Rasa : affect and intuition in Javanese musical aesthetics / Marc Benamou.
| Author/creator | Benamou, Marc |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Oxford University Press, 2010. |
| Description | xliv, 298 pages, 4 pages of plates : illustrations, music ; 25 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | AMS studies in music AMS studies in music. ^A610677 |
| Contents | The musical scene in solo -- The taste of music: rasaning gendhing -- The classification of rasa gendhing -- Having rasa, part 1: linguistic and cultural perspectives -- Having rasa, part 2: musicianship -- The communication of rasa, part 1: general considerations of expression and perception -- The communication of rasa, part 2: garap and other factors contributing to specific rasas -- Why rasa talk matters. |
| Abstract | The complex notion of rasa as understood by Javanese musicians refers to a combination of various qualities, including taste, feeling, affect, mood, sense, inner meaning, the faculty of knowing intuitively, and deep understanding. This leads to a number of questions: Who or what has rasa, and what sorts of musical, psychological, perceptual, and sociological distinctions enter into this determination? How is rasa expressed musically? How is the vocabulary of rasa structured, and what does this tell us about traditional Javanese music and aesthetics? In this first book-length study of the concept, Rasa provides as entry into Javanese music as it is conceived by the people who know the tradition best: the musicians themselves. In one of the most thorough explorations of local aesthetics to date, the author argues that musical meaning is above all connotative and therefore not only learned but also learnable. Following several years performing and researching Javanese music in the regional cultural center of Solo, Indonesia, the author untangles the many meanings of rasa as an aesthetic criterion in central Javanese music practice, particularly in gamelan traditions. While acknowledging that certain universal psychological tendencies may inform musical experience, Rasa demonstrates just how culturally specific musical meanings can be. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-280) and index. |
| LCCN | 2009009903 |
| ISBN | 9780195189438 |
| ISBN | 0195189434 |