Artist.......: VA
Album........: Gameland of Central Java (VII.Edge of Tradition)
Label........: Felmay
Genre........: Ethnic
Catnr........: n/a
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: 23-11-2006
str.date.....: 00-00-2006
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: http://www.felmay.it/main.php?ricerca=edge&id=2705&lang=en
track title time
01. Gendhing Parisuka - Pelog Nem 10:41
02. Gendhing Kombang Mara - Pelog Lima 22:57
03. Gendhing Bonang: Glendheng - Pelog Lima 16:21
04. Ketawang Puspa Warna - Pelog Nem 05:26
05. Ketawang Puspa Warna - Slendro Manyura 04:03
Runtime 59:28 min
Size 78,4 MB
Release Notes:
Edge of Tradition is the seventh CD in our series
dedicated to the gamelan culture of Central Java
and the musicianship of the players - all from the
Surakarta conservatory - is again impeccable.
The opening track, a very special gending composed
in the mid 20th century by the revered maestro
Martopangrawit, features an opening and closing
section in 3/4 tempo, unexpectedly recalling
Western styles such as the waltz. By no means an
isolated example, as the sleevenotes of Javanese
musicologist Sumarsam attest, the piece shows how a
musical culture we commonly think of as closed, for
centuries shut off from the outside world, has in
fact experimented with styles of other traditions.
Indeed the whole CD offers the listener a fresh and
surprising encounter with a gamelan tradition
somewhat different from the models commonly heard
in the West. The second track, the celebrated
Kombang Mara gending, appears here in a version for
two female voices (the charming Nyi Cendaniraras e
Nyi Suparsih) while the traditional version is for
only one voice. This reworking, conceived by series
curator John Noise Manis and arranged and played
(on the rebab) by the great musician Suraji, also
includes texts from Javanese poetic literature
(with translation in the booklet) which would not
normally form part of the piece. The third track is
also notable for a certain syncopation of the main
melodic line, not commonly found in Javanese music.
The CD's closing piece - the well-known Puspa
Warna, often cited for having been sent into space
with the Voyager in a recording made by Robert E.
Brown - is included in two different versions:
first in the rarely heard pelog scale, then in the
standard slendro scale.
While staying firmly anchored in musical tradition,
ôEdge of Traditionö presents elements which are
indicative of an inherent potential for evolving of
Central Javanese gamelan music, and provides a
glimpse of this culture - definitely comparable
with the world's richest