Mudalovers must be familiar with the song “Indonesia Raya” which we always sing every Monday at school during the flag ceremony. The song “Indonesia Raya” which was later used as the national anthem was created by Wage Rudolf Soepratman, or as we are familiarly known as WR Supratman. In fact, at every official national event or activity, even the lowest level always sings the mandatory song Indonesia Raya.
As valuable as the song “Indonesia Raya”, WR Supratman is a figure who played a role in the Indonesian nation. In fact, his birthday has been named National Music Day since March 9 2013. This shows that WR Supratman’s role is very influential for the Indonesian nation. From the life journey of this national hero, we can learn a lot about his history and struggle for Indonesia.
WR Supratman’s biography traces his life story of fighting for the Indonesian nation from a musician, journalist, to national hero. This story is certainly not a short journey but rather a long road and it was not easy to conquer the Indonesian colonialists at that time.
WR Supratman is a national hero figure that Mudalovers needs to know. Through WR Supratman’s biography, Mudalovers can get to know this great figure and take away inspiring positive values. Learning history is a wise behavior that can be carried out by the nation’s young generation.
The more Mudalovers friends master history, it means that the nation’s young generation has appreciated history and learned to become a better nation. The following is a review of WR Supratman’s biography that Mudalovers needs to know to know history and emulate the struggle of Indonesia’s national hero.
Biography of WR Supratman
WR Supratman was born on Friday 19 March 1903 in Purworejo, Central Java. However, his father, Sergeant Jumeno Senen, who was a KNIL soldier and also a priest, recorded the birth of WR Supratman in Jatinegara.
WR Supratman has six siblings, 1 brother and the rest sisters. WR Supratman grew up in Makasar with his older brother Roekijem since 1914. Since then he has been paid for school by Roekijem’s husband, Willem Van Eldik.
WR Supratman’s educational history is recorded at the age of 4, he attended Frobel School (Kindergarten) in Jakarta in 1907. He then continued his education at Tweede Inlandschool which he completed in 1917.
WR Supratman took the Klein Ambtenaar Exam and passed as a lowly employee candidate. After that, WR Supratman continued his education at the Normaalschool or Teacher Education School at that time. He eventually became a teacher at the Number 2 School until he finally obtained a Klein Ambtenaar diploma.
WR Supratman grew up in a family of musicians. His older brother, Roekijem, is also very fond of plays and music. He even displayed many of his works at military mess halls.
Roekijem is also skilled at playing the violin, this hobby is what makes WR Supratman also able to play the violin and makes him read a lot of music books.
WR Supratman began to be involved in the world of music when his brother-in-law, WM Van Eldick, gave him a violin as a gift on his 17th birthday. It was this violin that made WR Supratman become familiar with music, especially jazz. He and his brother-in-law eventually founded a jazz group called Black And White.
The jazz group was once popular among Dutch sinyos. Before the musician was transformed into a national figure, he often had extravagances and dated Dutch sinyos.
The condition of the nation succeeded in urging and attracting his attention to take part in the political field, such as various political speeches and readings. Especially WR Supratman really likes reading the Makasar Herald Newspaper.
His political knowledge ultimately made WR Supratman have the desire to create a national anthem. He experienced difficulties when writing the national anthem because WR Supratman felt that his political experience was not enough. Finally, he involved himself in the struggle and met movement figures.
Armed with a violin, WR Supratman went to Java Island, specifically the city of Bandung, where this area is the center of the movement of young figures. Before arriving in Bandung, WR Supratman apparently stopped in Surabaya and became familiar with the students there who were full of fighting spirit.
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WR Supratman, a musician and journalist
After stopping briefly in Surabaya for several years, in 1924 WR Supratman finally went to Cimahi. It was there that he liked reading the Kaoem Muda newspaper which ultimately led WR Supratman to become a journalist. Before he was accepted at the Kaoem Muda Newspaper, WR Supratman took a political cadre course at the organization formed by Soekarno, namely the General Study Group.
His journalist career at the Kaoem Muda Newspaper did not last long, he then moved to the Algemene Press Bureau Press News Agency (Alpena) as a reporter and editor. Because the economic conditions of the media company where WR Supratman worked were difficult, he finally decided to switch to another media. WR Supratman then joined the Sin Po Newspaper which improved his economic life.
The Sin Po media company also made WR Supratman closer to movement figures. Namely Sumarno, M. Tabrani, Bahder Djohan, Paul Pinontoan, and Sumarto. WR Supratman expressed his admiration for M. Tabrani and Sumarto when giving a speech at the First Indonesian Youth Congress.
That’s where WR Supratman had the idea to create the song “Indonesia Raya” with the inspiration “The ideals of one homeland, one nation called Indonesia Raya.”
After the Congress finished, WR Supratman began to create a concept for a national anthem written in musical notes and numbers. The song Indonesia Raya was finally created with three couplets with repeated verses and a 6 per 8 song rhythm.
As a journalist he was assigned to cover the Second Congress on October 28 1928 in Batavia. However, this time WR Supratman didn’t just want to write news, but he took the initiative to sing the song he wrote.
He distributed copies of the song Indonesia Raya to leaders of youth organizations. Finally WR Supratman got permission from Sugondo to sing it during break time.
However, because of Sugondo’s doubts after reading the very straightforward lyrics of the song, he was worried that the government could boycott the congress event. Therefore, Sugondo only allowed WR Supratman to perform it on the violin.
When break time arrived, the song Indonesia Raya was sung with an amazing instrumental version of WR Supratman. All congress participants were amazed and moved by the beauty of WR Supratman’s violin playing.
That was the first time the song Indonesia Raya was sung and received a warm welcome from the audience. The lyrics and notation of the song Indonesia Raya were then first published in the November 10, 1928 edition of the Sin Po Newspaper with a total of 5,000 copies.
From this issue of the Sin Po Newspaper, the title of WR Supratman’s song, all of which was “Indonesia”, became “Indonesia Raja” which is now known as Indonesia Raya.
After that, the national anthem was performed again by WR Supratman at the disbandment of the second congress committee in December 1928. At this event, the song Indonesia Raya was performed complete with the lyrics.
The performance of the song Indonesia Raya was also sung with the accompaniment of a choir. Next, the Indonesian Song was performed at the opening of the PNI Congress from 18 to 20 December 1929.
The congress participants then stood up and sang along to the chorus and accompaniment of WR Supratman’s violin as a form of respect for Greater Indonesia.
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WR Supratman’s work worries the Dutch
The popularity of the song Indonesia Raya became increasingly widespread, making the Dutch worried that the song could inspire the spirit of independence.
Due to Dutch unrest, in 1930 the song Indonesia Raya was banned from being sung at any event or occasion.
The colonial government used the excuse to the public that the song Indonesia Raya could disrupt order and security.
Not only was he banned, WR Supratman as the songwriter also received threats, he was even detained and interrogated for the lyrics of the song he wrote (freedom, independence, independence).
Thanks to finances from various groups, the Dutch East Indies government finally withdrew its demands against WR Supratman and allowed Indonesian songs to be sung on the condition that they were only sung in closed spaces.
The success of the song Indonesia Raya made WR Supratman create another song entitled Matahari Terbit. The Dutch government again detained WR Supratman because his song composition was considered dangerous for their position.
The song Matahari Terbit was considered by the Dutch government to praise Dai Nippon, namely the Japanese side. However, WR Supratman managed to be free from Dutch accusations thanks to Van Eldik’s help. After leaving the short detention, WR Supratman fell ill.
This bad condition made the Dutch government happy. Because his condition was getting worse, on August 17 1938 WR Supratman died at the age of 35.
Before he left, WR Supratman had said to his brother-in-law, Oerip Kasansengari that he was sure that Indonesia would definitely be with them.
Unexpectedly, the day of his death coincided with Indonesian Independence Day 7 years later. WR Supratman was buried in the public cemetery on Jalan Kenjeran Surabaya.
The passing of WR Supratman certainly means that the Indonesian nation has lost a very brave warrior. He has fought for Indonesia in his own way with his beloved violin.
He used his musical abilities to fight for the nation and show his courage against the Dutch. Thanks to WR Supratman’s ability and role in creating the Indonesian national anthem, his birthday was finally designated as National Music Day.
Based on Presidential Decree Number 10 of 2013 concerning National Music Day which was first established on March 9 2013.
The determination of National Music Day sparked debate because many people stated that WR Supratman’s birthday was March 19, not March 9.
However, Megawati Soekarnoputri as the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia at that time had already designated March 9 as National Music Day.
This decision actually refers to WR Supratman’s date of birth. This decision has not been revised even though the Purworejo District Court has determined that WR Supratman was born on March 19 1903. Until now we still celebrate National Music Day on March 9.
Apart from the song Indonesia Raya, WR Supratman also created several national songs which we now know as mandatory national songs. The following are songs written by WR Supratman that Mudalovers need to know:
- Indonesia Raya: The National Anthem of the Republic of Indonesia which was created in 1924
- Ibu Kita Kartini: National Compulsory Song composed in 1929
- In Timoer Matahari: Mandatory song composed in 1931
- Indonesia Iboekoe: Created in 1926
- Our Flag is Poetih Red: Which was created in 1928
- Bangoenlah Hai Kawan: Created in 1929
- Mars KBI: Indonesian Scouting Song composed in 1930
- Mars PARINDRA: Indonesian Party song composed in 1930
- Mars Soerya Wirawan: Created in 1937
- Rising Sun: Which was created in 1928
- Goodbye: Unfinished song WR Supratman wrote in 1938
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Apart from writing songs, WR Supratman also wrote several books, namely Perawan Desa, written in 1929, Uang Moeda, and Kaoem Fanatik. One of his books was confiscated by the Dutch East Indies Government and banned from circulation, namely the book Perawan Desa.
Thanks to his role and great work, the government built the WR Supratman museum which is located on Jl Mangga Number 21 Tamansari, Surabaya, East Java Province. This museum contains several items belonging to WR Supratman, one of which is the legendary violin of the Musician.
The museum was apparently the residence of WR Supratman before he died in 1938. Before it became a museum, the place was occupied by a family until 1974 and ended up empty for 27 years.
Traces of WR Supratman’s struggle are also exhibited at the Youth Pledge Museum located on JL Kramat Raya Number 106, Jakarta.
WR Supratman is a national hero who played a role together with other national movement youth figures in the event that gave birth to the Youth Pledge Declaration on October 28 1928.
Because of his role, WR Supratman became a national movement activist who created the song Indonesia Raya as a form of the Indonesian nation’s sense of unity and desire for independence.
So, that’s the biography of WR Supratman that Mudalovers friends need to know about his role in the Indonesian nation. Even today, WR Supratman’s work remains an eternal national anthem that unites all Indonesian people.
His work has succeeded in becoming a trace of the Indonesian nation’s historical struggle towards independence until now. Apart from the song Indonesia Raya, there are several mandatory national and regional songs that Mudalovers need to know.
These songs are symbols of nationalism created by great figures who tell stories about the Indonesian nation.
Mudalovers friends can visit the Mudabicara article collection at mudabicara.com to find article references about the biographies of other figures.