Indonesia Raya is the national anthem of the Republic of Indonesia. This song was first introduced by its composer, Wage Rudolf Soepratman, on October 28, 1928 during the Second Youth Congress in Batavia. This song marks the birth of a nationalist movement across the archipelago in Indonesia that supports the idea of one “Indonesia” as the successor to the Dutch East Indies, rather than being split into several colonies. The first Stanza from Indonesia Raya was chosen as the national anthem when Indonesia declared its independence on 17 August 1945.
Indonesia Raya is played at a flag ceremony. The Indonesian flag is raised solemnly and with movements arranged so that the flag reaches the top of the flagpole when the song ends. The main flag ceremony is held annually on 17 August to commemorate Indonesia’s independence day. This ceremony is chaired by the President of Indonesia. Everyone who is present when the National Anthem is played or sung, must stand upright and respectfully.
When publishing Indonesia Raya in 1928, Wage Rudolf Soepratman clearly wrote “the national anthem” under the title Indonesia Raya. The text of the song Indonesia Raya was first published by the Sin Po newspaper, while the first recording was owned by a businessman named Yo Kim Tjan.
After being announced in 1928 in front of the participants of the Second Youth Congress on a violin, the Dutch East Indies colonial government immediately prohibited the mention of the national anthem for Greater Indonesia. Even so, the youths were not afraid. They sing the song saying “Your Highness, Your Highness!” (not “Merdeka, Merdeka!”) in the chorus. However, they still consider the song as the national anthem. Furthermore, the song Indonesia Raya is always sung at every meeting of political parties. After Indonesia’s independence, the song was designated as the National anthem symbolizing national unity.
However, when explaining the results of the controversial 2006 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) and in the 1990s compass, Remy Sylado, a culturalist and senior Indonesian artist, said that the song Indonesia Raya was a plagiarism of a song composed in the 1600s entitled Lekka Lekka. Pinda Pinda. Kaye A. Solapung, a music observer, responded to Remy’s writing in Kompas dated December 22, 1991. He said that Remy was merely repeating Amir Pasaribu’s accusations in the 1950s. He also said by quoting Amir Pasaribu that in music literature, there was the song Lekka Lekka Pinda Pinda in the Netherlands, as well as Boola-Boola in the United States. Solapung then dissected the songs. According to him, the songs Boola-boola and Lekka Lekka are not exactly the same as Indonesia Raya, with only the same eight beats. Likewise with the use of distinctly different chords. So, he concluded that Indonesia Raya was not plagiarized.
Manuscript in the newspaper Sin Po (1928)
The song Indonesia Raya was created by WR Supratman and was first announced in public at the Youth Congress on October 28, 1928 in Jakarta (at the age of 25 years), and disseminated by the Sin Po newspaper in the November 1928 edition. The manuscript was written by WR Supratman on a Tone Scale. C (natural) and with notes Djangan Terlaloe Tjepat, while in other sources WR Supratman has written on the G scale (according to the general ability of people to sing in the range a – e) and with the rhythm of Marcia, Jos Cleber (1950) wrote in Maestoso rhythm con bravura (metronome speed 104).
Original recording (1950) and rerecord (1997)
Original recordings from Jos Cleber since 1950 from the Jakarta Philharmonic Orchestra are played stereo sound recording in Bandar Lampung since the inauguration by President Soeharto since January 1, 1992 and re-recorded digitally in Australia since the May 1998 Riots arranged by Jos Cleber stored in RRI Jakarta by the Victoria Philharmonic Orchestra under the conductor by Addie Muljadi Sumaatmadja in collaboration with the Twilite Orchestra, which was set for the debut album by Simfoni Negeriku which lasted 1-minute 47-second.
Source : wikipedia
