Music in Bali : experiencing music, expressing culture / Lisa Gold.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gold, Lisa (Lisa Rachel)

Series:

Global music series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music--Indonesia--Bali Island--History and criticism.

Music.

Music--Indonesia--Bali Island.

Indonesia--Bali Island.

Balinese (Indonesian people)--Social life and customs.

Balinese (Indonesian people).

Ethnic music recordings--Indonesia--Bali Island.

Local Subjects:

Ethnic music recordings--Indonesia--Bali Island.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 178 pages : illustrations, map, music ; 22 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Music in Bali 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. Music in Bali introduces the ensemble tradition of Balinese music, reflecting cooperative aspects of the island's social organization. Drawing on many years of study with Balinese performers in the United States and extensive fieldwork in Bali, author Lisa Gold presents contemporary Balinese performance within its cultural and historical context, linking Bali's rich past to its current role in modern, globalized society. She illustrates how new compositions borrow material from earlier traditions while also allowing for individual expression and innovation in vibrant present-day culture. By describing various performances-from a temple ceremony, to a shadow puppet performance, to a masked dance drama-Music in Bali surveys a wide range of performance contexts, from the highly sacred to the secular. It looks at the interconnected layers of the Balinese musical tradition, showing how the island's music, dance, theater, and ritual are intertwined. Music in Bali is enhanced by eyewitness accounts of local performances, interviews with key performers, and vivid illustrations. Packaged with a 70-minute CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book, it features guided listening and hands-on activities that encourage readers to engage actively and critically with the music.

Contents:

1 The Balinese Ceremonial Soundscape: Simultaneity of Soundings 1

Place, Time, and Circumstance 6

The Act of Offering 6

Odalan (Temple Ceremonies) and Rame (Full, Boisterous, Active) 7

Spatial Orientation 9

Cycles of Time 12

Large-Scale Time: Stories and History 13

Cultural Tourism 15

Thinking in Threes: Historical Periods, Degrees of Sacredness, and Spatial Orientation of the Performing Arts 17

The All-Encompassing Adat (Tradition) 17

In the Sacred Space of the Inner Courtyard (Jeroan): Old-Period Genres as Offerings 21

In the Ceremonial Space of the Middle Courtyard (Jaba Tengah): Middle-Period Genres 24

The More Secular Space of the Outer Courtyard (Jaba): New Creations and Entertainment 26

2 Instruments: Materials, Tuning, and Timbre 28

The Power of Bronze 29

Tuning and Timbre 31

The Waves of Paired Tuning: A Gamelan's Breath of Life 32

Tuning Systems, Scales, and Notation 33

Gamelan Gong Kebyar: The Explosive Twentieth-Century Style 36

Instrument Families in Gamelan Music 37

The Gongs 40

Cycles of Time in Music: Gongs that Mark Colotomic Meters 42

Keyed Instruments (Metallophones) 43

Gender-Type Metallophones 44

The Low Metallophone Instruments 44

The Gangsa Family 45

Gong-Chimes 46

Reyong 46

Trompong 46

Other Layers of Melody 47

Drums: Aural Conductor of the Ensemble 48

Cymbals (Ceng-Ceng) 50

3 Interlocking and Layering: Musical Roles in the Ensemble 52

The Musical Community of a Gamelan Sekaha 54

The Stratified Texture of Gamelan: Simultaneous Melodies 55

The Pokok (Basic Melody) 56

Communal Elaboration: Interlocking Parts (Kotekan) 58

Gangsa Kotekan: Polos and Sangsih 59

Single-Note Kotekan 59

Syncopated Patterning Kotekan 62

Expansion and Contraction of a Kotekan Pattern 64

Reyong Figuration: Melodic Interlocking and Percussive Accentuation 64

Comparison of Reyong and Trompong 67

Leadership, Cueing, and Ensemble Interaction 67

Gaya (Charismatic Gesture) 67

Conclusion: Putting the Layers Together 69

4 The World of Stories: Integration of Music, Dance, and Drama in Traditional Balinese Theater 71

Playing the Past in the Present 72

Genres in the Old Category: Sacred Ensembles 72

Genres in the Middle Category: The Hindu Javanese Legacy 74

Genres in the New Category: Drawing from Middle and Old and Breaking Free 76

The Idea of Completeness: Revisiting Rame 76

Assumptions and Conventions in Traditional Balinese Theater 78

The Concept of a "Story": Orality and Literacy in Performance 78

The Panji Cycle 79

Levels of Abstraction and Accessibility 79

The Role of Interpreters 80

Genres of Theater 81

Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet Theater) 83

The Dalang 86

The Progression of a Performance 88

Taksu: Divine Inspiration and "Shifting Focal Points" 90

5 Characterization, Movement, and Gong Structures That Enliven Balinese Theater 93

Aesthetics and Character Types: Halus (Refined) and Keras (Strong) 93

Male, Female, and Androgynous Dance Styles 95

Topeng (Masked Dance Drama) 95

The Characters 95

Progression of a Topeng Play 96

Free Choreography 99

Legong 99

Free versus Fixed Choreography 100

Elements of Dance and Music in Topeng and Legong 101

Vocabulary of Movements 101

Agem 101

Angsel: Dance and Music Articulation 106

Colotomic Meters Delineating Theatrical Situation and Mood 108

Batel 111

Omang 112

Bapang 112

Gabor Longgor 113

Gilak 113

Gamelan Balaganjur 114

Listening to Two Topeng Pieces 115

Kecak 120

6 Large-Scale Form in Gong Kebyar and Its Antecedents 126

"Classical" Tripartite Form 126

Three Contrasting Movements 127

Gineman: Metrically Free Preludes 127

Listening to an Entire Piece: The Tripartite Form in "Sinom Ladrang" 128

Innovations in Form and Texture in Kebyar Kreasi Baru (New Creations) 136

Form in Kebyar: Cyclicity and Linearity 136

New Textures 137

Kebyar Passages: A Display of Gaya 138

Kebyar-style Gineman: Gegenderan 139

"Jaya Semara" ("Victorious Divine Love/Love Deity") 139

Transformation of Form and Other Innovations 141

Gong Kebyar Competitions at the Bali Arts Festival 141

Kreasi Baru Trends at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century 145

Kontemporer 146

Conclusion: Traditional Arts in a Rapidly Changing World 147

Arts Workshop/Studio Collectives (Sanggar) 147

7 Conclusion: Three Themes Revisited at a Cremation Ceremony 151.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-168) and index.

Track listing for compact disc with list of participating musicians on p. xxi-xxiii.

ISBN:

0195141504

0195141490

OCLC:

60705130