The Last Bastion of Blora’s ‘Kentrung’

Name: The Last Bastion of Blora’s ‘Kentrung’
Uploaded: 2021-06-24T02:09:39Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Kentrung is an oral art of narration presented by singing with tambourine accompaniment. In Blora, Yanuri, 57, is one of the last people safeguarding its survival.

Kentrung is an oral art of narration presented by singing with tambourine accompaniment. In Blora, Yanuri, 57, is one of the last people safeguarding its survival.

ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

· 5 minutes read

Kentrung in Central Java is threatened with extinction as only a handful of people are performing the art. In Blora, Yanuri, 57, is one of the last people safeguarding its survival.

Kentrung is an oral art of narration presented by singing with tambourine accompaniment. It serves as a means of communicating values, religious teachings and government development programs.

Yanuri demonstrated his kentrung performance with three tambourines when visited in the house of one of his nephews in Sendanggayam village, Blora, Central Java, on May 26. A tambourine was put on a chair, another laid on the floor and the biggest third one was placed on his lap.

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Adeptly, Yanuri’s left fingers beat the three tambourines alternately to produce rhythms. After an intro, he closed his eyes. A moment later, he was eloquently narrating. “Uluk salam miwah, ya mas. Bethari iman pelaku. Khalifah Allah sangate. Ya rahimin bumine Allah. Ya rahimin bumi kawulo. Nek kawulo, kawulo Allah. Kawulo sakdermo kondho. Kawulo sakdermo cinarito.”

The verses constitute a preliminary salutation to open an episode of the Babad Tanah Jawa (Chronicle of Java) recounting the Kingdom of Tuban under the reign of Adipati Wilwatikta. This story has frequently been narrated by Yanuri in his performances. Apart from this, he also tells the legends of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic proselytizers and other figures, which he has memorized very well.

“It [the story] depends on the request of the inviter and is adapted to where it is performed. During the show, some messages can also be slipped into it by the dalang [performer]. That dalang is me,” said Yanuri, who has undertaken the career once pursued by his father, Sutrisno.

Yanuri said his father formerly played five tambourines and then moved to three. According to Yanuri, philosophically, the five tambourines portray the five principles of the Pancasila state ideology. For Muslims, the five symbolize the five obligatory prayers a day.

Father’s footsteps

Yanuri said his father, who came from Gubug, Grobogan regency, began performing kentrung in the 1950s, after living in Demak regency. Yanuri started accompanying his father in the 1980s. His father never specifically taught him the art. He only learned by watching and listening stories narrated by his father while performing.

In the 1980s, continued Yanuri, many invitations came from other cities like Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Jakarta. “We used to go everywhere by bus. When we were invited to Semarang, we left at nine in the morning to get ourselves prepared. The performance normally lasted from evening to predawn,” recalled Yanuri.

He remembers well the times, when invited by government institutions, that his father slipped in “sponsored” messages related to development programs. The officials inviting him were delighted when such programs were referenced on stage.

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After Sutrisno’s death in 2003, Yanuri followed in his father’s footsteps as a kentrung performer. He said he often remembered his father and shed tears while narrating. “I remember my dad’s words, ‘If there’s any invitation, I will be able to perform,’” said Yanuri, who felt he had inherited his father’s special power of storytelling.

Yanuri usually appears at family events, government ceremonies or in neighboring houses where residents want to enjoy the show. In Blora, kentrung also has to do with vows and expressions of wishes. For instance, when somebody wishes to have a baby, a kentrung player will be invited.

Over the last ten years, noted Yanuri, the number of kentrung fans had been decreasing with the emergence of many alternative arts. In a month, there is sometimes more than one invitation; At other times, there are none at all. The remaining fans are mostly seniors.

Yanuri is paid around Rp 1 million for a show in Blora. He usually performs from about 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Especially among those making vows, there’s the tradition of bedah kupat, in which is extra money is presented in ketupat (rice cakes wrapped in coconut leaves). The amount depends on the inviter. Now Yanuri relies on people who invite him for their vows.

“In the past, many people invited me because they wanted to watch kentrung only. But today, most of them do it for entertaining certain wishes,” he said.