fwd: Report From Bali

In a message dated 2003:08:05 11:05:28 AM, Henry.Kuntz@... writes:

>Hello Folks,
> I wanted to share with you some of the music and music-related
>events I encountered on my recent trip to Bali, where I spent most of the
>month of June.
>
> One of the archetypes I've used to prepare for and to engage in
>improvisation is that of the Indonesian shadow play ("wayang kulit"); or
>more specifically, the archetype of the shadow puppet master, or "dalang".
>
> So I was excited to note that Bali's 25th Annual Arts Festival
>(which began on June 14 in Denpasar), a month-long series of music, dance
>and arts/crafts presentations, was to feature shadow play performances
>by masters of the art from various regions of the island.
>
> While we use the term "master" rather loosely these days to refer to
>almost anyone who has attained a certain degree of skill in their chosen
>profession, the "dalang" is a master in a much broader sense. He must
>undergo rigorous training in a number of fields (music, literature, dance,
>drama) and is more like a secular priest than a mere performer. Indeed,
>the ritual allowing one to begin working as a dalang is closely akin to the
>ordination of a Hindu priest. (Note: While women priests are common in
>Bali, I'm unaware of any women working in wayang.) Further, the dalang is
thought
>of as a type of spiritual medium, one who in the performance of his art,
>opens lines of communication between the natural and supernatural worlds.
>He bridges the gap between those worlds and allows the unseen forces to speak
>through him. As such, although the plays themselves are almost always based
>on traditional and well known stories, they are typically laced with current
>social and political commentary, often couched in humorous terms.
>
> The plays are presented on a 6 X 4 foot screen behind which is a
>hanging oil lamp which projects the flickering shadows of the leather
>puppets. There may be as many as 125 for possible use. The dalang sits
>behind the lamp which also has a microphone attached to it into which he
>speaks. He must be conversant in at least three languages: old Javanese
>(or Kawi), the language in which the plays transpire, and Balinese and
>Indonesian, the languages which the four clown-servants of the main (both
>good and bad) characters speak to translate and comment upon the proceedings
>for the audience, almost none of whom understand the old language.
>Additionally, he must speak in any number of voices, often switching between
>them in rapid succession, as it is he who speaks for each of the puppets.
>At the same time, he is manipulating and/or moving the puppets through space
>in an appropriate manner.
>
> Between the toes of one foot, he also holds a wooden knob with which
>he strikes the box which holds the puppets when not in use, in this way
>directing the gamelan ensemble accompanying the play and adding dramatic
>emphasis to scenes with his rhythmic knocking.
>
> There is also always a battle somewhere in the play between the
>forces of good and evil. While the "good" always wins, it is not a triumph
>in any ultimate sense, only a single moment wherein which the two forces
>are kept in some sort of balance which allows the world to remain in harmony.
>
>While these battles take place in the "physical" realm, I was told a few
>years ago in Java, when I attended a wayang performance there, that the
>reason the good characters always triumph is that they have great "inner"
>strength, unlike the bad characters who only "appear" to be strong, acting
>blustery and throwing their weight around.
>
> Parallels for improvisation exist in the way in which the free
>improviser moves between known and unknown worlds, allowing unconscious
>and subconscious realities to come into play; allowing different, perhaps
>seemingly mutually, exclusive voices to emerge. Also, as I've written
>elsewhere, I see the improviser as fulfilling a type of shamanic function,
>forging sound realities which may exist as archetypes for the manner in
>which we would like to shape our world. We may also use sound
>therapeutically in this way, as part of both a personal and social cultural
>context, allowing "good" and "bad" forces to play out in the sound world
>in such a way -- perhaps even with some levity -- that a respectful balance
>of same is achieved both within and around us.
>
> It is worth noting too the spiritual preparation the dalang makes
>prior to performances, asking for protection from evil forces, some of
>which he will bring into being through the puppets. He asks also that the
"gods"
>may speak through him in the performance and that the audience will take
>delight in his work -- which I take to mean that the audience will be
>delighted in their inherent recognition of the archetypical realities
>presented in the play. Purification rites follow the performance as well.
>
> The performances I saw, four in all, differed in the types of
>orchestras employed to accompany the plays, the level of involvement of
>the music with them, and the styles of working of the different dalangs. The
>performance from east Bali (Karangasem) and that from central Bali (Bangli)
>were similar in that the accompanying ensembles were more of a "standard"
>sort, four players of gamelan gender, 2 pairs of 10-keyed metalaphones
>tuned an octave apart in a 5-toned roughly equidistant (slendro) scale. (The
>players play the instruments two-handed with round-headed wooden hammers,
>continually damping the keys with the palms of their hands as they go.
>Lower-pitched unison lines are often played with the left hand while
>decorative lines of varying complexity are added with the right.) The
>ensemble from west Bali (Jembrana) used similar instrumentation, but with
>the addition of small gongs, cymbals (ceng-ceng), and an oblong two-headed
>drum (kendang). This type of ensemble is considerably more dramatic in
>effect and is used to accompany, among other things, tales from the
>Ramayana, typically those which include a fair amount of conflict. In this
>instance, however, it seemed to be almost "tongue-in-cheek" as, following
>a particularly auspicious and portentous opening, the dalang engaged his
>audience with more than an accustomed amount of humor.
>
> By far the most ambitious production I saw was from the village of
>Sukawati, Gianyar (central Bali), a village with an island-wide reputation
>for the excellence of its dalangs. This shadow performance featured a quite
>large ensemble, some 20 musicians playing instruments of an ancient
>orchestra, the seven-tone gamelan selunding, whose keys are made of small
>to large iron slabs (most Balinese gamelan instruments have bronze keys)
>suspended over wooden trough resonators (as opposed to the individual-key
>bamboo resonators more commonly in use). The keys are struck with large
>wooden hammers; like the gamelan gender, the instruments are played
>two-handed. Included in the orchestra were four players of bamboo flutes
>(suling) who doubled at times on conch shells, adding subtle low tones
>to the sound of the ensemble. Also featured were two drummers (of the oblong
>kendang) and players of large and small gongs and of cymbals (ceng-ceng).
>Even for this orchestra, only rarely heard in its villages of origin in
>east Bali (once a year in most locales), the addition of flutes, drums and
gongs
>to the basic ensemble was extremely unusual.
>
> The music itself was wild! The flutes blew long, wavering
>on-and-off tones, continuously played, the results of circular breath.
>The drums interjected thunderous rhythms while the clanging, clattering
sounds
>of iron moved in, around and about in textural circles and rose and fell
>in smaller and larger percussive waves. A preliminary piece, such as is
>normally played prior to the beginning of the wayang itself, actually drew
>applause from an overwhelmingly Balinese audience, the first time I've
>heard such a thing in this context. As is the case in all wayang
performances,
> at times the gamelan only served to highlight and forward the action of the
>play. But even this was quite extraordinary. And then, when somewhere in
>the middle of the performance, the orchestra members put aside their
instruments
>to vocally interject strains of "ketchak" (the now internationally
>well-known "monkey chant"), the audience howled with delight and once
>again broke into applause. This ensemble's music was also the most integrally
>woven with the action of the play of any of the performances I saw.
>
> The stories themselves, which I had to rely on others to relate to
>me, varied also. The first, presented by an elder dalang from east Bali,
>was somewhat out of character in that there were no "good" and "evil" forces
>in the strict sense. Rather, the story concerned the coming to Bali of
Hinduism
>and the resultant strife that ensued between Hindus and Buddhists over
>the truth of their respective religions. Eventually, however -- through
>constructive interactions -- each came to view the other with tolerance
>and respect. The dalang related the story in a fairly "serious" manner and
>with an enormous amount of engagement. When the play was finished, after
about
>an hour and a half, he was in a heavy sweat and appeared to be in an altered
>state. He reminded me of seeing Cecil Taylor coming off stage after an
>hour or so of intensely pursued piano improvisations.
>
> I never did get a sense of the plot in the obviously humorous tale
>presented by the dalang from Jembrana, the west. My driver and informant,
>who hailed from there, while admitting that the dalang was very funny (he
>himself was laughing throughout), felt the performance was "out of place"
>in the context of the Arts Festival. I think he was pretty much alone in this
>feeling, but he did not want to tell me too much about the story. I
>personally liked the dalang who, I felt, was extremely conscientious in
>his approach and, through his extensive use of humor, was attempting to blend
>old stories with new and to make old but universal messages meaningful
>to a modern audience. (Speaking of which, there was another more or less
popular
>and "famous" dalang, Cenk Blonk, from Tabanan in the near west of Bali,
>who appeared in the festival but who I did not get a chance to see. He is
well
>known for his manner of introducing modern characters into his plays. In
>his performance during the festival, I was told that he premiered a puppet
>of Amrozi, the "smiling" Bali bomber, as one of the evil protagonists!)
>
> The Bangli and Sukawati tales were similar in form, each with
>sections which included a fair amount of dialog. The Sukawati story told
>of the formation of Indonesia itself; I'm not entirely certain about the
>Bangli tale. There could not have been a greater contrast, however, between
>the two dalangs, both relatively young men (early 30s?). The Bangli dalang
>incorporated the gamelan, I felt, to least possible advantage. He also
>maintained a more taut and monophonic tone throughout. Uniquely, however,
>he often sang passages of the text, song-like rather than -- as is more
usually
>the case -- rising-and-falling chant-like, and he at times used his tapping
>of the knob to create simple, drum-like rhythms.
>
> The Sukawati dalang, on the other hand, was almost certainly the
>most sophisticated of any of these wayang masters. He only slowly brought
>his figures onto the screen. They appeared as flickering ghosts,
>materializing from nothing. His sense of drama was so great that I
>frequently felt on the edge of my seat, even while my actual understanding
>of the play's content was negligible. It was rather like entering a movie
>theatre in the middle of a great film you know little about but immediately
>recognizing the style of it as masterful.
>
> I attended one other festival program of great interest which
>featured as its main work a new piece for double gamelan orchestra (two
>gamelan "semara dana" from the village of Pengosekan in central Bali) by
>the American composer and Bali music scholar (now living in Vancouver)
Michael
>Tenzer. The overall program featured various mixed works for Balinese and
>western instruments and included a handful of players both from California's
>Gamelan Sekar Jaya (of which Tenzer was an original founder) and an ensemble
>from Canada. The Sekar Jaya members worked with Balinese composer I Nyoman
>Windha to premiere a new work, Jaya Baya (translated as "Victory over
>Tragedy"), which featured trumpet, clarinet, guitar, violin, tablas, and
>a small (four-tone angklung) gamelan ensemble. It was an ultimately
optimistic
>piece, with much feeling and pathos.
>
> Without question, however, Michael Tenzer's new work was "the event"
>of the evening. To understand its context, some background is in order.
>While nearly all Balinese music is based on pentatonic scales and nearly
>all large, modern (kebyar) ensembles contain only a single (multiple octave)
>scale of that sort, in the 1980s a new hybrid gamelan of seven tones (the
>gamelan semara dana) was created so that various types of Balinese music
>might be played on a single set of instruments. The idea was to be able
>to use the gamelan for fast, kebyar-type music (this music is normally played
>single-handed, one's free hand being used to damp the keys, allowing the
>players great speed to create rapid-fire, interlocking rhythms) but also
>to have the capability of playing older, more elevated court styles as well.
>Until recently, that's the way the semara dana gamelan was approached.
>Then, only three years ago (in the context of engaging Gamelan Sekar Jaya in
>a type of "battle of the bands"), a work was created in Pengosekan, "Geregel"
>(also performed as a part of this program), which for the first time
>proposed a multi-pentatonic, multi-modal style of Balinese music. The piece
>included structural innovations as well, unusual silences and a broad
>dramatic sense not entirely common in Balinese music; to oversimplify,
>a sense of drama as much between as embedded within the lines. (The work
>has been documented on Wayne Vitale's Vital records on an excellently
recorded
>CD entitled "Cudamani". The extensive program notes by Wayne are an
>education as well.)
>
> So Michael Tenzer's piece took off from this new structurally open,
>multi-pentatonic, multi-modal perspective, upping the musical ante both
>in the piece's ambition and by throwing in another whole orchestra. The work,
>whose name I'm unable to recall, was programmatic in nature, but its nature
>was such that it served to further the musical advancement. That is, it
>had to do with a first-time meeting between two entirely different cultures,
>each one represented by one of the two orchestras which faced each other
>across an open-air stage. As the piece commenced, each orchestra began
>playing entirely in its own musical universe, paying little if any attention
>to what was transpiring across the way from it. Additionally, the orchestra
>on the left began by playing extremely quietly while the orchestra on the
>right was more demonstrably loud and assertive. There were any number of
>textural twists, some marvelous sudden rhythmic interjections and shifts
>in dynamics until finally, at the piece's center, a powerful yet slightly
>uneasy unanimity was achieved between the two bodies. The collective power
>of it was exhilarating, yet it lasted only briefly. Gradually, the heady
>communion began to come apart, each orchestra retreating into its own
>parameters, then finally retiring to musical spaces which mirrored the
>opening.
>
> There were some subtle, yet important, visual components to the work
>as well. For example, in the middle of the piece, one of the two drummers
>from each orchestra exchanged drums, symbolic of creating a cultural bridge
>between the groups. Also, at the work's conclusion, each of the players
>of the large gongs from each orchestra abandoned their posts at the rear of
>the stage and walked to the front. As the large gong is more or less the
anchor
>of any gamelan ensemble, I took the musicians leaving their instruments
>to indicate that while the piece was finished, the process itself was
>unfinished; unfinished because it is an ongoing one and must be continually,
>freshly re-engaged in.
>
> In all, it was a relatively short piece, no longer than 15 minutes;
>but there was an opportunity to hear it played twice, both at the beginning
>of the evening and again at the end.
>
> Marvelous on its own terms, this piece was also personally
>interesting to me in its implications for improvisation. Cultural relations,
>after all, while steeped in social identities, are nothing more than
>personal relations played out on a larger scale. That said, the main thing
>that has always interested me about group improvisation is how much musical
>independence or sense of true self individuals might maintain while
>(equally) contributing to and upholding a group identity. A prevalence
>among improvisers, I often feel, is that they are either reluctant to allow
their
>full selves to come forth; or else they are assertive to the point of
>overshadowing the contributions of the other players. So did this piece
>suggest any answers? What it mainly suggested, it would seem, is the
>difficulty of maintaining that precarious and delicate balance between
>the individual and the group. It likewise suggested to me that, despite the
>elusiveness of means to an ultimately unified end, an honest process itself
>(of improvisation) may be just as worthy as any final "result" that is
>achieved.
>
>
>
> Certain background material for this report came from the online
>article, "Wayang Kulit:Shadow Puppet Performances"
>
>(http://www.murnis.com/wayangkulit.htm) at Murni's Website: "Articles on
>Balinese Culture"; also from Wayne Vitale's notes to "Cudamani: The
>Seven-Tone Gamelan Orchestra From the Village of Pengosekan, Bali" (Vital
>Records 440).

---
Hanuman Zhang, musical mad scientist

"Welcome and explore and inquire into everything, new or old, that comes
your way, and then build your own music on whatever your inner life has been able
to take in and offer you back again." - Henry Cowell

"Music is by no means like the other arts, namely a copy of the Ideas, but a
copy of the will itself, the objectivity of which are the Ideas. For this
reason, the effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating than is
that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow, but music
of the essence." - Schopenhauer, _The World as Will and Representation_

"...improvisation is about change, about flux rather than stasis. ...
improvisation is about a constant change." - Steve Beresford

improvisation: "a process of liberation, a working around the assumptions
that define our civilization, and the results are open-ended." - John Berndt

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. Wandering by
lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers and world
forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of
the world forever it seems."
-<A HREF="http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=708">Arthur
O'Shaunessey</A>

nice. tenzer was one of my profs.

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, czhang23@a... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 2003:08:05 11:05:28 AM, Henry.Kuntz@c... writes:
>
> >Hello Folks,
> > I wanted to share with you some of the music and music-related
> >events I encountered on my recent trip to Bali, where I spent most
of the
> >month of June.
> >
> > One of the archetypes I've used to prepare for and to engage in
> >improvisation is that of the Indonesian shadow play ("wayang
kulit"); or
> >more specifically, the archetype of the shadow puppet master,
or "dalang".
> >
> > So I was excited to note that Bali's 25th Annual Arts Festival
> >(which began on June 14 in Denpasar), a month-long series of
music, dance
> >and arts/crafts presentations, was to feature shadow play
performances
> >by masters of the art from various regions of the island.
> >
> > While we use the term "master" rather loosely these days to
refer to
> >almost anyone who has attained a certain degree of skill in their
chosen
> >profession, the "dalang" is a master in a much broader sense. He
must
> >undergo rigorous training in a number of fields (music,
literature, dance,
> >drama) and is more like a secular priest than a mere performer.
Indeed,
> >the ritual allowing one to begin working as a dalang is closely
akin to the
> >ordination of a Hindu priest. (Note: While women priests are
common in
> >Bali, I'm unaware of any women working in wayang.) Further, the
dalang is
> thought
> >of as a type of spiritual medium, one who in the performance of
his art,
> >opens lines of communication between the natural and supernatural
worlds.
> >He bridges the gap between those worlds and allows the unseen
forces to speak
> >through him. As such, although the plays themselves are almost
always based
> >on traditional and well known stories, they are typically laced
with current
> >social and political commentary, often couched in humorous terms.
> >
> > The plays are presented on a 6 X 4 foot screen behind which is a
> >hanging oil lamp which projects the flickering shadows of the
leather
> >puppets. There may be as many as 125 for possible use. The dalang
sits
> >behind the lamp which also has a microphone attached to it into
which he
> >speaks. He must be conversant in at least three languages: old
Javanese
> >(or Kawi), the language in which the plays transpire, and Balinese
and
> >Indonesian, the languages which the four clown-servants of the
main (both
> >good and bad) characters speak to translate and comment upon the
proceedings
> >for the audience, almost none of whom understand the old language.
> >Additionally, he must speak in any number of voices, often
switching between
> >them in rapid succession, as it is he who speaks for each of the
puppets.
> >At the same time, he is manipulating and/or moving the puppets
through space
> >in an appropriate manner.
> >
> > Between the toes of one foot, he also holds a wooden knob with
which
> >he strikes the box which holds the puppets when not in use, in
this way
> >directing the gamelan ensemble accompanying the play and adding
dramatic
> >emphasis to scenes with his rhythmic knocking.
> >
> > There is also always a battle somewhere in the play between the
> >forces of good and evil. While the "good" always wins, it is not a
triumph
> >in any ultimate sense, only a single moment wherein which the two
forces
> >are kept in some sort of balance which allows the world to remain
in harmony.
> >
> >While these battles take place in the "physical" realm, I was told
a few
> >years ago in Java, when I attended a wayang performance there,
that the
> >reason the good characters always triumph is that they have
great "inner"
> >strength, unlike the bad characters who only "appear" to be
strong, acting
> >blustery and throwing their weight around.
> >
> > Parallels for improvisation exist in the way in which the free
> >improviser moves between known and unknown worlds, allowing
unconscious
> >and subconscious realities to come into play; allowing different,
perhaps
> >seemingly mutually, exclusive voices to emerge. Also, as I've
written
> >elsewhere, I see the improviser as fulfilling a type of shamanic
function,
> >forging sound realities which may exist as archetypes for the
manner in
> >which we would like to shape our world. We may also use sound
> >therapeutically in this way, as part of both a personal and
social cultural
> >context, allowing "good" and "bad" forces to play out in the sound
world
> >in such a way -- perhaps even with some levity -- that a
respectful balance
> >of same is achieved both within and around us.
> >
> > It is worth noting too the spiritual preparation the dalang
makes
> >prior to performances, asking for protection from evil forces,
some of
> >which he will bring into being through the puppets. He asks also
that the
> "gods"
> >may speak through him in the performance and that the audience
will take
> >delight in his work -- which I take to mean that the audience will
be
> >delighted in their inherent recognition of the archetypical
realities
> >presented in the play. Purification rites follow the performance
as well.
> >
> > The performances I saw, four in all, differed in the types of
> >orchestras employed to accompany the plays, the level of
involvement of
> >the music with them, and the styles of working of the different
dalangs. The
> >performance from east Bali (Karangasem) and that from central Bali
(Bangli)
> >were similar in that the accompanying ensembles were more of
a "standard"
> >sort, four players of gamelan gender, 2 pairs of 10-keyed
metalaphones
> >tuned an octave apart in a 5-toned roughly equidistant (slendro)
scale. (The
> >players play the instruments two-handed with round-headed wooden
hammers,
> >continually damping the keys with the palms of their hands as they
go.
> >Lower-pitched unison lines are often played with the left hand
while
> >decorative lines of varying complexity are added with the right.)
The
> >ensemble from west Bali (Jembrana) used similar instrumentation,
but with
> >the addition of small gongs, cymbals (ceng-ceng), and an oblong
two-headed
> >drum (kendang). This type of ensemble is considerably more
dramatic in
> >effect and is used to accompany, among other things, tales from the
> >Ramayana, typically those which include a fair amount of conflict.
In this
> >instance, however, it seemed to be almost "tongue-in-cheek" as,
following
> >a particularly auspicious and portentous opening, the dalang
engaged his
> >audience with more than an accustomed amount of humor.
> >
> > By far the most ambitious production I saw was from the village
of
> >Sukawati, Gianyar (central Bali), a village with an island-wide
reputation
> >for the excellence of its dalangs. This shadow performance
featured a quite
> >large ensemble, some 20 musicians playing instruments of an ancient
> >orchestra, the seven-tone gamelan selunding, whose keys are made
of small
> >to large iron slabs (most Balinese gamelan instruments have bronze
keys)
> >suspended over wooden trough resonators (as opposed to the
individual-key
> >bamboo resonators more commonly in use). The keys are struck with
large
> >wooden hammers; like the gamelan gender, the instruments are played
> >two-handed. Included in the orchestra were four players of bamboo
flutes
> >(suling) who doubled at times on conch shells, adding subtle low
tones
> >to the sound of the ensemble. Also featured were two drummers (of
the oblong
> >kendang) and players of large and small gongs and of cymbals (ceng-
ceng).
> >Even for this orchestra, only rarely heard in its villages of
origin in
> >east Bali (once a year in most locales), the addition of flutes,
drums and
> gongs
> >to the basic ensemble was extremely unusual.
> >
> > The music itself was wild! The flutes blew long, wavering
> >on-and-off tones, continuously played, the results of circular
breath.
> >The drums interjected thunderous rhythms while the clanging,
clattering
> sounds
> >of iron moved in, around and about in textural circles and rose
and fell
> >in smaller and larger percussive waves. A preliminary piece, such
as is
> >normally played prior to the beginning of the wayang itself,
actually drew
> >applause from an overwhelmingly Balinese audience, the first time
I've
> >heard such a thing in this context. As is the case in all wayang
> performances,
> > at times the gamelan only served to highlight and forward the
action of the
> >play. But even this was quite extraordinary. And then, when
somewhere in
> >the middle of the performance, the orchestra members put aside
their
> instruments
> >to vocally interject strains of "ketchak" (the now internationally
> >well-known "monkey chant"), the audience howled with delight and
once
> >again broke into applause. This ensemble's music was also the most
integrally
> >woven with the action of the play of any of the performances I
saw.
> >
> > The stories themselves, which I had to rely on others to relate
to
> >me, varied also. The first, presented by an elder dalang from east
Bali,
> >was somewhat out of character in that there were no "good"
and "evil" forces
> >in the strict sense. Rather, the story concerned the coming to
Bali of
> Hinduism
> >and the resultant strife that ensued between Hindus and Buddhists
over
> >the truth of their respective religions. Eventually, however --
through
> >constructive interactions -- each came to view the other with
tolerance
> >and respect. The dalang related the story in a fairly "serious"
manner and
> >with an enormous amount of engagement. When the play was finished,
after
> about
> >an hour and a half, he was in a heavy sweat and appeared to be in
an altered
> >state. He reminded me of seeing Cecil Taylor coming off stage
after an
> >hour or so of intensely pursued piano improvisations.
> >
> > I never did get a sense of the plot in the obviously humorous
tale
> >presented by the dalang from Jembrana, the west. My driver and
informant,
> >who hailed from there, while admitting that the dalang was very
funny (he
> >himself was laughing throughout), felt the performance was "out of
place"
> >in the context of the Arts Festival. I think he was pretty much
alone in this
> >feeling, but he did not want to tell me too much about the story. I
> >personally liked the dalang who, I felt, was extremely
conscientious in
> >his approach and, through his extensive use of humor, was
attempting to blend
> >old stories with new and to make old but universal messages
meaningful
> >to a modern audience. (Speaking of which, there was another more
or less
> popular
> >and "famous" dalang, Cenk Blonk, from Tabanan in the near west of
Bali,
> >who appeared in the festival but who I did not get a chance to
see. He is
> well
> >known for his manner of introducing modern characters into his
plays. In
> >his performance during the festival, I was told that he premiered
a puppet
> >of Amrozi, the "smiling" Bali bomber, as one of the evil
protagonists!)
> >
> > The Bangli and Sukawati tales were similar in form, each with
> >sections which included a fair amount of dialog. The Sukawati
story told
> >of the formation of Indonesia itself; I'm not entirely certain
about the
> >Bangli tale. There could not have been a greater contrast,
however, between
> >the two dalangs, both relatively young men (early 30s?). The
Bangli dalang
> >incorporated the gamelan, I felt, to least possible advantage. He
also
> >maintained a more taut and monophonic tone throughout. Uniquely,
however,
> >he often sang passages of the text, song-like rather than -- as is
more
> usually
> >the case -- rising-and-falling chant-like, and he at times used
his tapping
> >of the knob to create simple, drum-like rhythms.
> >
> > The Sukawati dalang, on the other hand, was almost certainly the
> >most sophisticated of any of these wayang masters. He only slowly
brought
> >his figures onto the screen. They appeared as flickering ghosts,
> >materializing from nothing. His sense of drama was so great that I
> >frequently felt on the edge of my seat, even while my actual
understanding
> >of the play's content was negligible. It was rather like entering
a movie
> >theatre in the middle of a great film you know little about but
immediately
> >recognizing the style of it as masterful.
> >
> > I attended one other festival program of great interest which
> >featured as its main work a new piece for double gamelan orchestra
(two
> >gamelan "semara dana" from the village of Pengosekan in central
Bali) by
> >the American composer and Bali music scholar (now living in
Vancouver)
> Michael
> >Tenzer. The overall program featured various mixed works for
Balinese and
> >western instruments and included a handful of players both from
California's
> >Gamelan Sekar Jaya (of which Tenzer was an original founder) and
an ensemble
> >from Canada. The Sekar Jaya members worked with Balinese composer
I Nyoman
> >Windha to premiere a new work, Jaya Baya (translated as "Victory
over
> >Tragedy"), which featured trumpet, clarinet, guitar, violin,
tablas, and
> >a small (four-tone angklung) gamelan ensemble. It was an
ultimately
> optimistic
> >piece, with much feeling and pathos.
> >
> > Without question, however, Michael Tenzer's new work was "the
event"
> >of the evening. To understand its context, some background is in
order.
> >While nearly all Balinese music is based on pentatonic scales and
nearly
> >all large, modern (kebyar) ensembles contain only a single
(multiple octave)
> >scale of that sort, in the 1980s a new hybrid gamelan of seven
tones (the
> >gamelan semara dana) was created so that various types of Balinese
music
> >might be played on a single set of instruments. The idea was to be
able
> >to use the gamelan for fast, kebyar-type music (this music is
normally played
> >single-handed, one's free hand being used to damp the keys,
allowing the
> >players great speed to create rapid-fire, interlocking rhythms)
but also
> >to have the capability of playing older, more elevated court
styles as well.
> >Until recently, that's the way the semara dana gamelan was
approached.
> >Then, only three years ago (in the context of engaging Gamelan
Sekar Jaya in
> >a type of "battle of the bands"), a work was created in
Pengosekan, "Geregel"
> >(also performed as a part of this program), which for the first
time
> >proposed a multi-pentatonic, multi-modal style of Balinese music.
The piece
> >included structural innovations as well, unusual silences and a
broad
> >dramatic sense not entirely common in Balinese music; to
oversimplify,
> >a sense of drama as much between as embedded within the lines.
(The work
> >has been documented on Wayne Vitale's Vital records on an
excellently
> recorded
> >CD entitled "Cudamani". The extensive program notes by Wayne are an
> >education as well.)
> >
> > So Michael Tenzer's piece took off from this new structurally
open,
> >multi-pentatonic, multi-modal perspective, upping the musical ante
both
> >in the piece's ambition and by throwing in another whole
orchestra. The work,
> >whose name I'm unable to recall, was programmatic in nature, but
its nature
> >was such that it served to further the musical advancement. That
is, it
> >had to do with a first-time meeting between two entirely different
cultures,
> >each one represented by one of the two orchestras which faced each
other
> >across an open-air stage. As the piece commenced, each orchestra
began
> >playing entirely in its own musical universe, paying little if any
attention
> >to what was transpiring across the way from it. Additionally, the
orchestra
> >on the left began by playing extremely quietly while the orchestra
on the
> >right was more demonstrably loud and assertive. There were any
number of
> >textural twists, some marvelous sudden rhythmic interjections and
shifts
> >in dynamics until finally, at the piece's center, a powerful yet
slightly
> >uneasy unanimity was achieved between the two bodies. The
collective power
> >of it was exhilarating, yet it lasted only briefly. Gradually, the
heady
> >communion began to come apart, each orchestra retreating into its
own
> >parameters, then finally retiring to musical spaces which mirrored
the
> >opening.
> >
> > There were some subtle, yet important, visual components to the
work
> >as well. For example, in the middle of the piece, one of the two
drummers
> >from each orchestra exchanged drums, symbolic of creating a
cultural bridge
> >between the groups. Also, at the work's conclusion, each of the
players
> >of the large gongs from each orchestra abandoned their posts at
the rear of
> >the stage and walked to the front. As the large gong is more or
less the
> anchor
> >of any gamelan ensemble, I took the musicians leaving their
instruments
> >to indicate that while the piece was finished, the process itself
was
> >unfinished; unfinished because it is an ongoing one and must be
continually,
> >freshly re-engaged in.
> >
> > In all, it was a relatively short piece, no longer than 15
minutes;
> >but there was an opportunity to hear it played twice, both at the
beginning
> >of the evening and again at the end.
> >
> > Marvelous on its own terms, this piece was also personally
> >interesting to me in its implications for improvisation. Cultural
relations,
> >after all, while steeped in social identities, are nothing more
than
> >personal relations played out on a larger scale. That said, the
main thing
> >that has always interested me about group improvisation is how
much musical
> >independence or sense of true self individuals might maintain while
> >(equally) contributing to and upholding a group identity. A
prevalence
> >among improvisers, I often feel, is that they are either reluctant
to allow
> their
> >full selves to come forth; or else they are assertive to the point
of
> >overshadowing the contributions of the other players. So did this
piece
> >suggest any answers? What it mainly suggested, it would seem, is
the
> >difficulty of maintaining that precarious and delicate balance
between
> >the individual and the group. It likewise suggested to me that,
despite the
> >elusiveness of means to an ultimately unified end, an honest
process itself
> >(of improvisation) may be just as worthy as any final "result"
that is
> >achieved.
> >
> >
> >
> > Certain background material for this report came from the online
> >article, "Wayang Kulit:Shadow Puppet Performances"
> >
> >(http://www.murnis.com/wayangkulit.htm) at Murni's
Website: "Articles on
> >Balinese Culture"; also from Wayne Vitale's notes to "Cudamani: The
> >Seven-Tone Gamelan Orchestra From the Village of Pengosekan, Bali"
(Vital
> >Records 440).
>
>
>
> ---
> Hanuman Zhang, musical mad scientist
>
> "Welcome and explore and inquire into everything, new or old, that
comes
> your way, and then build your own music on whatever your inner life
has been able
> to take in and offer you back again." - Henry Cowell
>
> "Music is by no means like the other arts, namely a copy of the
Ideas, but a
> copy of the will itself, the objectivity of which are the Ideas.
For this
> reason, the effect of music is so very much more powerful and
penetrating than is
> that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow,
but music
> of the essence." - Schopenhauer, _The World as Will and
Representation_
>
> "...improvisation is about change, about flux rather than
stasis. ...
> improvisation is about a constant change." - Steve Beresford
>
> improvisation: "a process of liberation, a working around the
assumptions
> that define our civilization, and the results are open-ended." -
John Berndt
>
> "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream.
Wandering by
> lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers
and world
> forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the
shakers of
> the world forever it seems."
> -<A HREF="http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=708">Arthur
> O'Shaunessey</A>