Indonesian Musical Cultures - Literature review Example

Indonesian Musical Cultures Introduction Asian music played an insignificant role in the musical world of the west till about a century ago when the various musical expositions and fairs made the western world sit up to listen to sounds which to them had seemed uncivilized. The Javanese gamelan music sounded sensational when it was first heard by European musicians and was completely different from the western idea of music. There is no doubt that the influence on 19th Century western composers has been phenomenal and continues to be so even today especially with gobalisation. Debussy was the first western musician to come under the Balinese and Javanese influence. Debussy was first exposed to Indonesian music at the Paris Conservatoire in 1887 and subsequently again at the Paris Exhibition and this was not a very big gamelan but it left an impression on his mind and it can be said to have left him disillusioned with the way he was composing music and from this emerged a new respect for the music of Asia. According to Koskoff (2005) McPhee arranged Balinese pieces for western instruments and also used Balinese motifs and compositions. Harrison adapted Javanese forms and also built gamelan like instruments with his partner William Colwig and mixed his many compositions had gamelan influences. Cage was also sympathetic to gamelan. The attraction of gamelan to Western modern composers was twofold, in that it had elements of rhythm which include hypnotic layers and quick tempo changes that was part of the Balinese gamelan and also the intonation, timbre as the pitches that are caused by the bells and gongs do not have a corresponding sound on the scale that is used in western music. This was something that the composers found new and therefore intriguing. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Debussy was perhaps also the first Western composer to recognize the lyrical qualities and possibilities of the percussion instruments. Unlike the western music gamelan is all about percussion. Debussy composed for the piano and since the piano has percussive qualities and since it tends towards sympathetic resonance he adopted some features of the gamelan. A gamelan composition has several layers of elaboration. The instruments with timbres are assigned a specific register and similarly the sounds that mix with melody, rhythm and with ‘registral and timbral variations of one linear movement’ influenced the orchestral techniques of Debussy especially in ‘Le Mer’ (Wen- Chung 1971, p212). Similar to the gamelan gongan Debussy too used repetitive figures that move back and forth and could be in different pitches. The lower voices just like the gamelan are moving unlike the upper voices that are really fast and this has been seen as a clear influence of the gamelan on Debussy as it is not present in the works before he heard gamelan. In fact Debussy’s ‘Orchestra Nocturnes’ and ‘La Mer’ have been described as a “stylized gamelan” because of their layered instrumentation. The superimposition of different timbral, rhythmical and registral strata is also one of the character traits of the works such as ‘Pagodes’ and has been identified as influenced by the gamelan” (Fauser, 2005, p191). Debussy’s work before the Paris Exposition and after shows a clear influence in his work after the exposition. His Pour le Piano – “Prelude is immediately striking in its influence of gamelan. The toccata like figurations suggest that there are layered textures. The middle is gamelan like in its invocation of sonorities with “32 measures of trills and overlaid in a slower melody beginning in measure 59” (Hugh 1997 p5) Where as Pour le piano “Sarbande” has a tone that is similar to that of the gamelan however it is ‘Pagodes’ that is the best example of the gamelan influence where the slendro tuning is deeper than in any other work the four pentatonic scales are like gamelan music and the timbre of the piece suggests the sounds of bells and gongs (Hinson, 2000). The ‘Pagodes’ is close enough to warrant being a gamelan nuclear melody. The various layers of gamelan are textured through out the with the low gong sounds. The melody is placed in the middle and the faster moving figurations at the upper range. The entire piece is reminiscent of interplay between the various gamelan instruments. It would not be untrue to say that Debussy did not imitate the gamelan exactly but bent to suit his own inimitable style and to pour some life into the western music that had only major and minor scales. He did not transfer gamelan music into western form and he did not use the melodies from gamelan music. Debussy only selected some sounds and ideas and methods that matched his idea of what music he wanted to create and he threaded gamelan into what he found suited his own sense of musical aesthetics. “If, in one respect the gamelan was a discovery and an inspiration in another it was a confirmation of his own musical imagination” (Roberts, 1996 - p161). He did not use the instruments but tried to transfer the sounds to the piano and like the gamelan he wanted the piano to be able to produce the complete moods and emotions that gamelan expresses. Paul Roberts feels that Debussy’s awareness of piano sonority led to creating overtones just like the overtones in the gamelan and just like the resonance in gamelan makes melody so too Debussy’s piano music especially in “slow unveiled pieces in ‘Canope’ from Preludes” (Roberts 1996, p162). Lou Harrison (1917-2003). The modern American Composer adopted the music and the instruments of the gamelan in 1976. He was convinced that Javanese slendro and pelog tunings were somehow related to the pure tuning systems he advocated for western music. “ Harrison was convinced that Javanese slendro and pelog tunings were somehow related to the ‘pure’ tuning systems he advocated in western music and he returned his own gamelan instruments to such tuning systems” (Spiller 2008, p104). Harrison first learnt about the non-western sounds from his teacher Henry Cowell and soon, becoming disillusioned with the style of his music compositions, began to incorporate sounds similar to the gamelan. In the beginning he merely imitated the sounds of the gamelan as he knew nothing about gamelan composition. The pieces that first showed this trait were the Suite for Violin, Piano and Small Orchestra. Another feature he tried to imitate from written works and recordings was the Balinese gender wayang and was there fore unable to understand the rich tones associated with it. The gender wayang music is a difficult component of gamelan He just mimicked the timbre of the metallophones in his use of the celesta, harp and tack piano in combination and he began to call this the ‘gamelan section of his orchestra’. What showed up was that he had now dramatically composed a different kind of work to his earlier ones. “For his earliest gamelan pieces, Harrison used the simpler Javanese forms such as lancaran or bubaran that are defined by their colotomic structure (tonal accentuation pattern in karawitan usually performed on horizontally and/or vertically), drumming patterns and other structural features. (Miller & Lieberman,1999 p163). His early works include Gending Paul, Gending Jody and Music for the Turning of a Sculpture and he prefers to call these ‘free verse’. Another area that Harrison experimented with was the balungan. In Harrison’s gamelan works the balungan appears as part of the structure of a melodic line unlike the in the traditional form which is hidden in various polyphonic textures. Earlier Harrison had not studied the gamelan seriously but once he had studied the traditional music of Indonesia formerly with Pak Cokro he began to use the gamelan with more subtlety than he had done in his earlier works of the fifties and sixties ((Miller & Lieberman,1999, 1964). He began to transfer the sonorities into what were perceived as purely Western compositions. One of the first compositions that saw this change was ‘Varied Trio’ 1987. The ‘Piano Trio’ and Fourth Symphony also combine both the procedures that are followed in the Eastern a and the Western composition and in this way he was able to change his compositions into something that was compellingly beautiful that has a distinctive sound based on the gamelan and western process. Harrison was also the first to use actual gamelan instruments and also made his own gamelan (Miller & Lieberman,1999). John Cage John Cage was also influenced by Henry Cowell in the tradition of the eastern musicology (Patterson, 2002, p17). Cage had heard Cowell’s lectures on the Music of the World’s Peoples in New York in 1925. Cage became very interested in metallic percussion instruments. He modified the internal glissendo played on Cowell’s Strip piano by using a gong beater and a metal rod to strike the strings in ‘First Construction Metal’ and went on to introduce the prepared piano in Bacchanale 1940 (Patterson, 2002, p17). “The latter may have been directly influenced by the sonorities and ostinato patterns of the Balinese gamelan music” (Cooke 1998, p25). In the “First Construction he used muted gongs, oxen bells and Japanese temple bells and in addition used automobile brake drums and thundersheets” (Williams 1998, p60). The water gong ( a small gong raised and lowered into a tub of water while played, bending its tone ) that he created had a wave like sound to it as it moved through the water and along with the ‘prepared piano’ were one of his most inventive ideas that transformed music into an alternative sound, ‘Amores’ is an example of this form and it was also marked by ostinato (a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice) figurations (Patterson, 2002). Harrison and Cage also did some percussion music together the most notable of which was ‘Double Music’ and this percussion pieces pointed to a Balinese influence punctuated as it was with gong strokes betraying his fondness for the Balinese gamelan (Patterson, 2002). John cage will be remembered most for placing objects inside the piano to alter the sound when the note was struck. It was a stroke of genius. John cage was never that influenced by the pure gamelan because all he ever used from the Asian were a handful of instruments (Patterson, 2002). His work ‘Haikai’ may have been composed for a gamelan orchestra but it had elements of his own style and that is why he preferred to play the pot gongs from the bottom edge by turning them upside down. Colin McPhee In 1928, McPhee heard newly released gramophone recordings of Balinese gamelan the “Wind Octet” and this became a harbinger for its geometric pattern making glittering metallic sonorities acquire retrospectively, distinctly non-western if not specifically Balinese characteristics and the Sea Charity Suite exploits similar sonorities (Mellers 1997, p270) In 1931 McPhee went to Bali to study the music and it is from here that he began to educate the western world about the Balinese gamelan and became the only authority on the music (Milfred and Paynter, 1997, p217). He called it the absolute music and was impressed as how it was such a part of the Balinese daily life. He started to transcribe the Balinese music and in this way he realized how complex the construction actually was. He transcribed a lot of the music with the help of a piano he had (Milfred and Paynter, 1997, p217). Wayan Lotring became his teacher and with his help he was able to study the gamelan pelegongan which was something that McPhee had heard nowhere except in the village of Kuta. He made many transcriptions of Balinese music, which helped him to understand the complexity of its construction. He worked to transcribe many of these recordings, and had in his house a piano that he always used to help in his transcriptions. He also studied the music form known as kebyar and understood it to be a mix from different sources where no emotion was allowed to last for long. On his first Bali trip he thought it was sensational but showed no appreciation for it on his second trip (Bakan 1999, p39). McPhee’s piano was not the right instrument to use for transcribing the music for many of the musical instruments are not transferable like the many –keyed metallophones (Bakan 1999, p39). The differences in the Pangumbang or the Pangisep could not be made out and the strike that is responsible for the beat could not be transferred to the piano. The rhythmic silence that is produced with the bronze keys and the timbre were all lost to the piano (Bakan 1999, p41). The unique sound produced by the bamboo flute also could not be transcribed. The piano had its limitations but it was the only link between the musical languages of the two cultures. We could therefore say that McPhee’s work is not Balinese gamelan rather it is a reflection of his own interpretation of the gamelan that could be transcribed for the piano through his discerning ear, thus enriching the piano’s repertoire. The Balinese music that McPhee heard was modernistic and the composition that influenced it was ‘Tabuh-tabuhan which had been totally inspired by the gamelan of Bali (Oja, 2004, p116). There were all kinds of instruments used in the orchestra like pianos, celesta, xylophone, marimba and glockenspiel and that is why he called this composition ‘nuclear gamelan” even though no gamelan instruments were used. Gameplan composition is played simultaneously but has several layers (Oja, 2004, p117). McPhee composed each passage according to his own ideas and fused them with the motifs and melodies so to speak in the very same breath and in the same utterance and it was like two voices as speaking in two different languages were heard in a single breath (Lechner 2008, p32). The various levels of the pitches that are part of the composition give it the layering effect of the Balinese gamelan and it is seen as an amalgamation of the composer to the ethno musician (Oja, 2004, p117). Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Britten first came into contact with Indonesian gamelan when he first met Colin McPhee while on a tour of America where he learnt a lot from about Balinese music (Bakan 1999, p41).. His association with McPhee, where they together performed the Balinese ceremonial music brought out by McPhee, gave him an opportunity to almost know the music as though at first hand contact. In his composition ‘Peter Grimes’ the sound of the Church bells have also been borrowed from McPhee’s Balinese composition (Bakan 1999, p41).. Later he was to study it first hand when he visited Indonesia. It is to the Balinese form he was drawn unlike Debussy. As the Balinese gamelan is short and rhythmic and the percussive effect of bells, cymbal and gongs is a mix of joyful noise Britten found it more vital and alive and inspired him to use it in his ‘Festival Te Deum’ especially in the middle section (Strimple, 2005 p81). He is known for a kind of spiraling music when the cords pile one over the other but still mange to create a sense of balance. He also borrowed the Balinese pentatonic scales. According to Donald Mitchell in his book Benjamin Britten adopted the kebiar style of the gamelan and that it influenced Britten’s ‘Death in Venice’ particularly the tremolo and the second is when the various dissonant modes are sounded together. The best example is the ‘Pagodas’ Act II where the contrasting layers of the typical gamelan are seen obviously layered. Britten uses the gamelan sound as a symbol for magic that prevails in Pagoda land (Strimple, 2005 p81). As the princess Belle Rose enters gamelan music is played and also when Salamander appears, softer gamelan music is played. The depths that Britten brought to the ‘Pagodas’ is probably because he spent a great deal of time in studying compositions of Balinese gamelan and this allowed him to reconstruct the gamelan authentically (Strimple, 2005 p81). “The musical style of ‘Death in Venice’ is remarkably original in synthesis of western and oriental compositions procedures and the score stands as an elegant monument to the profundity of its composer’s involvement in the Balinese music” (Mitchell 1987, p128). Britten used the Balinese form to express the differences between the characters as the vitality could only come through with the contrast made obvious by the western and gamelan music. Gamelan has had a riveting influence of the Western Composers who picked up from the milder Balinese gamelan rather than the radical Javanese. The mix of the two music forms the Western and the Indonesian has been called by some a hybrid amalgamation as the structure of the gamelan differs the most. It has been described as circles that move independently as symbolic cycles of like and death unlike western compositions that conclude. Gamelan is an oral tradition and it is in no small measure that McPhee was able to write down many of the Balinese compositions. Harrison and Cage were also influenced by the gamelan early in their careers and it is because of their efforts that American gamelan now exists. The notes played on Asian instruments were totally different from the western notes and so were the instruments but to have been able to derive compositions from the combination can be attributed to the fact that composers picked up only the aural tradition and clearly Debussy was impressed by the sounds when he first heard them. The shimmering metallic sounds influenced Harrison also and he in turn tried to imitate them with the western instruments. The gamelan was also appealing because it was intriguing and touched the artistic eye of the composer. References: Bakam, N. B., (1999). Music of death and new creation: experiences in the world of Balinese gamelan beleganjur. University of Chicago Press. p39 Chou Wen-Chung.C (1971) The Asian Concepts and twentieth-century Western Composers, The Musical Quarterly Vol 57, No 2, April 1971 (p 211-229) Oxford Journals Published by: Oxford University Press [online] available at accessed on 7 October 2011 http://lit.gfax.ch/Asian%20Concepts%20and%20Twentieth- Century%20Western%20Composers.pdf Cook M (1998) Britten and the Far East, Publishers The Boydell Press Woodridge in conjunction with the Britten- Rears Library Adeburg Fauser A (2005) Musical Encounters at the 1889 Paris World’s fair University of Rochester Press New York USA Hinson, M., (2000). Guide to the pianist's repertoire. Indiana University Press. p246 Hugh B (1997) Claude Debussy and the Javanese Gamelan (3 May 1997) [online] available at http://brenthugh.com/debnotes/debussy-gamelan.pdf accessed on 11th October 2011 Koskoff E (2005) Music Cultures in the United States: An introduction Publisher Routledge New York Lechner E (2008) Composers as Ethnogaphers: Differences in the Imagination of Colin McPhee, Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison A dissertation University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Melfred, W., and Paynter, J., (1997). Between old worlds and new: occasional writings on music. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p217 Mellers W (1997) Between Old Worlds and New. Occasional Writings on Music J Paynter (Ed) Smithsonian University Press Washington DC 1990 Published in UK- Cygnus Arts London 1997 Miller LE & Lieberman F (1999) Lou Harrison and the American Gamelan American Music Volume 17, No2, Summer 1999 (p146-178) [online] available at accessed on 7 October 2011 http://music.ucsc.edu/sites/default/files/Harrison%20gamelan.pdf Mitchell D (1987) Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice, Publisher Cambridge University Press Australia Patterson, D. W., (2002). John Cage: music, philosophy, and intention, 1933-1950. Taylor & Francis Publishing. p17 Oja, C. J., (2004). Colin McPhee: Composer in Two Worlds. University of Illinois Press. p116-117 Spiller H (2008) Focus: Gamelan music of Indonesia Published by Routledge New York Strimple, N., (2005). Choral Music in the Twentieth Century. Hal Leonard Corporation. p81 Roberts P (1996) Images: The piano music Claude Debussy Amadeus Press Portland Oregan USA Williams M (19198) John Cage: Professor, Maestro, Percussionist, Composer Percussive Notes August 1998 [online] available at accessed on 7 October 2011 http://www.bmichaelwilliams.com/PNCagePMPC.pdf Read More