Music in Central Java: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture(Global Music Series)

Music in Central Java is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusic for a list of case studies in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each study. Music in Central Java offers a vivid introduction to the region's musical and cultural landscape, showing how three themes--flexibility, appropriateness, and interconnectedness--characterize Javanese musical practices and traditions. Drawing on his extensive fieldwork, author Benjamin Brinner takes an in-depth look at gamelan music--a traditional musical ensemble tradition that typically features metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs--providing readers with a sense of what it means to be a musician performing gamelan. Building from fundamental Javanese concepts of time and melody, the book covers gamelan's instruments, musical idioms, and central interactions and also surveys contrasting performance contexts. It examines both the theatrical and musical aspects of the vibrant tradition of shadow-puppet plays (Wayang kulit) and offers a broad survey of other music found in Central Java. In addition, Music in Central Java provides an engaging portrait of a leading Javenese musician, traces musical responses to radical social, political, and cultural changes over the past century, and considers Javanese music in relation to Indonesia and the rest of the world. Enhanced by eyewitness accounts of performances, interviews with key performers, vivid illustrations, and hands-on listening activities, this book is a captivating introduction to the music of Central Java. It is packaged with a 78-minute audio CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: Preface: CD Track List: 1. First Hearings Introduction What Is a Gamelan? Gamelan Performance Contexts in Solo: Life Cycles and Musical Cycles Cyclicity and Coincidence Music in the Everyday Patronage and Sociopolitical Change Social Status, Language, and Interaction: Gamelan at the Radio Station: Similarities and Differences Categories and Cross-Cultural (Mis)Communication Conclusion: Three Themes Flexibility of Frameworks and Processes: Appropriateness: Interconnectedness: 2. A Sense of Time Making and Marking Musical Time: Gongs and Drums Cyclicity and Colotomic Function: Drumming Lancaran Drum Patterns Gongs, Drums, and the Flexibility of Time 3. Gamelan, Tuning, and Instrumental Melody Gamelan Tunings Tuning Systems: Sléndro and Pélog Gamelan Instruments Instrumental Melody Melody and Elaboration Balungan, Peking, and Bonang "Landrang Asmaradana" 4. Songs, Singers, and Gamelan Social Aspects of Singing Poetry, Song, and Gamelan Conclusion 5. Melodic Elaboration and Training in the Arts Rebab, Gendèr, and Other Elaborating Instruments Céngkok, Variation, and the Transmission of Musical Knowledge 6. Shadows and Tales Wayang in Pangkah Village Javanese Shadow Plays The Stories and the Telling: The Main Elements Physical Setup: Plots and Plot Sources: Characters and Character Types: Language and Voice: Movement Patterns: Dramatic Structure: Schemata of Various Sizes: Conclusion 7. Music for Motion and Emotion--Wayang Kulit "Brajadenta Balela" Wayang Repertoire Music for Expressing Emotion: Sulukan Music for Accompanying Motion: Gendhing Lampah Music for Setting a Scene: Gendhing Return to "Brajadenta Balela" Flexibility and Appropriateness Conventions and Innovations 8. Java and Beyond Pak Cokro Interconnectedness: Theater, Dance, and Music Educational Institutions Regionalism and the Dominance of Solonese Style Java and the Rest of Indonesia Java and the World Conclusion Glossary: References: Resources: Index:

Review :
"In most respects, this is not [just] an introduction to Central Javanese gamelan; it is a thorough exploration of Central Java's music, musicians, structures, and contexts. As such, it is remarkable."--David Harnish, Bowling Green State University "In most respects, this is not [just] an introduction to Central Javanese gamelan; it is a thorough exploration of Central Java's music, musicians, structures, and contexts. As such, it is remarkable."--David Harnish, Bowling Green State University