Ensemble Tanjidor

For male participants. "Tanjidor band", consisting here of trumpet, saxophone, trombone, clarinet, horn, bass, cymbal and kettle drum. Tanjidor takes its name from the Portuguese word tangedor (player), a derivative of tanger meaning 'to make a twang' (as on the guitar). The Portuguese, from the sixteenth century, were a prevailing colonial influence in Indonesia until the Dutch took over a century later. In the Dutch colonial period, like in post-Independence times, tanjidor was usually associated with outdoor music appropriate to a procession and or military display, the kind of music played by brass bands. In this image, the tanjidor band 'Corps Pemuda Tkt I DKI' is playing at a wedding. (For more information, see Ernst Heins, "Kroncong and Tanjidor - Two Cases of Urban Folk Music in Jakarta" in Asian Music, 7/1, Southeast Asia Issue (1975), pp. 20-32; also Philip Yampolsky, "Betawi & Sundanese Music of the North Coast of Java: Topeng Betawi, Tanjidor, Ajeng", CD 5, Washington DC: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)

Copyright 1988. Notes prepared by Bronia Kornhauser with Margaret Kartomi, School of Music-Conservatorium, Monash University. Photography by Hidris Kartomi.