Monday, March 12, 2007
Court Gamelan from The Pura Paku Alaman
I recall buying the album, Java Court Gamelan, late one evening at the downtown Tower Record Store in 1980s. I still have it, with original plastic shrink wrap sliced open at one end. I'd already heard the music so I knew what I getting. I first heard the LP in the 70s when I was struggling with the question of what constituted "music," peering into an abyss where where everything I'd assumed about art appeared to come to an abrupt & irresolvable end.
The instruments of the Court Gamelan from The Pura Paku Alaman in Jogyakarta, Java were constructed in 1755, & several of them I think are considered so sacred they aren't even played anymore. The music has been compared to a flowing river, but to me it was more that of sounds carried about by the wind, from one direction then another, close then distant. After hearing this music, I never listened to wind chimes or birds (singing in the outdoor pavilion) in quite the same way. Sounds are not like music; we either perceive them as music or we do not. There are also grandfather clocks from a royal household collection chiming during this song, but I've never been able to hear them. Only 1/2 of the full gamelan is being played. No need to give it your full attention. Just let it blow around in the background.
Gending: Mandulpati/Ladrang Agun-Agun (RealAudio)
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
The instruments of the Court Gamelan from The Pura Paku Alaman in Jogyakarta, Java were constructed in 1755, & several of them I think are considered so sacred they aren't even played anymore. The music has been compared to a flowing river, but to me it was more that of sounds carried about by the wind, from one direction then another, close then distant. After hearing this music, I never listened to wind chimes or birds (singing in the outdoor pavilion) in quite the same way. Sounds are not like music; we either perceive them as music or we do not. There are also grandfather clocks from a royal household collection chiming during this song, but I've never been able to hear them. Only 1/2 of the full gamelan is being played. No need to give it your full attention. Just let it blow around in the background.
Gending: Mandulpati/Ladrang Agun-Agun (RealAudio)
