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Gesang Martohartono born 1 October 1917 is a renowned Indonesian singer-songwriter from central Java, and composer of the song Bengawan Solo, a tune which has become famous throughout Indonesia, Japan and much of Asia, and which is almost synonymous with the kroncong style of Javanese music. He is most commonly known simply as Gesang.

Gesang was born in the central Javanese city of Surakarta (Solo). His father owned a batik-fabric business, which however went bankrupt when Gesang was still in his teens, plunging the family into poverty. Gesang, a self-taught musician who was however illiterate in musical notation, supported himself and his family by writing songs and singing at local functions such as weddings and other formal occasions.

In 1940, during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, the impoverished 23 year-old musician composed a tune (using a flute) in the popular urban local style known as kroncong, a musical tradition of the region which combined Javanese chord progressions with Westernised vocal stylings, instrumental arrangements and melodies. The style had its origins in the 17th century Portuguese influences on the region, and was at the time associated with the urban poor and as such had somewhat of an unsavoury reputation, particularly among traditionalists.

For the lyrics, Gesang turned to the city’s river for inspiration. The Bengawan Solo River is Java’s longest river and most important waterway for trade and agriculture, and seemed to Gesang to symbolise the durability of Javanese culture in those troubled times. Gesang himself would later remark “I had dreamt since my childhood about writing a song of praise for the immortal Solo River”.

Gesang added the song, Bengawan Solo, to his repertoire, and it soon became widely popular among the local Javanese community. The song rose to national prominence when recordings of it were aired on local radio stations. It also found an appreciative audience among the Japanese occupation forces, some of whom took to singing it with lyrics translated into Japanese. It was popular also among the non-Javanese prisoners (principally Dutch civilians) of the Japanese internment camps, many of whom also spoke Indonesian. The simple but nostalgic lyrics and popular-sounding melody held equal appeal to the long-standing resident and the homesick soldier.

As World War II drew to a close, the returning soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army brought the song back to Japan. In the dark period immediately after Japan’s defeat, the song caught the public mood, and its fame soon spread throughout the country after best-selling recordings of it were released by popular singers, starting with Toshi Matsuda’s 1947 recording. It was to be periodically re-released by various popular artists, and the song soon became almost synonymous in Japan with Indonesian music, many assuming that it was a centuries-old traditional song.
Versions of the song were also released in other Asian countries, and it has since been recorded many times by famous artists worldwide.

Gesang remained in the city of his birth, continuing to compose and sing, his fame spreading through the decades. He became regarded as the leading exponent and senior figurehead of the Solonese kroncong style, which is now regarded as a respectable, even somewhat starchy and dated style, well and truly assimilated from its humble and scandalous prior associations.

In 1991, a group of appreciative Japanese war veterans arranged for a life-sized statue of Gesang to be erected in a Surakarta park, to mark their respects for the composer of the tune that had managed to cross the cultural barriers of wartime.

Gesang Martohartono 生於1917年10月1日是著名的印尼歌手詞曲作者從中央Java和作曲家的歌曲Bengawan梭羅，調子已成為全國著名的印度尼西亞，日本和許多亞洲國家，這幾乎是同義詞kroncong爪哇風格的音樂。他是已知的最常見的只是Gesang 。

Gesang出生在爪哇中部城市蘇拉卡（Solo） 。他的父親擁有一個蠟染織物業務，但倒閉時， Gesang仍然在他十幾歲，使家庭陷入貧困。 Gesang ，一個自學成才的音樂家是誰然而文盲樂譜，支持他本人和家屬的寫歌和唱歌在當地的職能，如婚禮和其他正式場合。

1940年，在日本佔領印尼在第二次世界大戰中，貧困的23歲的音樂家組成的調子（使用長笛）在當地流行的城市風格被稱為kroncong的音樂傳統的地區，結合爪哇弦級數與西化風格聲樂，器樂安排和旋律。風格起源於17世紀葡萄牙的影響該地區，並在當時與城市貧民，因此在某種程度上的一種令人厭惡的聲譽，特別是傳統。

對於歌詞， Gesang轉向城市的河流的靈感。梭羅印尼餐廳的Bengawan河是Java的最長的河流和水道最重要的貿易和農業，似乎象徵Gesang的耐久性爪哇文化在這些動亂的時代。 Gesang自己以後的話： “我曾想過，因為我的童年寫一首歌的讚揚不朽的梭羅印尼餐廳河。

Gesang說這首歌， Bengawan Solo (梭羅)，他的演奏曲目，並很快成為廣受歡迎的地方爪哇社會。這首歌上升到國家突出時，它記錄了當地播出的廣播電台。它也發現了一個觀眾的讚賞，日本佔領軍，其中一些人走上歌唱與歌詞翻譯成日文。這是流行的還包括非爪哇囚犯（主要是荷蘭平民）日本拘留營，其中許多人還談到印尼。簡單的，但懷舊的歌詞和流行的冠冕堂皇的旋律平等的上訴舉行的長期駐地和想家的士兵。

隨著第二次世界大戰接近尾聲，返回的士兵的日本皇軍帶來了這首歌帶回日本。在黑暗時期日本戰敗後，這首歌引起了公眾的情緒，其名聲很快蔓延到全國各地後，最暢銷的記錄，它是由著名歌星，從東松田的1947年錄製。這是定期重新發布的各種流行的藝術家，和這首歌很快就幾乎等於在日本與印尼的音樂，許多假設，這是一個百年歷史的傳統歌曲。

版本的歌曲也公佈其他亞洲國家，它一直錄了很多次世界著名藝術家。

Gesang留在城市出生，繼續撰寫和唱歌，他的名氣傳播通過幾十年。他成了被視為領先指數和高級有名無實的Solonese kroncong的風格，現在看來，這是一個受人尊敬，甚至有些澱粉和註明日期的作風，以及真正吸收其謙遜和可恥的事先協會。

在1991年，一組讚賞日本退伍軍人安排了一個生命的大小雕像Gesang豎立在蘇拉卡公園，以紀念他們的尊重的作曲家的調整已經成功地跨越文化障礙的戰爭。