Bali: The Celebrated Gamelans

Bali: The Celebrated Gamelans

From the liner notes:

Side 1:

1. Ramayana Ballet (kendangs, suling, genders sarons, bonangs, & gongs)

Selections: An evocation of the Ramayana in ballet form.

1. Rama pursues the golden stag and slays it.

2. Rawana kidnaps Sita.

This recording was made on a tour of Bali, traveling at night on a bicycle. In this silence, the only guide was gamelan music echoing through the darkness. In the vilage, young dancing-girls (6 years old) were learning, to this music, the different gestures and body-movements necessary to the performance of this ballet.

2. Barong or Kris Dance (suling, kendangs, bonangs, sarons, & gongs)

Selections: Prelude to a ceremony called "Barong," played on the flute (suling).

3. Offering-Procession (gongs and cymbals)

Processions are very common in Bali: those taking folk to the temple move to the sound of this strange music. Clad in their most beautiful "batiks" (decorated material worn as skirts), the young girls bear on their heads the great silver domes holding the offerings that are to be placed in the temple.

Side 2:

1. "Ketjak" or monkey-dance

In the silence of the night, a hundred or so men, bare to the waist join together around a huge torch. Shaking their shoulders and lifting their arms skyward, they cry in cadence: "chak, chak, chak..." while characters tell the Ramayana epic: the pursuit of the golden stag, its death, the capture of Sita, the eagle's flight, Sita in the palace rescued by monkeys. At the outset, the repetition of the sound "chak" put a girl named Sanghyang into a trance. This ceremony provided knowledge of the gods' wishes as transmitted through Sanghyang.

2. Gender wayang: Ansarun (genders)

The genders provide musical accompaniment for the wayang kulit (the Balinese version of the shadow-plays of eastern Java). The puppets are buffalo-hide cutouts. The "dalang," the real hero of the shadow-play, conducts the ensemble of genders. He sits behind a screen lit by an oil lamp.

3. Pendet (kendangs, genders, sarons, bonangs, and gongs)

Selection: This religious dance is performed by "pemangkus" (priests and priestesses), women, or little girls. Recently introduced into the Legong performances, the pendet is usually danced by three young girls. In their hands they hold silver cups or braided palm-leaves containing offerings of flowers, food, etc. At the conclusion of the dance, they throw flowers at the audience to bless it.

4. Legong (kendangs, genders, sarons, bonangs, and gongs)

Selections: From the age of five, every little girl hopes to be chosen to belong to the group of Legong dancers who meet in the village every evening. Thus, the girl-child you pass on the road in the daytime may appear among the temple dancers in the evening; her peasant father will leave his rice-field to take his place at the gamelan, while her mother will oversee the family preparation of the offering (i.e. the plaiting of palm-leaves).

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Ramayana Ballet [excerpt] {6:17}

2. Barong or Kris Dance [excerpts] {6:57}

3. Offering Procession {1:36}

Side 2

1. "Ketjak" or Monkey Dance [excerpts] {5:26}

2. Gender Wayang: Ansarun {2:22}

3. Pendet [excerpt] {2:54}

4. Legong [excerpts] {4:11}

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