Gesang Martohartono

From 12 May 2010 Gesang was hospitalized in a state of ill health. He was reported to be unconscious and was sent to Muhammadiyah Hospital's Intensive Care Unit in his hometown of Solo. He died from starvation and was already reported dead previously on 18 May 2010, but his family denied it. Gesang died 8 days later in the hospital, on 20 May 2010 at the age of 92. He left his entire fortune (of some $20 million) to the charity "Music in Youth".

In 1991, a group of appreciative Japanese war veterans arranged for a life-size 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.

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, "Bengawan Solo" caught the public mood. Its fame soon spread throughout the country after best-selling recordings were released by popular singers, starting with Toshi Matsuda's 1947 rendition. It was periodically re-released by popular artists, and the song soon became almost synonymous in Japan with Indonesian music, with many assuming that it was a centuries-old traditional song.

In 1940, just before 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 influence upon the region.

Gesang Martohartono (1 October 1917 – 20 May 2010) was an Indonesian singer-songwriter from central Java. He is the composer of the "Bengawan Solo," famous song throughout Indonesia, Japan, part of Asia, and some other countries. The song is almost synonymous with the kroncong style of Javanese music. Martohartono was most commonly known simply as Gesang.