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SARIDJAH NIUNG (IBU SUD)
Place of Birth :Sukabumi, West Java
Date of birth : March 26, 1908
Died : Jakarta, May 26, 1993 (age 85) Grave : West Bandung, West Java / Menteng Pulo Cemetery, South Jakarta.
Saridjah Niung or Ibu Sud (read: Ibu Sud) was born as the youngest of twelve siblings. Her father, Mohamad Niung, was a sailor from Bugis who had long lived in Sukabumi and later became the bodyguard of Prof. Dr. J.F Kramer, and her mother, Saini. Kramer was an IndoNetherlands man of Javanese descent, a retired Deputy Chairman of the
Hoogerechtshof (High Prosecutor’s Office) in Jakarta at the time, who subsequently adopted Saridjah as a child.
Under Kramer’s guidance, Sarijah had the opportunity to learn about language, art, music, manners, etc. Sarijah’s musical talent was developed by Kramer who had an interest in music. At the age of 5, Sarijah could already play the violin. At the same age, she managed to get into HIS (Hollands Inlandse School) because of her good command of the Netherlands language.
Saridjah’s skills in music, especially playing the violin, were mostly learned from her adoptive father. After learning voice and music from her adoptive father, Saridjah continued her studies at the Hoogere Kweek School (HKS) in Bandung to deepen her knowledge in voice and music. After graduating, she taught in Batavia, at HIS Jaga Monyet and HIS Kartini Batavia. Then she also taught at HIS Kartini Surabaya because she followed her husband to a new assignment.
After marrying a businessman named Raden Bintang Sudibjo, in 1927, she was better known as Saridjah Niung Bintang Sudibjo, or Ibu Sud (short for Sudibjo). The young couple started their life in the city of Surabaya. Ibu Sud became the principal of Kartini School and lived in a boarding house with Ibu Noto, a woman from Solo. The closeness with the landlady resulted in a lot of knowledge. Mrs. Noto taught her songs and the Javanese language, as well as being the person who introduced her to batik.
Mrs. Sud remembers a moment in Surabaya when 100 Kartini school students welcomed the arrival of the Netherlands Governor General with the Kinanti Subakastawa song. The governor general was very fond of the choir that Mrs Sud raised.
Mrs. Sud’s songwriting and vocal skills were further honed when she returned to Jakarta and studied with Mrs. Kempers. This Netherlands woman had previously been a vocal teacher in Amsterdam. Cornell Simanjutak, Binsar Sitompul, Rosidi and Ismail Marzuki were among those who studied with Mrs. Kempers. With her friends, Ibu Sud formed a choir that once played at the Komidi building.
Until her old age, she still composed many children’s songs and taught the students of SD Pangudi Rahayu
Cijantung to sing. Finally, only death could stop Sarijah’s love for music. She passed away at her residence in
Cijantung, East Jakarta, on May 26, 1993 at around 05.00 WIB. Her body was buried in Menteng Pulo, South Jakarta.
Saridjah Niung or better known as Ibu Sud is an Indonesian musician, music teacher, children’s songwriter, radio announcer, playwright and batik artist. Also known as a musician of three eras, namely the Netherland, Japan and Indonesian independence era.
The songs created by Ibu Sud are thick with elements inherent in the world of children, namely joy, wild imagination, playfulness, and innocence.
Career Journey
As a teacher at the HIS (Netherlands school for native elementary school students) Jaga Monyet in Batavia
(Jakarta). He realized the difficulty of his students in learning to sing because of the language barrier. As Netherland colony, official schools established with the permission of the Netherland East Indies government had to follow the Netherland education curriculum and the language of instruction used was also Netherland. The students were required to sing Netherlands songs contained in the book “Kun je nong Zingzen, Zing and mee”. Mrs. Sud suspected the difficulty of the students in interpreting and absorbing the songs. In addition, the cultivation of love for the country should have been done from an early age. This was something that bothered Saridjah while teaching at HIS from 1925-1941.
Mrs. Sud’s background in creating songs for Indonesian children was because she was upset to see her students forced to sing Netherlands songs while at school. The students’ difficulty in appreciating the songs and the use of Netherlands as the language of instruction also motivated Saridjah to start composing children’s songs in Indonesian. Since then, Saridjah has tried to create songs that are close to daily life in Indonesia, such as about transportation, nature, culture, and others with educational values inserted.
The songs she composed were then taught to students. The gethok tular (word of mouth) culture that developed at that time helped the songs she composed to spread quickly. In addition, her work as a radio announcer gave Mrs Sud the opportunity to broadcast her songs. In 1928, her compositions were broadcast for the first time through children’s broadcasts on the Netherlands East Indies colonial government radio VORO (Vereniging voor Oosterse Radio Omroep). Some of his most popular songs were “Gembira song”, “Time for school to end” and “Adik starts walking”.
When she was active as a member of the Young Indonesia Organization in 1926, Mrs Sud also formed an Tonil Amatir group that performed to raise funds, and was used for Club Indonesia student lodging events. Her activities were not only prominent as a teacher and activist of youth organizations, but also as a nanny for children’s broadcasts (19271962).
Although she did not have a political background, during the struggle,
Saridjah remained active in the struggle with her colleagues. For example, when the Second Youth Congress on October 28, 1928 took place, Sarijah accompanied the song Indonesia Raya using a violin. The song was first sung during the Youth Pledge ceremony at the Youth Building. The patriotic songs she composed were inspired by the events that took place during that historic moment. During the years of struggle, Mrs Sud was also friends with Cornel Simanjuntak, Ismail Marzuki, Kusbini, and other nationalist figures.
During the Japan occupation, the songs written by Mrs Sud told more about the atmosphere of that era. For example, the song Menanam Jagung describes the difficulty of obtaining rice at that time because sacks of rice were sent to the battlefield.
The song, which tells the story of the difficulty of food when colonized by Japan, is packaged in a light way. Despite the light packaging, the background of this work implies a sorrow. Food was so difficult to obtain when Japan colonized Indonesia. The solution to survive this pressure was to grow your own food. As a result, this invitation is embodied in the song “Menanam Jagung”.
Mrs Sud also composed songs to encourage the spirit of struggle, inspired by the resistance of the fighters who defended the red and white flag at the Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) building in Jakarta. Ibu Sud wrote the song “Berkibarlah Benderaku!” in 1947, with the help of the Indonesian ambassador, Joesoef Ronodipoero, who was then the head of Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI). This song tells the story of the Jakarta RRI incident. The Netherlands intervened Joesoef Ronodipoero to take down the red-white flag and replace it with a redwhite-blue flag, but the intervention was rejected. The fighters chose to defend the country’s flag.
Works
Mrs Sud has created around more than 200 songs, although only half of them can be saved and survive until now. Many of Ibu Sud’s songs have become popular and timeless, from national anthems that have a high spirit of patriotism, to songs specifically for children. Long before she died, Ibu Sud had expressed her regret that children’s songs had become so commercialized.
In addition to composing songs, Mrs Sud also wrote plays and staged them such as the Sumi Children’s Ballet Operetta at the Jakarta Arts Building, in 1955. Together with Nani Loebis Gondosapoetro as the dance director, and RAJ Sudjasmin as the music director. Mrs Sud even created an operetta titled “Anak yang Kasih akan Ibunya”. In making this operetta, Mrs Sud was assisted by R.A.J Sujasmin to arrange the music with Javanese nuances. This operetta was performed during the Asia-Africa Conference in Schouburg (Pasar Baru art building, Jakarta). In this event, the effort to emphasize the culture of the country was visible in the operetta, namely the Javanese nuances that were echoed through the operetta’s musical accompaniment. Subjectively, this was based on the massive musical culture from outside the archipelago at that time, so that the musical identity of the archipelago was emphasized. In this case, it is represented by Javanese nuances.
When she was active as a member of the Indonesia Muda organization in 1926, Mrs Sud also formed an Tonil Amatir group that performed to raise funds, and was used for Club
Indonesia student lodging events. Her activities were not only prominent as a teacher and activist of youth organizations, but also as a nanny for children’s broadcasts (1927-1962).
She has experienced the world of childhood and recognized the beauty of nature, which impressed her deeply. He intended to portray the desires, roles, wills and memories of children in his songs. Therefore, every song she composed in the future has its own stories that are closely related to human life and nature. Jiwa Sarinah is that of an educator whose world is surrounded by children, so she has the ability to translate children’s desires and feelings through her songs.
Sud has a unique habit when creating songs. She always uses whistling in creating songs, not musical instruments. She is also always careful in creating children’s songs. Every song created by mrs Sud has been conditioned by the age and psychological state of the child. She always considers various aspects in making songs.
Starting from the selection of sentences, the high-low intonation, to the short length of the verse. According to her, the lyrics of children’s songs should be simple and not too long to suit the children’s ability to understand. Mrs. Sud also stated that the tone of the song should not be too high. This way of singing is prone to make the child’s neck veins pop out due to tension.
Meanwhile, the tone of the song should also not be too low or flat because it will affect the people who hear it to be discouraged or the atmosphere becomes gloomy.
Overall, Mrs Sud’s works have a very strong characteristic: her lyrics are simple, straightforward, and full of meaning. Her songs are able to convey deep moral messages in a language that is easy for children to understand. Not only that, some of Mrs Sud’s songs are colored with patriotic and nationalistic nuances.
The theme aims to instill national values in the younger generation. The lyrics can foster a sense of love for the country and the nation’s culture and form a strong moral foundation in their hearts.
Although she is best known as a children’s songwriter, Mrs Sud also has many skills in the arts. She is the creator of children’s plays and operas as well as a pioneer of new batik creations. She began to pursue batik after her husband died in a plane crash in 1954 in Singapore.
She was determined to preserve traditional batik and popularize batik nationally. With her proficient batik skills, Mrs. Sud also managed to penetrate President Soekarno’s environment. Soekarno’s concept of a batik motif that combined palace and coastal batik motifs was successfully realized. This motif became known as the terang bulan batik motif. Mrs. Sud also got the opportunity from
Soekarno to exhibit her batik business named Sri Sadono in the exhibition hall of Hotel Indonesia for foreign tourists to see. Meanwhile, Mrs Sud’s other batik business named Arti Warna was located near the State Palace.
Her perseverance led her to a great achievement in making the country proud in front of other nations, which was trusted by President Soekarno to hold a batik exhibition at the World Fair held in New York in 1964.
Previously, Mrs. Sud also exhibited in the same place at the New York Fair in 1954. Exhibitions also continued in several European and Asian countries, one of which was in Bangkok in 1969.
Works List
The following songs were created by Ibu Sud
Anak Kuat
Berkibarlah Benderaku
Bendera Merah Putih
Burung Kutilang
Dengar Katak Bernyanyi
Desaku
Hai Becak
Indonesia Tumpah Darahku
Himne Kemerdekaan
Kapal Api
Kampung Halamanku
Kupu – Kupu yang Lucu
Lagu Bermain
Lagu Gembira
Main Ular – Ularan
Menanam jagung
Naik Delman
Naik – Naik ke Puncak Gunung
Nenek Moyang
Pagi – Pagi
Pergi Belajar
Tanah Airku
Teka Teki
Tidur Anakku
Tik – Tik Bunyi Hujan
Waktu Sekolah Usai
Naik Kereta Api
Influence
Mrs Sud is the most important children’s songwriter in the history of Indonesian music development. She was the first person to compose children’s songs in Indonesian. Her songs since the Netherlands era have helped raise Indonesian children for generations. Songs written by Mrs. Sud have the power to shape children’s personalities without seeming patronizing. Through songs, children’s feelings are touched and they slowly learn about the meaning of the educational lyrics. Her songs are very popular in educational circles, from kindergartens, elementary schools, to secondary schools in Indonesia.
Having the intuition to capture reality to be turned into a song seems to be Saidjah’s strength in making children’s songs. The captured reality is poured into lyrics that are simple and easy to digest the meaning. Saridjah’s songs are thick with elements inherent in the world of children, such as encouraging children to explore the environment, excitement, wild imagination, playfulness, and innocence. These elements make her songs timeless.
Mrs Sud is the most important children’s songwriter in the history of Indonesian music development. She was the first person to compose children’s songs in Indonesian. Her songs since the Netherlands era have helped raise Indonesian children for generations. Songs written by Mrs. Sud have the power to shape children’s personalities without seeming patronizing. Through songs, children’s feelings are touched and they slowly learn about the meaning of the educational lyrics. Her songs are very popular in educational circles, from kindergartens, elementary schools, to secondary schools in Indonesia.
Having the intuition to capture reality to be turned into a song seems to be Saidjah’s strength in making children’s songs. The captured reality is poured into lyrics that are simple and easy to digest the meaning. Saridjah’s songs are thick with elements inherent in the world of children, such as encouraging children to explore the environment, excitement, wild imagination, playfulness, and innocence. These elements make her songs timeless.
On the other hand, during the struggle, Mrs Sud’s resistance and struggle for Indonesian independence took a different path than most people. Her struggle was not through weapons, politics, or diplomacy. Mrs Sud took the rhythm to voice the struggle. She challenged the colonial education system and her frustration was reciprocated through her work.
Tanah Airku is one of Indonesia’s national songs created by Mrs Sud. This song is usually sung during state events such as Independence Day. The lyrics of Tanah Airku describe the natural beauty of Indonesia, as well as reflecting national values and love for the country. The meaning can be seen from every lyric of the song. The song Tanah Airku has a meaning about national values and love for the country. The lyrics show that wherever an Indonesian travels, he will still love his hometown, Indonesia. This song shows a sense of pride in Indonesia wherever Indonesians are.
Singing Tanah Airku wholeheartedly and appreciating the lyrics is one way of showing love for Indonesia.
Another national song by Ibu Sud is the song “Berkibarlah Benderaku”, the lyrics invite us to remember the struggle of the heroes and continue their spirit of struggle in building the country. This song also illustrates the spirit of Indonesian children to defend the nation’s independence and keep the red and white flag flying forever in Indonesia Raya.
The song “Bendera Merah Putih” also contains a deep meaning about the spirit of nationalism. This song has lyrics that can instill national character early on in the hearts of children who listen to it. As an Effort to Strengthen National Identity at the Elementary School Level. The song specifically discusses nationalism and love for the national flag, the Red and White flag. The lyrics attempt to instill a sense of pride in the hearts of Indonesians towards one of the symbols of the country.
This can be seen from the meaning contained in each stanza, which begins with a firm statement that the red and white flag is a symbol of the Indonesian homeland. Then, the red and white colors are described as dashing and clear, symbolizing the strength and purity of the nation. As a whole, this song depicts the red and white flag as a symbol of unity, courage, and hope for the Indonesian people. The Indonesian people are also taught not to easily submit to colonization and feel inferior before other nations.
This woman who lived through three periods (Netherlands colonization, Japan, and Indonesian independence) pursued the path of art and culture to voice the struggle. Her love for batik was able to make the country proud. Mrs Sud’s cold hands were able to compose tunes to ignite the spirit of the fighters. Mrs Sud became a woman who was equal to Usmar Ismail or W. R. Supratman who chose the practice of music to fight. Ibu Sud proved that equality is real.
Leading classical music composer Ananda Sukarlan (an Indonesian pianist and composer based in Jakarta and Spain who is better known in classical music circles) created various virtuosic works for solo piano in the form of fantasies, variations and other transformations such as toccatas of various Mrs Sud songs. These works are now played by many Indonesian and international pianists in concerts at home and abroad, have become the repertoire of national and international piano competitions and have even been the subject of research, theses and dissertations at various universities.
Mrs Sud is no longer alive, but her works are still echoed today. Ibu Sud’s spirit is a role model for the nation. And with Mrs. Sud as a pioneer of new batik creations, until now there are countless new batik makers with their new batik creations (now better known as modern batik) that enrich the repertoire of Indonesian batik.
Mrs Sud is no longer alive, but her works are still echoed today. Ibu Sud’s spirit is a role model for the nation. And with Mrs. Sud as a pioneer of new batik creations, until now there are countless new batik makers with their new batik creations (now better known as modern batik) that enrich the repertoire of Indonesian batik.
Source:
Lady in Melody, Museum Musik Indonesia, 2024
