Fwd: BALUNGAN Vol. 7-8, Score Anthology 2000

List,

There have been recent discussion here about gamalan, so I am doing a one-time forwarding of this email from the American Gamelan Institute. Those of you that find interest in this area, and happen to follow the links or even consider getting the score anthology, are welcome to post comments as to the worthiness/applicability to the MMM list...

{Forwarded msg starts...}
>Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 09:18:20 -0500
>From: American Gamelan Institute <agi@...>
>Subject: BALUNGAN Vol. 7-8, Score Anthology 2000
>
>A new issue of BALUNGAN -- the journal of gamelan, Indonesian arts, and
>their international counterparts -- was recently published. Here is a list
>of contents and an excerpt from the introduction by guest editor Jarrad
>Powell. The 235-page score anthology allowed longer scores to be published
>in their entirety, unlike the previous issues of BALUNGAN. The back cover
>art is by Heri Dim, on a poem by Taufiq Ismail. Further information can be
>found at http://www.gamelan.org/.
>
>=====CONTENTS OF VOL. 7-8=====
>
>SCORES
>
>Waves, by Michiharu Matsunaga
>
>Ghosts, by Daniel J. Schmidt
>
>Woodstone, by Ingram Marshall
>
>----- (Al Het), by Larry Polansky
>
>The September Vision, by Jarrad Powell
>
>Philemon and Baukis, by Lou Harrison
>
>The Cave, by Jane Coxon
>
>In That Bright World, by Jody Diamond
>
>Gong Kundali Shakti, by Jon Keliehor
>
>A Lion Does Not Read Books, by Eric Richards
>
>In Celebration of Golden Rain, by Richard Felciano
>
>Rain, by J. Morris
>
>5 Inventions for 2 Bonang and Percussion, by Robert Lombardo
>
>The Sycamore Tree , by Mark Langford
>
>Gotong Royong, by B. Subono
>
>=====FROM THE INTRODUCTION=====
> by Jarrad Powell
>
>... The pieces in this anthology generally reflect [a] Javanese bias,
>although I would say that the influence is more in the areas of
>instrumentation and tuning than in compositional style. Stylistically the
>pieces represent quite divergent approaches and interests. For example,
>Balinese stylistic influence is found in Jeff Morris' Rain and John
>Keliehor's Gong Kundali Shakti, even though these two pieces were written
>for Javanese gamelan. It is worth noting that this kind of
>cross-pollination is common in Indonesia too, where, for example, Balinese
>musical styles often finds a way into contemporary pieces for Javanese
>gamelan. This raises the question: is "gamelan" a type of instrumentation
>or a style of playing? Is a kotekan considered Balinese gamelan, even when
>played on Javanese instruments? ...
>
>... Is there an "American style" or "Japanese style" of composing music for
>gamelan? Probably not. Are there some aspects to these compositions that
>reveals them as non-Indonesian? Probably. In fact the difference can be
>striking. ...
>
>Since this anthology was compiled, gamelan composition has proceeded on
>many fronts. Today we find a variety of pieces that amalgamate different
>stylistic conventions, particularly cross-pollination of Javanese and
>Balinese influences. Some composers still continue to explore the
>possibilities of writing non-idiomatically for the instruments.
>Interestingly, the sort of collage approach to composition that is often
>used by contemporary Indonesian composers has not dominated in the west.
>Perhaps the formal structures that provide large-scale compositional
>coherence have interested western composers, more than the stylistic
>diversity of the musical material.
>
>Performance practice also continues to cross-pollinate. Recently in Jakarta
>I heard gamelan pieces performed on a Javanese gamelan by a group from
>Holland called Ensemble Gending. The pieces were all through-composed in
>western notation and performed by percussionists (some trained in
>traditional gamelan performance practice, others not) with a conductor who
>did not know how to play gamelan music at all. Yet even in this context the
>instruments were traditional, and despite the scores and conductor, many
>idiomatic musical ideas could be heard. There is always some connection
>between what is new and what is traditional. ...
>
>I think working with gamelan is best approached as a more complete musical
>experience than just the writing of a piece. While composers who do not
>play gamelan instruments do write pieces for gamelan, the preponderance of
>successful compositions have been by those individuals who have direct
>involvement with the instruments and see that involvement in several
>dimensions, rather than just the dimension of composition. Yet it is a
>standard practice in western composition to write for instruments that one
>does not play. Such an undertaking requires special study and extra effort
>on the part of composers; they must work with musicians in order to know
>the range of performance practice possible on the instrument or
>instruments. Will this approach to writing for gamelan become more widely
>accepted in the future? Is the gamelan amenable to outside understanding
>from an orchestration standpoint?
>
>... One might well ask: can gamelan become a bona fide medium of expression
>for the non-Indonesian, one that does not require validation outside of
>itself? ? Or now, at the close of the century, has the gamelan already
>become that to some extent? Goethe claimed that Orient and Occident could
>no longer be separated. He made a rule of staying in a conscious balance
>between the two worlds, thus always choosing to move between East and West.
>This balance seems to be one of the most overriding, challenging, and
>trying aspects of music for the contemporary composer, no matter what the
>idiom. Certainly in the realm of contemporary music for gamelan it is
>fundamental. ...
>
>Jarrad Powell
>Seattle, 2000
>American Gamelan Institute (AGI)
>Box 1052, Lebanon, NH 03766 USA
>phone/fax: 603 448 8837
>
>Visit our website: http://www.gamelan.org
>
>Listen to gamelan and other Indonesian musics: http://www.gongcast.net
{...end of forwarded msg}

Cheers,
Jon

`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
Real Life: Orchestral Percussionist
Web Life: "Corporeal Meadows" - about Harry Partch
http://www.corporeal.com/
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