Latest / Majapahit: The Empire That Once Ruled Indonesia — Fexingo History / Majapahit's Gamelan: The Music of an Empire
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- Lucas: We've talked a lot about Majapahit's power — the navy, the rice terraces, the palace intrigues — but one thing we haven't touched is what it sounded like. The music of the empire. Luna: Oh, I hadn't thought of that. What did Majapahit sound like? Lucas: The word 'gamelan' probably comes to mind, and for good reason. The gamelan orchestra — with its bronze gongs, metallophones, and drums — was already well developed by the Majapahit period. We have evidence from temple reliefs and a few textual hints. Luna: Is that from the Negarakertagama? Lucas: Exactly. Mpu Prapanca describes royal processions with music — the sound of gongs and drums accompanying the king. He even mentions specific instruments like the 'gong' and 'kenong', though the exact terminology is debated. The Negarakertagama also describes a performance of dance and music at the royal palace in Trowulan during a grand feast. Luna: So the court had an orchestra? Like a full ensemble? Lucas: It seems so. The reliefs at Candi Sukuh and Candi Brahu show musicians holding what look like small gongs and drums. But we have to be careful — the earliest explicit descriptions of a complete gamelan come from later Mataram sources. Still, the continuity is striking. The bronze smithing techniques used for Majapahit's keris, for example, are closely related to those used for gamelan instruments. Luna: The same artisans made both? Lucas: Very likely. The empu — the master smiths — worked in bronze and iron. The same lost-wax casting method that produced a keris with intricate pamor could produce a gong with a specific resonant pitch. Both objects were considered pusaka — heirlooms with spiritual power. A gamelan set was not just an orchestra; it was a sacred ensemble. Luna: I've heard about the 'gamelan sekati' — the set played only during special occasions. Lucas: Right. The Gamelan Sekati is traditionally associated with the Wali Songo — the nine saints who spread Islam in Java. But its origins are older. The word 'sekati' itself may come from 'sekati' or 'sakti', meaning sacred power. The Wali Songo adapted existing gamelan traditions for Islamic festivals. Sunan Bonang, one of the saints, is said to have composed pieces using the gamelan to attract people to Islamic teachings. Luna: So the music changed as the religion changed? Lucas: Partly. But the core instruments remained. The bronze gong, the bonang — a set of small gongs — the saron, a metallophone. These are the same types found in modern Javanese and Balinese gamelan. Majapahit's influence spread these instruments across the Nusantara. We find gamelan in Bali, Lombok, Sumatra, even in parts of Borneo. Luna: So the gamelan was part of the empire's soft power — diplomacy through music? Lucas: Absolutely. Sending a gamelan set as a gift was a mark of high honour. It's recorded that Majapahit sent musicians and instruments to allied kingdoms. The sound of the gamelan was the sound of Majapahit civilization — ordered, refined, powerful. And it was deeply tied to the court's legitimacy. Lucas: Speaking of legitimacy — I want to take one quick honest moment here. This show is completely ad-free, and that's only possible because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small group, but it's what funds making episodes like this one. Luna: Yeah, and we really appreciate it. It keeps us free to explore these corners of history without any commercial pressure. Lucas: Right. So now back to the music — because there's a mystery about the gamelan's role in Majapahit that I find fascinating. Luna: What's that? Lucas: The Negarakertagama mentions a specific composition called 'Ladrang' — a piece played at court. But we don't know what it sounded like. The notation system for gamelan didn't exist yet; it was an oral tradition. So the actual melodies of Majapahit are lost. We can only infer their structure from later written sources, like the treatises from the Mataram period. Luna: So we know the instruments, but not the songs? Lucas: Exactly. And that's partly because the gamelan was considered sacred — the knowledge was passed down within families of musicians, often secretly. The tuning systems, the modes — these were not written down. But archaeologists have found bronze gongs and metallophones in Trowulan, some dating to the 14th century. Lucas: One particularly famous find is the 'Gong Waning', a large gong believed to be from the Majapahit period, now kept in a museum in Surakarta. It's still considered pusaka by the Solo court. So the tradition is unbroken, even if the melodies are lost. Luna: So the gamelan today is a direct descendant of what Majapahit would have heard? Lucas: Yes. The oldest surviving gamelan sets in Java — like the Gamelan Munggang from the 12th century — predate Majapahit, but the Majapahit period codified the orchestra. The court of Hayam Wuruk likely had multiple gamelan sets, each with a different tuning for different rituals. There was even a special set called the 'Gamelan Kangjeng Kyai', reserved for the most sacred ceremonies. Luna: Were there female musicians? Or was it all men? Lucas: The Negarakertagama mentions female dancers and singers, but the instrumentalists were likely male — at least in the court. However, in village traditions, women played a role. The gender division wasn't as strict as in later periods. The reliefs at Candi Brahu show both men and women holding instruments. Lucas: One more thing: the gamelan wasn't just for entertainment. It was part of statecraft. The sound of the gong marked the hours of the day and night in Trowulan. The court used specific pieces to signal the king's movements — his waking, his audiences, his meals. The music was the heartbeat of the empire. Luna: So when the empire fell, the music fell silent too? Lucas: Not entirely. The gamelan tradition survived in the countryside and in the courts of later kingdoms like Demak and Mataram. But the specific Majapahit court repertoire was lost. What we hear today as 'gamelan' is a later development, but it carries echoes of that earlier world — the bronze, the tuning, the sacred function. Lucas: And that's what makes studying Majapahit so haunting — we can see the instruments, we know the names of the pieces, but we'll never hear them. The sound of the empire is gone. Luna: That's a beautiful and sad thought. Lucas: It is. But the fact that we're still talking about it, that musicians today still play gamelan, means something of Majapahit lives on. Every time a gong is struck, you're hearing a tradition that Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada would have recognized.