Composers on Stamps- Wage Rudolf Soepratman

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Wage Rudolf Supratman (Wage Roedolf Soepratman or commonly known as W.R. Supratman) was born on March 9, 1903 in Jakarta and died on August 17, 1938 due to sickness in Surabaya, East Java.
 
He was an Indonesian songwriter. He wrote and composed the national anthem of Indonesia, "Indonesia Raya" in 1927 and officially adopted in 1949. The song 'Indonesia Raya' was performed for the first time on October 28, 1928, at the closing ceremony of Youth Congress II held in Indonesia. His father named Senen, was a sergeant in the 8th Battalion. Under the tutelage of his brother in-laws, WM Van Eldik (Sastromihardjo), he had learnt to pluck the guitar and fiddle the violin. In 1914 he went to Makassar to study Dutch at the Normaalschool, a night school. His education was financed by Willem Van Eldik. and he stayed there for three years. 

After finishing his education, he bacame a teacher in Angka and got his Klein Ambtenaar certificate two years later. He formed a jazz group called Black and White and played with the band until 1924., after which he went to Surabaya and Bandung to become a newspaper correspondent of "Kaoem Moeda". 
 
On October 28, 1928, he performed as violinist, during the Second Youngster Congress with his composition "Indonesia Raya", a song that confessed one fatherland, one nation, one Indonesia. Aside from Indonesia Raya, some of his other songs include: Bendera kita merah putih, Matahari Terbit Ibu Kita Kartini and Mars Kepandoen Bangsa Indonesia. His death on August 17, 1938, was exactly seven years before the proclamation of the Indonesian independence.  
 
The stamp above is a set of three stamps featuring Performing Arts (Soepratman, Music) issued in 1997.

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