The Aesthetics of Surakarta Palace’s Karawitan According to Serat

a Lecturer of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No. 36 A Surakarta 57126 Indonesia b Professor of Karawitan Department, ISI Surakarta, Jl. Ki Hadjar Dewantoro No. 19 Surakarta 57126, Indonesia c Doctor of Philosophy, Ethnomusicology Department, ISI Surakarta, Jl. Ki Hadjar Dewantoro No. 19 Surakarta 57126, Indonesia 1 jokodaryanto@staff.uns.ac.id*; 2 toporus19@gmail.com; 3 bsunarto432@gmail.com


Introduction
Aesthetics is about whether or not something is beautiful. The parameters of beauty apply in social artworks or the universe. However, the generally accepted parameters of beauty remain unidentified to date. Many theories are talking about the parameters of beauty. Aesthetics is originally from the Greek aesthesis, which means observation. In general, aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that talks about beauty. The object of aesthetics is the observation of beauty. Aesthetics tries to find the essence of beauty and forms of experience on beauty, such as physical, spiritual beauty, natural, and artistic beauty (Surajiyo 2005, 101). Aesthetics is a part of philosophy about values and judgments that view human works from the perspective of whether something is beautiful and not. Beautiful and not beautiful is a dichotomous couple. What necessarily matters is sensing or perception that gives rise to pleasure and comfort on one side, displeasure and discomfort on the other.
Serat Sri Karongron was written in 1912 by R. Ng. Purbadipura during the reign of Paku Buwana X. Serat Sri Karongron describes each ceremony and gamelan instruments used in the Surakarta Palace. The ceremonies involving karawitan are the confrontation (pasewakan) ceremony, the celebration of Garebeg Besar, a celebration of Garebeg Mulud, the commemoration of Tingalan Dalem Pawukon, the celebration of Dalem Tetesan, klenengan, the visit of Paku Buwana X to Yogyakarta Palace, the welcoming ceremony from Germany, welcoming of Patih Danureja, and the farewell and welcoming ceremonies of Prince Hangabehi. At a certain pupuh, Purbadipura talks about the aesthetics of the karawitan in the Surakarta Palace.

Karawitan in the Reign of Paku Buwana X
Paku Buwana X ruled between 1893-1939. During this period, he made a significant contribution to the development of the Surakarta Palace's theater. Pressure from the Netherlands caused the king's political power to decrease, and setbacks in the economic field make the culture (including karawitan) the only power the king had. Through cultural symbols, the king could still play his role, and implicitly used them as a weapon against the Dutch government. Thus, even though the political and economic power of the king was reduced, even lost, it does not mean that his power was over. Paku Buwana X still had cultural symbols that could strengthen his position as a ruler (Kuntowijoyo 2003). Cultural symbols such as pesanggrahan (resting place), heirlooms, buildings, various performing arts, and attributes of the king's greatness received special attention. They became the only choice to maintain authority and the power of the king because there was no other choice until Paku Buwana X placed great importance on the cultural symbols (Kuntowijoyo 2003).
The choice of Paku Buwana X by empowering various cultural symbols of the palace has a positive impact on the development and progress of karawitan other than as a symbol of resistance to the policy of the Dutch colonial government. The policy of Paku Buwana to empower the cultural symbols of the palace caused the life of karawitan at that time to experience enlightenment in various ways both in terms of creation, work, and presentation. In other words, the karawitan life reached its peak of glory and gold during the reign of Paku Buwana X. The peak of the glory and golden life of karawitan during the reign of Paku Buwana X was marked by the special attention to the various works of gendhing (song), the pattern of playing instruments, as well as the development of wilet (Waridi 2006, 12).
(The sound produced is so beautiful, the listeners do not see who is playing, all the beauty permeates the heart like ice water with rose syrup, three forms come together into one place, which is so pleasant) The above excerpt states that the beauty of karawitan presentation is like the unification of three elements, namely water, ice, and syrup, which causes the feeling of Seger sumyah for those who drink the rose syrup ice. Seger sumyah implies something that can make someone feel happy because it refers to a good/delicious taste. This refers to the meaning of Seger, which is tasty, fresh, delicious, and healthy (Prawiroatmodjo 1981, 180).
Pupuh Mijil in Serat Sri Karongron mentioned that there is room to present karawitan with gobyog nuances. One verse of Pupuh Mijil reads that the gobyog presentation is presented without forgetting the ethics and aesthetics of the karawitan that has been agreed upon in the karawitan of the Surakarta Palace environment. The following is the excerpt about gobyog karawitan presentation: Saya suwé panabuhé sami, uyek muyek gobyog, gebyagané tan sora swarané, rempeg rampak kabèh mung jinawil, sajanturing ringgit, karasa ngesipun (Purbadipura 1981, 84).
(The longer the karawitan presentation is, the more rousing it becomes, gobyog, even so, it does not sound so loud, but rampak is still heard that makes its beauty of the sound still felt) The above excerpt implies that the aesthetics of karawitan during the reign of Paku Buwana X was more about the aesthetics of gobyog karawitan. The aesthetics of karawitan composition with the nuances of gobyog in Serat Sri Karongron is explicitly like the atmosphere when someone us drinking red syrup ice like the excerpt of Pupuh Dhuhhanggula, mung krasa Seger sumyah (it feels fresh and pleasant). Listening to klenengan is like the feeling of Seger sumyah like drinking syrup ice. The aesthetics of Seger Sumyah karawitan and the provision of space for living and development of karawitan composition with nuances of gobyog show that the aesthetics of Seger sumyah karawitan leads to the composition of karawitan with gobyog nuances.
(The longer the karawitan presentation is, the more rousing it becomes, gobyog, even so, it does not sound so loud, but rampak is still heard that makes its beauty of the sound still felt) From the above excerpt, the three indicators of gobyog karawitan composition in the Paku Buwana X's reign were found, namely tan sora swarané, rempeg rampak kabèh mung jinawil, and sajanturing ringgit. The concept of karawitan aesthetics, according to Serat Sri Karongron, can be seen in Figure  1.

Tan Sora Swaranira
Tan sora swaranira indicates the sound of the playing that is not too loud, and the volume tends to be of the alus level. Alus culture is enlivened and develops in the Surakarta Palace as the Javanese people generally idolize it. Classical karawitan, which is one of the products of Javanese culture, has a system and rules that are understood by the karawitan community as musical laws which have alus characteristics. We can say that karawitan reflects Javanese culture, which idolizes alus culture (Waridi 2006, 72). Karawitan, as a manifestation of alus culture, is enlivened and develops in the palace environment, which is considered a source of alus culture. The culture of the palace, classified as alus culture, is full of complex and complicated symbols, which is inherited by the nobles and the royal society. The alus culture, which is full of complex symbols, is a natural representation of the thoughts of the king and the nobles. Umar Kayam depicts with the sentence in the gedhe krajan as the King sitting on the throne, who becomes the center of the whole cosmos and creates subtle artistic and cultural expressions (Kayam 1981, 26). Thus, it is not so surprising that karawitan, which is a representation of alus culture, is enlivened and develops in the palace. As the palace karawitan is a representation of the king's mind, which eventually produces alus culture, the palace karawitan as the mainstream of the palace culture becomes a reference for complex and soft karawitan composition.

Rampak-Rempeg
The primary medium of karawitan is sound. The medium means the raw material in the form of sound that is used as a tool or means to express the soul experience or for the musician's selfexpression, which is manifested in a gendhing. These sound elements are processed in such a way to produce a series of sounds according to what the musicians want. These elements are the long-short sound, high-low sound, and timbre. Furthermore, the series of sounds will be a tangle of rhythmic sounds. Rhythm is an essential element in music. In the context of karawitan presentation, the presentation of gendhing will not sound well if it is not presented with a good rhythm. Gendhing instrument playing is deformed if it does not sound rhythmic, in Javanese called ora irama (not rhythmic). The rhythm is the breath of gendhing. It is what makes gendhing as it is or comes alive (Supanggah 2002, 129). Surakarta's traditional style of karawitan places rhythm as the essential element in a gendhing presentation. In the presentation of gendhing, the rhythm is led by the kendang (drum) as the pamurba irama that is responsible for regulating the breath of gendhing and, at the same time, giving life to the gendhing. In carrying out its duties, kendang is played together with the fiddle that acts as pamurba yatmaka or leader of the soul, the pure spirit of gendhing. The fiddle is the soul or the character of gendhing. At the same time, kendang is more about the physical or physical aspect of gendhing, which involves the dynamics of the feeling of gendhing (Supanggah 2002, 130).
Kendang, as a leader in the karawitan or pamurba irama, has a different role from the conductor. In leading karawitan presentation, kendang has a role more as a pamong or aligner. The kendang player gives not only the signal as the conductor, but also an example of how loud the kendang hitting should be, how complicated the playing pattern should be and how fast the tempo is developed. Other instruments will follow the gradation of volume, complexity, and speed chosen by the kendang. In this case, it is not allowed that one instrument overlaps the other (in Javanese, nyilep) or drowns out the volume of their partner's playing, especially nyilep kendang. The karawitan tradition does not recognize self-prominence in its presentation. A kendang player must be able to lead his friends so that there is no chaotic volume in the karawitan presentation.
The harmony of the gendhing presentation becomes the full responsibility of the player so that the gendhing presentation will reach the level of rampak and rempeg. Both karawitan aesthetics terms are the primary demands that must be fulfilled in a karawitan presentation. Rampak is an aesthetic demand that is closely related to togetherness in playing the instrument associated with the elements of speed or time. Rempeg is about the sense of togetherness in playing that relates to the elements of volume, space, or dynamics (Supanggah 2002, 124). Rampak and Rempeg are not only about being together in volume and speed, but also about the dynamics presented by each instrument. Each player makes the dynamics of the karawitan tradition through the playing of instruments, which are their responsibility. Supanggah stated that the kendang player could someday become a musician as well as a playmaker, even as a general, but he must still be able to act as a moderator, pemomong (caretaker and role model) by participating in playing (ngayahi, nglakoni) while taking into account the capacity, abilities, and skills of his fellow players. The kendang player must also be responsible for the rampak and rempeg of the kendang hitting by observing the context of the place, function, and time at the time the karawitan presentation is performed (Supanggah 2002, 132).

Sajanturing Ringgit
Sajanturing ringgit refers to one part of the purwa puppet performance. In the Surakarta purwa puppet performance, there is a section to describe the setting or atmosphere of the scene. In other words, in the purwa puppet performance, there is a dramatic structure in the presentation of the play. The dramatic structure of the one-night puppet show is a sequence of scenes from the beginning (jejer) to the end (tanceb kayon), which contains the core story in each scene and is presented in three parts, namely, pathet nem, pathet sanga, and pathet manyura. In each pathet, there are dramatic elements in the form of catur, janturan, pocapan, sabet, and the karawitan of the puppet show, which includes sulukan and gendhing (Sarwanto 2008, 173).
Janturan contains a description of the scene, both the atmosphere and the setting. Sarwanto defines janturan in full as the puppeteer's discourse in the form of a description of the ongoing scene situation. In this janutran, the puppeteer usually describes the place setting, time setting, atmosphere, greatness, and merit of a character along with interpretations of meaning accompanied by gendhing sirepan illustrations (Sarwanto 2008, 181). In his definition of janturan, Sarwanto mentions the word gendhing sirepan. Gendhing sirepan presentation does not involve all the ricikan in one set of gamelan. Ricikan involved in gendhing sirepan is fiddle ricikan, kendang ageng or kendang Sabet, gender barung, slenthem, gong, kenong, and kethuk. The involvement of several instructions in gendhing sirepan shows that in gendhing sirepan does not require a hard volume of hitting. However, the essence of gendhing to be still visible with the emergence of the ricikan garap ngajeng groups, namely fiddle and gender barung, the structural ricikan group of kethuk, kenong kendang, and the group of ricikan balungan represented by slenthem. In general, gendhing sirepan presented already represents the full form of the presentation because the three ricikan groups, ricikan garap, structural ricikan, and ricikan balungan, are present gendhing sirepan presentation.

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The complete musical presentation marked by the presence of all the ricikan in one set of gamelan instruments will come to the level of nges as written in the last gatra or line of the excerpt of Tembang Mijil stanzas, kerasa ngesipun if the sound produced by the ricikan that presents the gendhing sirepan is heard or is not covered by the sound produced by other ricikan. The word ngesipun is tembung andhahan, in Indonesian referred to as an affixed word which comes from the root word nges. In the terminology, it is the art of karawitan. Nges is related to harmony, namely the musical taste that combines the elements in karawitan, including the hitting technique, patterns, rhythms and laya, laras, pathet, conventions, and dynamics.

Conclusion
The aesthetics of karawitan in Surakarta Palace comes from a variety of sources, both oral and written. One of the written sources is Serat Sri Karongron, written by Purbadipura during the reign of Paku Buwana X. Purbadipura reported that during the reign of Paku Buwana X, the creativity in karawitan flourished. Besides, several stanzas in Serat Sri Karongron talk about the aesthetics of karawitan. The aesthetics of the Surakarta Palace's karawitan during the reign of Paku Buwana X, according to Serat Sri Karongron, is explicitly like the atmosphere of the feeling of someone drinking red syrup ice that makes him feel Seger sumyah. Three indicators of the aesthetics of Seger sumyah karawitan manifested by gobyog karawitan composition during the reign of Paku Buwana X were found; they are tan sora swarané, rempeg rampak kabèh mung jinawil, and sajanturing ringgit.