Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Gamelan is the first study of the music of Java and the development of the gamelan to take into account extensive historical sources and contemporary cultural theory and criticism. An ensemble dominated by bronze percussion instruments that dates back to the twelfth century in Java, the gamelan as a musical organization and a genre of performance reflects a cultural heritage that is the product of centuries of interaction between Hindu, Islamic, European, Chinese, and Malay cultural forces.

Drawing on sources ranging from a twelfth-century royal poem to the writing of a twentieth-century nationalist, Sumarsam shows how the Indian-inspired contexts and ideology of the Javanese performing arts were first adjusted to the Sufi tradition and later shaped by European performance styles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He then turns to accounts of gamelan theory and practice from the colonial and postcolonial periods. Finally, he presents his own theory of gamelan, stressing the relationship between purely vocal melodies and classical gamelan composition.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Note on Orthography
• Introduction
• 1 From Hindu to Islam: The Early History of Javanese Music
• 2 Javanese Interaction with European Colonialism, Islam, and the Peranakaa Chinese: A Period of Intensive Cultural Development
• 3 The Impact of Western Thought on Javanese Views of Music
• 4 Current Theories of Gendhing
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Gamelan Instruments
• Glossary
• Notes
• References
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

These two books on Javanese gamelan are for the specialist. This may be judged by reading the preface to Sumarsam's book, which ends with the usual request for forgiveness for any shortcomings the book may contain. His request comes in the form of a song of his own composition in Javanese, with English translation--a very nice touch indeed. Although Sumarsam surely did not intend it this way, the song may be used as a test: if you have played enough gamelan to be able to sing the song from the cipher notation, you are ready for this book, and for Brinner's. Both books have grown out of doctoral dissertations. Although both have a brief section devoted to basics and include photographs and a glossary, they focus on the development of the present-day gamelan style and important performance factors. Sumarsam devotes more than half of his book to history. He is interested in the various social interactions that have created the climates in which gamelan music has been performed: the coming of Hinduism, Islam (and Sufism in particular), Europeans, and Chinese. With extensive quotes from early sources, Sumarsam paints a vivid picture of the impact of changing musical tastes on gamelan music. He discusses ways of conceptualizing gamelan compositions, weighing the relative value of cadential patterns, formulaic construction, and vocal melody in the analysis of musical structure. Sumarsam is a seasoned teacher of gamelan in the West, and his insights carry much weight. Whereas Sumarsam's book gives historical depth, Brinner's focuses on the present and on the psychology of learning and playing the music. He sets the scene for the book with a description of two performances--the first a recording session with professional musicians, then an all-night puppet theater production. The reader is immediately drawn into these events, gaining insights into the feelings and actions of the performers. This is essentially what the book is about--how gamelan music is produced from the interactions of the performers: what constitutes Javanese musical competence, what individual musicians must know, who is responsible for what in the music, and how one acquires these competencies. For Westerners who have a basic understanding of gamelan through playing and teaching but not from actual study in Java, there are many moments of "Aha!" in this book. Brinner also presents a theory of musical interaction and applies it to the gamelan. It should prove to be an excellent conceptual tool for the study of any musical tradition. Both books are appropriate for ethnomusicology students at the upper-division undergraduate level and above. R. Knight Oberlin College