26 October 2011

Three whole albums of Javanese music.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

K. R. T. Wasitodiningrat - director
Elektra Nonesuch, 9 72044-2
45:11
("Slow and stately, this music... offers both constant movement and the floating sense of standing still.")

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

2. Pande Made Sukerta: Mana 689
10:35
("... improvisation on traditional Indonesian instruments and vocal styles as well as unusual sources like pebbles rattled in bottles, marbles thrown at a corrugated tin thundersheet, and the composer's children laughing.")

3. I Wayan Sadra: Stay a Maverick
5:36

4. Blacius Subono: Griting Rasa
15:32
("... for small chamber ensemble of high-pitched gamelan instruments.... The text in Part I, in Javanese, describes the confused feelings of a good person whose principles are compromised by attaining a high bureaucratic post.... The text in Part II, declaimed in Indonesian, warns of the danger of seeking authority and power....")

5. Otok Bima Sidarta: Mubeng Beteng
12:03

6. I Wayan Sadra: Terus dan Terus/On and On!
10:12

Tracks 2-6 (rec. 1989)
Mana 689: New Music of Indonesia Vol.2 (Central Java)
Lyrichord, LYRCD 7420
("Innovative composers from the Central Javanese cities of Surakarta and Yogyakarta use the Javanese gamelan and other traditional Indonesian instruments to explore new musical ideas and textures.")

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

7. Kecapi Suling (rec. 1998)
The group Bale Seni Megasari
Playa Sound, PS 65225
52:21
(A set of duets. Kecapi is a zither. Suling is a bamboo flute. "Several varieties of kecapi are used, generally functioning both as the rhythmic base and the tonal center of the pieces, allowing the suling to float and pirouette above. Their sound ranges from what one might expect from a plucked, zither-like instrument to bell tones more readily associated with Balinese gamelan; their effect over time becomes hypnotic, although to Western ears this may be equivalent to repetitive. The suling playing is really wondrous, seemingly unfettered by any musical system, and sounding as natural and unforced as a bird's song.")

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