artist : VA
title : Be Not Afraid to Strike the Gong - The Music of Lombok
date : 1998
label : Indonesian Arts Society
cat# : n/a
genre : Ethnic
release date: 03.19.2008
street date : 00.00.1998
tracks : 07
bitrate : avg. 168kbps
size : 77,1 MB
source : CDDA
type : Album
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Lombok is located between Bali and Sumbawa in the Lesser
Sunda chain of islands in Indonesia, and the indigenous
people of Lombok are the Sasak. The recording Be Not Afraid
to Strike the Gong: The Music of Lombok contains examples of
music from Lombok as performed by three different types of
ensembles: a gong Sasak group playing music to accompany
dance, procession and martial arts, a wayang Sasak group
performing music to accompany the shadow puppet theatre, and
a rebana tuned-drum ensemble performing pieces played at
weddings, circumcision ceremonies, and other festive
occasions.
The title "Be Not Afraid to Strike the Gong" is a translation
of the Sasak proverb Kendek ipuh pantok gong. The idea is to
"express yourself," and to do so just as you would strike a
gong - confidently, clearly and at the right time. On a more
literal level, this proverb can be taken as a reminder to
maintain indigenous Sasak traditions. Gongs and bronze
instruments in general are historically associated with
pre-Islamic Sasak culture and as a result, "striking the
gong" is opposed by some orthodox Muslim leaders on the
island. This has led to a decline of the traditional
performing arts in some areas of Lombok.
Islam came to Lombok via Java during the 15th to 17th
centuries. A few Sasak resisted conversion, and it is said
that there are still pockets of these Bodha Sasak in some
isolated areas of the highlands of North Lombok. The
overwhelming majority of the population accepted the new
faith, and a syncretic form of Islam developed called Waktu
Tiga, which combined a belief in Allah and Mohammed as His
prophet with Sasak tradition. It is in the now rapidly
diminishing Waktu Tiga communities that traditional Sasak
music, dance and theatre forms have the strongest hold. Among
orthodox Muslim Sasak, called Waktu Lima, the pan-Islamic
rebana ensemble is the preferred means of interpreting Sasak
music, as other musical instruments and art forms in Lombok
are associated with pre-Islamic Sasak culture.
While Lombok's music, dance and theatre are rooted in local
Sasak culture and are stylistically distinctive from
elsewhere in Indonesia, they have also been influenced by the
performing arts of neighbouring islands, especially Java and
Bali. Javanese influence is, for example, evident in the form
of the Sasak shadow puppets and in the use of Middle Javanese
by refined characters, and is also evident in some Sasak
dance forms. During the 18th and 19th centuries much of
Lombok was under Balinese control, and today ethnic Balinese
comprise a significant minority in West Lombok. As a result,
the influence of the Balinese performing arts has also been
great in Lombok. For example, the musical ensemble which
accompanies wayang Sasak, so different from its counterparts
in the shadow plays of Java and Bali, seems to have been
influenced by the archaic Balinese gamelan gambuh. And the
music of the gong Sasak group, and even of the Sasak rebana
ensemble, have both been influenced by gong kebyar, the
dominant, Balinese 20th century musical style.
The musical arts associated with each of the three major
social groups in Lombok, the Waktu Lima orthodox Muslims, the
Waktu Tiga syncretic Muslims, and the Lombok Balinese Hindus
(a syncretic form of Balinese Hinduism, incorporating some
Sasak traditions) are represented by the three ensembles on
this recording. Formally, all three musical genres have in
common an emphasis on carefully modulated group tempo and
dynamic changes, the use of interlocking parts so that
figurations played on two or more instruments are combined to
produce a single line, and the punctuation of rhythmic cycles
with gongs (or, in the case of rebana, with drums functioning
as gongs). These general musical characteristics are common
to many music cultures in Indonesia, but they are realised in
Lombok in distinct and unique ways.
Produced by Christopher Basile.
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01-Warga Sintu Gunung - Yung Aek 06:52
02-Warga Sintu Gunung - Batrong Roncang 09:11
(A. Bapangan, B. Pelayonan, C. Pegenjek)
03-Sekarsari - Selentur 11:01
04-Bina Karya - Turida 08:31
05-Warga Sintu Gunung - Perisian 07:34
(A. Kabar Alus, B. Pengumbang, C. Pengerong Batel)
06-Warga Sintu Gunung - Barong Tengkok 12:54
(A. Gending Empat, B. Janggelan)
07-Bina Karya - Ketejer 05:27
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61:30 min