Krontjong Toegoe

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Krontjong Toegoe is a kroncong ensemble from Tugu, an old district in the north of Jakarta. The name belongs to a community with a long history. In 1661 the Dutch East India Company freed Portuguese prisoners and slaves from Goa in Kampung Tugu, on condition that they convert from Catholicism to Protestantism. Their descendants preserved the music that the Portuguese sailors had brought with them.

Music and breakthrough

That music is called kroncong. The name probably comes from the jangling sound of the accompaniment. A kroncong orchestra usually consists of two ukulele-like small guitars, a cello, a guitar and a bass. The ukuleles play interlocking rhythms, somewhat as in a gamelan, while the singing or melody moves more calmly above them. In this way an Indonesian musical tradition arose on European instruments.

Influence

The melancholy mood of unamplified kroncong resembles that of Portuguese fado. The Tugu ensemble has kept the tradition alive and has performed, among other places, at the Pasar Malam Besar in The Hague, a well-known festival of the Indo-Dutch community. Many young Indonesians now regard kroncong as old-fashioned folk music, but since 2016 the genre has been recognised as part of Indonesia's national intangible cultural heritage. The ensemble shows how Portuguese, Dutch and Indonesian influences come together in a single sound.

Listening

• 
  Kr. Padang Bulan · Krontjong Toegoe, 2006
  Apple Music ↗

See also

• Krontjong