LAREH BODICANIAGO:POWER SYSTEMS AND THE CONCEPT OFBAGURAU SALUANG IN A STUDY OF MUSICAL AESTHETICS IN LUHAK NAN TIGO MINANGKABAU - INDONESIA

Abstract

The goal of this article is to discuss lareh bodicaniago: power systems and the concept of bagurausaluang in a study of musical aesthetics in Luhak Nan Tigo Minangkabau. Lareh bodicaniago is a form of representation of a power system – a democracy – initiated by the legendary figure Dt. Parpatiah Nan Sabatang. Bagurau (joking or jesting) describes the banter that takes place amongst a group of people as they chat and discuss various topics, interspersed with humour, packaged in the form of a poetic text known as pantun. The saluang is a musical instrument which falls into the classification of aerophones. It is a type of end-blown flute with four finger holes (giriak) that can produce 5 different pitches in a pentatonic scale and is played using a technique of circular breathing. Therefore, bagurausaluang means to joke around through a text of pantun that is packaged in an aesthetical manner in a traditional performance which is also often referred to as saluang-dendang. A traditional performance of saluang-dendang music is in strophic form, in which a particular melody is sung (didendangkan) over and over again by the dendang artist (tukang dendang) using different pantun texts. The musical aesthetics are concerned with the aesthetical principles that make up an important part of both the saluang and dendang parts in a bagurausaluang performance. A qualitative method was used as the basis for this research. The data was collected through participant observation, interviews, discussions, and analysis. The analysis was carried out descriptively using theoretical reasoning based on knowledge of aesthetics and art. The results of the research show that conceptually, bagurausaluang is a musical reality which represents lareh bodicaniago in Luhak Nan Tigo Minangkabau.

Keywords: Lareh Bodicaniago, power, bagurausaluang, musical aesthetics, Luhak Nan Tigo, Minangkabau.