Gamelan of Central Java 2

GAMELAN OF CENTRAL JAVA II: CEREMONIAL MUSIC

Dunya, 2002

INDONESIA – This is the second in a series of discs focusing on Javanese music. The first 2 tracks are Islamic ceremonial music, played on big fat gongs at mosques to attract the locals. This is mystical music: slow and introspective (or slow and boring; you decide). The rest of the disc is made up of older ceremonial music, similar on the surface but quite different if you listen closely. See liner notes for details.

Note: these are field recordings, so expect to hear some background noise

01. 15:40 – very quiet & abstract for 5 mins; slow, clanky, hypnotic pattern goes on for 8 mins, then speeds up for a clattery midtempo ending.

02. 20:32 – same as track 1: slow 5 minutes, then a pretty pattern evolves until about the 16 min. mark. Speeds up and gets louder in final 5 mins.

03. 7:08 – oldest known Javanese music: a four-note pattern over and over and over…

04. 6:13 – heard at “weddings, birthdays, and circumcisions”: a rhythm with interesting pauses repeats throughout, gradually slowing down

05. 10:25 – quiet, with more of a Balinese style: still based on a repeating pattern, but there’s a tiny bit more variation. Speeds up slightly in the middle.

[Fo] - 7/24/02