A Night of

Javanese Gamelan Music

and Dance

Solonese and Cirebon Traditions

The Melbourne Community Gamelan

under the direction of Poedijono

Topeng Cirebon Melbourne

under the direction of Michael Ewing

23 October 1999

University of Melbourne Gamelan Room

210 Berkeley Street

A Night of

Javanese Gamelan Music and Dance

Solonese and Cirebon Traditions

Lancaran SINGANEBAH laras slendro manyura

Singanebah  means “the pouncing lion”.  This piece is used in wayang performances, for the departure of the troops, but tonight we play it as accompaniment for the audience’s arrival.  Don’t  leave yet!

Gendhing TUKUNG laras pelog pathet barang

Tukung means “a tailless chicken”.  It is a gendhing  bonang, in which the louder instruments dominate.  We are playing it in a Yogyanese  style.

Gending SEMBAWA – Ladrang TEDHAKSAKING slendro pathet pelog pathet barang

This suite of pieces is an example of klenengan, or listening music.  Sembawa means “tiger”.  It is in a longer form called gendhing . Tedhak saking means “descending from (as in the King from the audience  hall)”.  It has shorter intervals between strokes of the large gong. This suite is in a soft, bedayan style and accompanied by Javanese style singing (Poedijono and Ria Soemardjo).

BEKSAN GAMBYONG

Accompaniment: Sampak – Ladrang Pangkur – Sampak, slendro pathet manyura

Pangkur is a standard Javanese classical verse form. This dance, traditionally performed by women in the villages, was later adopted and refined by the royal Javanese courts.  Some movements are stylisations of everyday actions while others are more abstract. Dancer: Naning Forsyth

Ladrang SRI KARONGRON – AYAK-AYAKAN – SREPEGAN, laras slendro pathet sanga (9)

Sri is an honourific title, Karongron is an old literary word for “enjoying together”.   Sri Karongron is also a longer gendhing in klenengan style.  It then moves into Ayak-ayakan and Srepegan, pieces with more complex gong patterns.

INTERVAL

TARI TOPENG KLANA

Accompaniment: Lagu Sarung Ilang, laras prawa

Cirebon, on the north coast of Java, is home to a wide range of distinctive art forms, including Tari Topeng or masked dancing. A traditional Topeng performance includes a series of different character types, each represented by a distinctive mask. Tonight we present the last and strongest character in the series, Klana, a noble king who has allowed himself to go mad with lust and greed. Sarung ilang means “the lost sarong”. Choreography: Sujana Arja, dancer: Michael Ewing.

DHANDHANGGULA

This is an unaccompanied vocal piece, sung by Poedijono.

Gendhing KUTUT MANGGUNG, laras Slendro pathet Manyura

Kutut manggung  means “turtle doves cooing”.   It is another example of soft style, klenengan music, accompanied by gerong singing.

UDAN MAS, laras slendro pathet Manyura

Udan mas means “golden rain”.  This piece marks the end of the performance.  Upon hearing the introduction a Javanese audience would immediately depart, however you are welcome to stay to the end if you like!

Gamelan

Gamelan music is perhaps the most well known of the hundreds of traditional performing arts among the cultures found in the Republic of Indonesia.  The term gamelan refers to the entire set of instruments, to the music played on them and to the group who plays them.  The most popular form of gamelan in Central Java today is that associated with the refined cultural traditions of the royal courts, but  the music of Cirebon , also included tonight, is an example of another style.  Gamelan is important in both formal ceremonies and popular dance forms.  The blending of traditions  is a hallmark of modern Javanese culture: gamelan for example, can be heard in the all night wayang kulit  shadow puppet performances which recount episodes from epic Hindu legends, as accompaniment to the variety of classical and popular dance forms, as well as at Islamic  events such as the celebration of the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday.

The Melbourne Community Gamelan

The members of the Melbourne Community Gamelan come from diverse backgrounds and have been brought together by our love of gamelan.  We have been studying and performing for a number of years under the direction of Bapak Poedijono.  The group Topeng Cirebon Melbourne has been practicing for about three months under the direction of Michael Ewing.  There is overlap between the membership of the two groups.

We would like to express our thanks to Dr Cathy Falk and to the Faculty of Music for their support of Indonesian performing arts in Australia, and for allowing us to practise  and perform on the instruments used today.

Thank you to all who have attended this event and for your donations.  Profits from this evening will be going to the Community Aid Abroad fund for East Timor.

The Musicians