Leonard Siburian

Toba people(also referred to as Batak Toba people or often simply "BATAK")are the most numerous of the Batak people of North Sumatera,Indonesia,and often considered the classical 'Batak',most likely to willingly self-identify as Batak. The Toba people are found in Toba Samosir Regency,Humbang Hasundutan Regency,Samosir Regency,North Tapanuli Regency,part of Dairi Regency,Central Tapanuli Regency,Sibolga and its surrounding regions. The Batak Toba people speak in the Toba Batak language and are centered on Lake Toba and Samosir Island within the lake. Batak Toba people frequently build in traditional Batak architecture styles which are common on Samosir. Cultural demonstration,performance and festivies such as Si Gale-gale are often held for tourists. Paleontological research done in Humbang region of the west side of Toba Lake suggests that human activity had existed 6,500 years ago,much earlier than the 800 years existence of King of Batak;and therefore the name ...

One answer might be because you already like classical music. Another answer might be because classical music seems clearly to enjoy special prestige in our culture,and you are curious to know why. The answer to that is clear:Classical music has stayed the course. Over history,it has provided generations(dozens of generations,to push the point)with pleasure,joy,inspiration and solace. So they have said,repeatedly. Classical music can do the same for us today. Its important to acknowledge the "otherness" of people in history,the differences between them and people today. Nonetheless,we relate to them;they are unquestionably us,as we can tell from their diaries and their poems,their portraits,their political aspirations and indeed,also from their philosophical reflextions,if we are prepared to give them the time it takes to really grasp them. We treasure our Declaration of Independence,written more than two hundred years ago,and it will be a bad day when we lose touch with th...

Someone falls to pieces Sleeping all alone Someone kills the pain Spinning in the silence She finally drift away Someone gets excited In a chapel yard Catches a bouquet Another lays a dozen White roses on a grave And be yourself is all that you can do To be yourself is all that you can do Someone finds salvation in everyone Another only pain Someone tries to hide themselves Down inside himself he prays Someone swears their true love Until the end of time Another runs away Separate or united? Healthy or insane? And be yourself is all that you can do To be yourself is all that you can do To be yourself is all that you can do Be yourself is all that you can do

Sigale gale or si Gale-Gale is a wooden puppet used in a funeral dance performance of the Batak People in Samosir Island,Northern Sumatera. Sigale Gale is a well known feature to visiting tourists. During the dance,the puppet is operated from behind like a marionette using strings that run through the ornate wooden platform on which it stands. The set up enables its arms and body to be moved and its head to turn. Traditionally the performance was carried out of childless person. Batak Toba believe souls became an ancestral spirit and the children of the deceased perform funerary rites. If a person died children a Sigale Gale is created as a substitute. Complicated Sigale Gale could be life sized and featured actuation using wet moss or sponges that could be squeezed to make the dolls appear to cry.