van de Wall, a Dutch composer who is very much inspired by the sound of gamelan and Indonesian typical pentatonic harmonization.
This opera is set in Java, where Attima, a Javanese dancer, is in love with Armand, a young french military officer. However, Kartono, one of the dancers in Attima’s gamelan group, also has feelings for her. He tries hard to ingratiate Attima in many ways. Eventually, she decides to leave the group for the sake of her beloved Armand. Kartono’s broken heart turns into a grudge. Another dancer from the group, Aissa, who loves Kartono, persuades him to kill Armand with a Keris (a dagger) she offered to him. He succeeds, and the desperate Attima suddenly stabs herself with the Keris, ending the opera with the tragic deaths of the two lovers.
Constant van de Wall (1871-1945), was born and raised in Surabaya, Indonesia. He spent his youth in Semarang, and became a ‘world citizen’ later on, where he and his wife, Maria van Noppen, a singer, travelled between Asia and Europe. Van de Wall studied music at the Hague, and then at Berlin Conservatory. In 1906, he was listed by the media as one of the most promising Dutch composers of the era.
One newspaper also showered praise by saying that his music is very original, filled with universal force, and also with aesthetic appeal. Van de Wall wrote many works in Indonesian and Malay music styles (or so-called Indië at that time) like Herinneringen uit Java, Javaanse Rhapsodie, Een Wajang-Legende (Ardjoena Huweelijkfeest), Tropennacht, Mohammedaans Gebed, and also an opera, ATTIMA, based on Javanese culture. He also dedicated one of his composition, Maleische Liederen for one of the legendary dutch classical singer, Tilly Koenen. Because of his fascination of Eastern culture, van de Wall was given the title: “Componist tussen Oost en west” (composer between east and west).
ATTIMA (means “heart” and “gold”), was first premiered on January 8, 1917, in Theatre Royal de l’Opera Francais de La Haye (de La Haye means Den Haag in that period), and was performed again in Koninklijke Schouwburg van Den Haag several years later. There are records of this opera being performed in Batavia, Indonesia, in 1922, but it was never mentioned exactly where. In 2009, I witnessed the reprise of ATTIMA at the Royal Schouwburg van Den Haag, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pasar Malam Besar in Den Haag. Pasar Malam Besar has been held since 1958 for people in the Netherlands to enjoy Indonesia’s cultural attractions such as traditional dances and gamelan performances, as well as Indonesian cuisines.
The composer included some traditional Javanese dance cycles, such as Dewi Sri dance (a type of harvest dance), which was cleverly combined with western music elements. What I found unique in ATTIMA, was how van de Wall created a story within story of the opera itself. In the Javanese dance sequence, van de Wall included some theatrical dance choreography which has a similar storyline to the Attima opera, which is about a princess who was plagued by evil demons, and then rescued by a prince and his Arabic friend. But the princess chooses not to be with the prince but his friend, whom the princess abandons later for a French soldier. Unfortunately the dance suddenly stops to represent the storm which destroyed the princess wedding with the French soldier.
The music itself is similar to Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, with lyrical romantic melodies that was the typical of late romantic opera. Both works were written in early 1900s, and both works had heavy influence from Eastern music.
ATTIMA is definitely not an ordinary opera. With the combination between unique eastern and western ambience, this opera managed to get the title, “The only ‘Indische’ opera written before 1945″. With so many opera company directors who were present last time in the reprise at the Pasar Malam Besar, I hope that ATTIMA could get a chance to be performed again on a larger scale, so that its popularity can be equated with romantic Verdi or Puccini opera. It is indeed a pride to see our culture showcased on an international stage.
Utrecht, June 5th 2011
Written and edited for the European art and music history class of Utrecht Conservatory.
