Javanese Court Gamelan
Encyclopedia
Note: the first cover is of the first CD issue of the album, released during the 1990s.
Javanese Court Gamelan is a recording of the gamelan
of the Paku Alaman court in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
. It was recorded by ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown
. It was issued on compact disc on April 17, 1991 with the original contents. It was remastered and reissued under the name Java: Court Gamelan on January 28, 2003 with a cover of a photograph of Borobudur
.
The gamelan in the recording is an heirloom gamelan, made in 1755 for Paku Alam I. The sléndro
half, named Kyai Pengawé Sari ("Sir Invitation to Beauty"), is heard on tracks 1 and 3, while the pélog
half, named Kyai Telaga Muntjar ("Sir Lake and Fountain"), is heard on tracks 2 and 4.
The recording was made on January 10, 1971, in the reception hall of the Pura Paku Alaman, by permission of Paku Alam VIII, for a radio broadcast in honor of his birthday. The sounds of sparrow
s that make their nests in the hall and other ambient noises are considered normal.
The recording of Puspawarna
was included on the Voyager Golden Record
. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording
in the Grammy Awards of 1972
.
Javanese Court Gamelan is a recording of the gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
of the Paku Alaman court in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It was recorded by ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown
Robert E. Brown
Robert E . "Bob" Brown was an ethnomusicologist who is credited with coining the term "world music" . He was also well known for his recordings of music from Indonesia...
. It was issued on compact disc on April 17, 1991 with the original contents. It was remastered and reissued under the name Java: Court Gamelan on January 28, 2003 with a cover of a photograph of Borobudur
Borobudur
Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues...
.
The gamelan in the recording is an heirloom gamelan, made in 1755 for Paku Alam I. The sléndro
Slendro
Slendro is a pentatonic scale, one of the two most common scales used in Indonesian gamelan music, the other being pélog.-Tuning:...
half, named Kyai Pengawé Sari ("Sir Invitation to Beauty"), is heard on tracks 1 and 3, while the pélog
Pelog
Pelog is one of the two essential scales of gamelan music native to Bali and Java, in Indonesia. The other scale commonly used is called slendro. Pelog has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for five of the pitches...
half, named Kyai Telaga Muntjar ("Sir Lake and Fountain"), is heard on tracks 2 and 4.
The recording was made on January 10, 1971, in the reception hall of the Pura Paku Alaman, by permission of Paku Alam VIII, for a radio broadcast in honor of his birthday. The sounds of sparrow
Sparrow
The sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...
s that make their nests in the hall and other ambient noises are considered normal.
The recording of Puspawarna
Puspawarna
Puspawarna is a gamelan composition famous in Central Java. It is a ketawang in slendro pathet manyura. Thus the full title of the piece is Ketawang Puspawarna Laras Slendro Pathet Manyura. As manyura is the final pathet in a wayang performance, the mood it evokes is of ripeness or fulfillment.The...
was included on the Voyager Golden Record
Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording
Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording was awarded from 1960 to 1986. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*From 1960 to 1961 the award was known as Best Performance - Folk...
in the Grammy Awards of 1972
Grammy Awards of 1972
The 14th Grammy Awards were held March 15, 1972, and were broadcast live on television in the United States by ABC; the following year, they would move the telecasts to CBS, where they remain to this date...
.
Track listing
- "KetawangKetawangThe ketawang is one of the gendhing structures used in Javanese gamelan music.Its colotomic structure is:where p indicates the strike of the kempyang, T the ketuk, P the kempul, N the kenong, and G the simultaneous stroke of the gong and kenong. The W indicates the wela, the pause where the kempul...
PuspawarnaPuspawarnaPuspawarna is a gamelan composition famous in Central Java. It is a ketawang in slendro pathet manyura. Thus the full title of the piece is Ketawang Puspawarna Laras Slendro Pathet Manyura. As manyura is the final pathet in a wayang performance, the mood it evokes is of ripeness or fulfillment.The...
" – 4:46 - "Gending Tejanata / LadrangLadrangThe ladrang is one of the gendhing structures used in Javanese gamelan music.The basic colotomic structure is a cycle of 32 beats in the following order:...
Sembawa / Ladrang Playon" – 18:28 - "Gending Mandulpati / Ladrang Agun-Agun" – 19:40
- "Bubaran Hudan Mas" – 2:07
Credits
- K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat, director
- Nyi Djiworetno, pesindhen
- Niken Larasati, pesindhen
- Nyi Tasri, pesindhen