Gamelan of Central Java - IX. Songs of Wisdom and Love
SKU
08-FY8120
"Theme and content of this recording, the ninth in Felmay’s Gamelan of Central Java series, are clear from its title: Songs of Wisdom and Love. All tracks on this CD, designed by John Noise Manis and benefiting by the performance of musicians of STSI (Institute of the Arts) in Surakarta, are in fact sung. In different ways they showcase the beauty of Javanese voices, both male and female. The mocopat and bowo pieces, for example, feature solo voices singing in perfect solitude - female and male, respectively. Of particular interest are the pieces in the palaran style, in which a mocopat passage is inserted into the broader gamelan composition. Also included is an example of dramatic vocal composition, sulukan, typical of the Wayang Kulit theatre. The CD’s opening track, Kodok Ngorek, is notable for its innovative interweaving of the traditional elements of the ancient gending with two vocal melodies - mocopat, originally sung without accompaniment - in a well-fitted juxtaposition of classical elements from two different cultural traditions that come together to produce a new gamelan listening experience (Berio’s new renderings of existing music come to mind by way of analogy). The tracks which follow reveal the rich variety of Central Javanese vocal music. Tracks two and three exemplify the relation between mocopat and palaran by presenting the former and then its insertion into the latter. Outstanding among the interpreters are the female voices of Nyi Cendaniraras (who sings all the mocopat) and Nyi Suparsih, while the male voices are those of Darsono (who sings the bowo), Rustopo and Waridi. The CD booklet includes a translation of all ancient Javanese texts sung in the fourteen tracks. This should help Western listeners enter a lyrical and cultural universe quite different from their own, but for that very reason all the more fascinating.
The CD commentary is written by Sumarsam, the renowned Javanese ethnomusicologist and musician."