(b Garut, Java, 4 April 1944). Indonesian
composer. In the early 1960s he worked as a high school
music teacher and studied with the important Sundanese composer Koko Koswara.
In 1972 Nano S. formed the group Gentra Madya, which in 1976 released its first
cassette of original works for kacapi and gamelan saléndro. His
songs, including Cinta (‘Love’, 1978), Anjeun (‘You’, 1984) and Kalangkang
(‘Reflection’, 1986), achieved phenomenal success among popular audiences
during the 1970s and 80s in conjunction with a very active Sundanese cassette
industry. His non-commercial commissions include Spirit of Bandung for
the 50th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung (1995) and Hiroshima
for the government of Hiroshima (1999). He has also written operetta (gending
karesmen), songs for children, poetry and fiction. Nano S. has helped to
promote Sundanese music through international concert tours, teaching in the
USA and Japan, and intercultural music collaborations. He has established an
international reputation as a composer of Sundanese popular music (pop Sunda).
Songs in this hybrid genre combine stylistic elements of karawitan
(Sundanese traditional music), which include Sundanese language texts,
melodies, formal structures and instrumentation (gamelan), with elements of musik
(non-Indonesian popular music), including Western harmony and instrumentation
(keyboard, bass and drums), country and western vocal style and Latin-American
rhythms.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. Williams: ‘Current Developments in Sundanese Popular Music’, Asian Music, xxi/1
(1989–90), 105–36
L. Burman-Hall: ‘Nano S.'s Warna: a Life in Music’, Balungan, v/2 (1993), 24–34 [incl. score]
ANDREW N. WEINTRAUB