Music in Bali : experiencing music, expressing culture / Lisa Gold.
| Author/creator | Gold, Lisa |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Oxford University Press, 2005. |
| Description | xxiii, 178 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.) |
| Subjects |
| Series | Global music series Global music series. ^A563337 |
| Contents | The Balinese ceremonial soundscape: simultaneity of soundings. Place, time and circumstance ; The act of offering. Odalan (temple ceremonies) and Ramé (full, boisterous, active) ; Spatial orientation ; Cycles of time ; Large-scale time: stories and history ; Cultural tourism -- Thinking in threes: historical periods, degrees of sacredness, and spatial orientation of the performing arts. The all-encompassing Adat (tradition) ; In the sacred space of the inner courtyard (Jeroan): old-period genres as offerings ; In the ceremonial space of the middle courtyard (Jaba Tengah): middle-period genres ; The more secular space of the outer courtyard (Jaba): new creations and entertainment -- Instruments: materials, tuning, and timbre. The power of bronze ; Tuning and timbre ; The waves of paired tuning: a gamelan's breath of life ; Tuning systems, scales, and notation ; Gamelan Gong Kebyar: the explosive twentieth-century style ; Instrument families in Gamelan music. The gongs. Cycles of time in music: gongs that mark colotomic meters -- Keyed instruments (metallophones). Gender-type metallophones ; The low metallophone instruments ; The Gangsa family -- Gong-chimes. Reyong ; Trompong -- Other layers of melody ; Drums: aural conductor of the ensemble ; Cymbals (Ceng-Ceng) -- Interlocking and layering: musical roles in the ensemble. The musical community of a Gamelan Sekaha ; The stratified texture of Gamelan: simultaneous melodies. The Pokok (basic melody) ; Communal elaboration: interlocking parts (Kotekan) ; Gangsa Kotekan: Polos and Sangsih ; Single-note Kotekan ; Syncopated patterning Kotekan ; Expansion and contraction of a Kotekan pattern ; Reyong figuration: melodic interlocking and percussive accentuation ; Comparison of Reyong and Trompong -- Leadership, cueing, and ensemble interaction. Gaya (Charismatic gesture) -- Conclusion. Putting the layers together -- The world of stories: integration of music, dance and drama in traditional Balinese theater. Playing the past in the present. Genres in the old category: sacred ensembles ; Genres in the middle category: the Hindu Javanese legacy ; Genres in the new category: drawing from middle and old and breaking free ; The idea of completeness: revisiting Ramé -- Assumptions and conventions in traditional Balinese theater. The concept of a "story": orality and literacy in performance. The Panji cycle -- Levels of abstraction and accessibility. The role of interpreters -- Genres of theater -- Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet theater). The Dalang ; The progression of a performance ; Taksu: divine inspiration and "Shifting focal points" -- Characterization, movement, and gong structures that enliven Balinese theater. Aesthetics and character types: Halus (refined) and Keras (strong) ; Male, female, and androgynous dance styles. Topeng (masked dance drama). The characters ; Progression of a Topeng play ; Free choreography -- Legong. Free versus fixed choreography -- Elements of dance and music in Topeng and Legong. Vocabulary of movements. Agem -- Angsel: dance and music articulation ; Colotomic meters and delineating theatrical situation and mood. Batel ; Omang ; Bapang ; Gabor Longgor ; Gilak -- Gamelan balaganjur -- Listening to two Topeng pieces ; Kecak -- Large-scale form in Gong Kebyar and its antecedents. "Classical" tripartite form. Three contrasting movements ; Gineman: metrically free preludes -- Listening to an entire piece: the tripartite form in "Sinom Ladrang" ; Innovations in form and texture in Kebyar Kreasi. Baru (new creations) ; Form in Kebyar: cyclicity and linearity ; New textures ; Kebyar passages: a display of Gaya ; Kebyar-style Gineman: gegenderan ; "Jaya Semara" ("Victorious divine love/love deity") ; Transformation of form and other innovations ; Gong Kebyar competitions at the Bali arts festival ; Kreasi Baru trends at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Kontemporer -- Traditional arts in a rapidly changing world. Arts workshop/studio collectives (Sanggar) -- Conclusion. Three themes revisited at a cremation ceremony. |
| Abstract | This book 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, the author 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--this book 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. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 162-166), discography (pages 166-167), videography (page 168), and index. |
| LCCN | 2004041563 |
| ISBN | 0195141504 |
| ISBN | 0195141490 (pbk.) |