Traditions of Gamelan Music in Java
Musical Pluralism and Regional Identity

This book is a wide-ranging study of the varieties of gamelan music in contemporary Java.

R. Anderson Sutton (Author)

9780521103930, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 December 2008

316 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.7 cm, 0.51 kg

This book is a wide-ranging study of the varieties of gamelan music in contemporary Java seen from a regional perspective. While the focus of most studies of Javanese music has been limited to the court-derived music of Surakarta and Yogyakarta, Sutton goes beyond them to consider also gamelan music of Banyumas, Semarang and east Java as separate regional traditions with distinctive repertoires, styles and techniques of performance and conceptions about music. Sutton's description of these traditions, illustrated with numerous musical examples in Javanese cipher notation, is based on extensive field experience in these areas and is informed by the criteria that Javanese musicians judge to be most important in distinguishing them.

1. Introduction: gamelan and cultural diversity in Java
Part I: 2. Rival traditions in the courtly centres: gamelan music of Surakarta and Yogyakarta
3. A flourishing tradition in west central Java: gamelan music of Banyumas
4. Partial survival of a tradition in north central Java: gamelan music of Semarang
5. A major East Javanese tradition: gamelan music of Surabaya-Mojokerto-Malang
Part II: 6. Gamelan music, performing arts and government policy: formal education, contests and festivals
7. Regional traditions and the media, print, broadcast, recording
8. Regional pluralism in the music of renowned Javanese performers: Ki Nartosabdho and his peers
9. Conclusion: regional traditions and their representations in contemporary Java
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Discography
Index.

Subject Areas: Folk & traditional music [AVGH]