10.4225/03/596c281b3ba4e Kartomi, Margaret J. Margaret J. Kartomi Kartomi, Hidris Hidris Kartomi Guritan Monash University 2017 Besemah Bards Indonesia – South Sumatra – Ogan dan Komering Ilir – Besemah – Tanjungsakti 1959.1/284142 Monash University. Faculty of Arts. School of Music-Conservatorium Chants Rituals Quatrain verse form monash:62542 Ancestral narratives Story-telling songs Ceremonies Digital Humanities Performing Arts Ethnic Studies 2017-07-17 02:59:37 Media https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/media/Guritan/5064904 Audio 7.1: Audio Example 1 in Chapter 7 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. “Guritan” is both a Malay story-telling song genre and a quatrain verse form. In Besemah, the Ogan-Komering river basins and elsewhere, semi-professional bards or story-tellers sing “guritan” at weddings and other ceremonies and rituals. During colonial times, but rarely now, hosts would employ the bards for all night performances that lasted for several nights on end. After singing prayers to the ancestors, the singer usually performs chant-like, repeated-note passages alternating with eventful, ornamented and partly melismatic melodic sections. In this excerpt, recorded in December 1971, the “guritan” is sung by Bp Alik (male vocalist) who was originally from Kampung Gunung Agung. Duration: 2 min. 16 sec. Copyright 1971. Margaret J. Kartomi.