Rebab and Female Singing of Central Javanese Gamelan

Sarasehan Karawitan Surakarta - Rebab and Female Singing of Central Javanese Gamelan

You gotta love it when the cover even mentions that Java music is superbly performed on the disc. Of course, there has to be some selling point or a justification for even putting this out in the first place. What is even better is that the proclamation is true. The music on the disc is a style of gamelan chamber music called Gadhon, where it is only performed by master musicians.

Performers:

Members of the Sarasehan Karawitan Surakarta, the leader of which is Saptono and the supervisor is K. Widadanegoro:

Saptono - rebab (two-string bowed lute)
Walidi - kendhang (double-headed barrel drums)
Dalimin - slenthem (7-slab bronze xylophone)
Mulyono - gender (14-slab bronze xylophone)
Soeyadi - gambang (wooden xylophone)
Tarnopangrawit - suling (vertical bamboo flute) and gong gedhe (pair of large hanging gongs)
Tukinem - sindhen (female singing)


From the liner notes:

Some music is so beautiful to listen to that a person nearly loses one's sanity. On the other hand, there are certain kinds of music which make one completely relaxed with the eternity conceived at their core. Only a few musicians are able to move people to have those two different feelings simultaneously. In this recording, Saptono, who plays rebab and Tukinem, with her beautiful and rare voice, both from the city of Solo in Central Java, seem to do just that.

Gamelans of the Central Javanese style, consisting mainly of bronze percussion instruments, are very large in scale, usually played by 20 to 30 musicians and singers. For every special occasion such as a ritual, festival, or a memorial day - occasions when many people gather - the playing of gamelan is an indispensable part of the gathering....

Gamelans are also enjoyed more privately. On birthdays or memorial days of a certain event, which may occur every 35 days, 210 days or in another cycle depending on the Javanese calendar, intimate community members gather to enjoy all-night gamelan playing. While listening or playing gamelan, each of the participants meditates in his own way, spiritually communicating with each other and praying for the eternal peace of the universe. When the participants are musicians of a high level, it is possible for musicians and audience, together with the omnipresent spirits, to have a very enjoyable time. On these occasions, they may prefer to use the ensembles of gamelan of a smaller scale which consist of the most important instruments which require a high level of technique and musicality. This type of instrumentation is called gadhon, literally "eating side dishes." [The instruments in the gadhon are all mentioned in the list of performers above.]....

The Rebab, gender, gambang and suling play the melodic and rhythmic variations while the slenthem plays the "nuclear" melody. The Gong gedhe construct the basic "colotomic" frame and the kendhang determine repetitions and signal changes in operation and tempo. The Sindhen (female singing) is also added in the second piece of this recording.




Tracklisting:

1. Gendhing SEMBURADAS minggah TOMBOHONENG {20:48}

2. Gendhing LALERMENGENG minggah Ladrang TLUTUR {20:29}

3. Gendhing BANDHELORI minggah Ladrang ELING-ELING {16:52}

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