Interaction: New Music for Gamelan—An Introduction

CD COMPANION Interaction: New Musicfor Gamelan -An Introduction Jody Diamond I nteraction: N~MusicforGamelan is a diverse collection of new and important works for contemporary gamelan as an international orchestra. I am grateful for the opportunity to present these works and to discuss some of the aspects of their creation and notation. The composers have also contributed statements on their musical backgrounds and ideas, as well as some specific comments on the compositions. The compositions by Lou Harrison, Barbara Benary and Larry Polansky were written and recorded at different times and are important pieces that have been waiting for a chance to be heard. The pieces by Rahayu Supanggah, A. W. 'Dedek' Sutrisna and I Wayan Sadra are the result of a creative residency program that was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts International Activities Office and the Festival of Indonesia and coordinated by the American Gamelan Institute. I hope that these recordings and the thoughts and efforts ofthese exceptional artists will contribute to greater appreciation for international gamelan and the global interaction that created it. -'II :~'I\o."9 -? : Gll.N:l.I/.t" " ,v"cU.vAJ GAIoJ o ---i> --9 a -'" - 0 - - 0 )( l( f~ b_ 5 'H ~ ~ ~ .~"!: ~ L5 ~I z.~aJ x >' " " "lC ) --~ -"1> ) ~ ® Fig. 1. Detail of notation for Meetingby A. W. Sutrisna. GA~!{:iSMMJ ".. v ""' /'\ v""'" f , bTl: Ib3® . b'l1.·35' ~3b'8 53bi """ 6> 0 lady Diamond (composer. performer, publisher. educator). American Gamelan Institute, Box 5036, Hanover, NH 03755, U.S.A. Tel./fax: 603-44s-B837. Received 8 September 1992. NOTATION: COMMUNICATION AND DOCUMENTATION Meeting Meeting, by A. W. Sutrisna, was constructed through many rehearsals--the notation serves only as a reminder of the • 3 ~ ~·1 t '.f1 ,",OKAl.. 6AIV~ SARMJ ,; •~ .3 ~ 5 7'~ ® ..Ii 34 sq ~ ti 7"b ® have any pieces that could be played by gamelan groups outside of Indonesia so that your music could be heard by people interested in the new experiments for gamelan?" Repeatedly, the answer was that this would be very difficult, because many new gamelan pieces are .created in rehearsal specifically for the musicians who are there at the time. It became clear that the best way for these works to be heard outside oflndonesia was for the composers to work directly with foreign groups and create pieces specifically for those players. This would allow the Indonesian composers to have the direct interaction upon which their compositional process is based. =-t 5 -:it.@ n CfS".n &" GAMGL/H') @ Fig. 2. Detail of notation for Meeting by A. W. Sutrisna. THE RESIDENCIES The three Indonesian composers, all well known for their skill and experience in new music, were participants in the group New Music Indonesia that toured the United States in the fall of 1991 as part of the Festival of Indonesia in Performance. For two of the residencies, well-established gamelan groups were selected that had made a significant contribution to the development of American gamelan through a decade ofcomposing and performing new music for gamelan. Sutrisna worked with Gamelan Pacifica in Seattle, Washington, and Supanggah worked with Gamelan Son of Lion in New York City. Sadra was invited to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he became the first Indonesian composer in residence at the Bregman Electroacoustic Music Studio (at Dartmouth) and worked with the newly formed Gamelan Lipur Sih. In the six weeks these composers worked with their American counterparts and students, their accomplishments (only partly represented here) were remarkable. The pieces from the residencies are significant because they allowed for artistic collaboration between the composer and the musicians. This important step in bringing new Indonesian music to the United States had a long history. In 1988-1989, I worked in Indonesia, assisted by Larry Polansky and Sadra, on a national survey ofcomposers and contemporary music. In over 60 interviews with composers from Sumatra, Java and Bali, I often asked, "Do you© 19921SAST Pergamon Press Ltd.Printed inGreat Britain. 0961-1215/92 $5.00+0.00 LEONARDO MUSICJOURNAL, Vol. 2, No. I, pp. 99-102,1992 99 r..$-tAl- , roe , In other works, she has used the Javanese conventions. Work in Progress To realize worn in Progress, I Wayan Sadra...