Temu Wicara Bali: a Celebration of Balinese Performing Arts in Honor of the Twentieth Anniversary of Gamelan at Colorado College
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Colorado College Music Department presents Temu Wicara Bali: A Celebration of Balinese Performing Arts in honor of the twentieth anniversary of Gamelan at Colorado College featuring Gamelan Tunjung Sari and Gamelan Santi Suara (Colorado College) Gamelan Candra Wyoga (University of Wyoming) Gamelan Genta Kencana (University of Colorado at Boulder) Gamelan Krama Bali (Balinese Community) Gamelan Manik Kusuma (Metropolitan State University of Denver) Gamelan Tunas Mekar (Denver) The Bowed Piano Ensemble (Colorado College) I Made Lasmawan and Victoria Lindsay Levine, Directors Ni Ketut Marni, Director of Dance May 4, 2013 Packard Hall ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For their good work in helping to produce this event, we thank: Stormy Burns, Cathe Bailie, and Neil Hesse from the Colorado College Music Department Jennifer Kulier and Leslie Weddell from Colorado College Communications Dan Wiencek, Colorado College Information Management Bob Winkelblech and Nolan Keale, Colorado College Facilities Services Mary Ellen Davis, Noel Black, and Delaney Utterbeck from KRCC Radio Bon Appétit Catering Our celebration was made possible by generous funding from the following sponsors: Colorado College Asian Studies Program Colorado College Music Department Colorado College Theatre and Dance Department Colorado College Cultural Attractions Colorado College President’s Office The Christine S. Johnson Professorship The National Endowment for the Humanities Professorship The Colorado Springs Independent The College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder The Indonesian performing arts program at Colorado College was founded in 1992 by Professor Victoria Lindsay Levine, who imported the gamelan angklung and gamelan gender wayang from Bali with funds from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professorship and the departments of Music and Asian Studies. I Made Lasmawan joined our faculty as Gamelan Director in January 1993, and we performed our first concert later that spring. Over the past twenty years, our program has grown to include five different kinds of Balinese gamelan (gamelan angklung, gamelan gender wayang, gamelan balanganjur, gamelan suling gambuh, and gamelan joged), as well as gamelan ageng from Central Java. In addition to teaching gamelan and Balinese dance, we offer an academic course on the ethnomusicology of Indonesia and a summer course on the arts and culture of Bali, taught in Bali. Your courtesy in refraining from the use of flash photography, electronic watches, cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices is appreciated. PROGRAM Session 1: Presentations (1:30-3:00 PM) 1:30 “Music in Balinese Culture,” David Harnish (University of San Diego) 2:00 “Balinese Musicians and Society,” I Made Lasmawan (Colorado College) 2:30 “Tourism and Balinese Performing Arts,” Elizabeth Macy (Chapman University) Session 2: Concert I (3:00-4:00 PM) 3:00 Gamelan Manik Kusuma (Metropolitan State University of Denver) 3:30 Gamelan Candra Wyoga (University of Wyoming) Break (4:00-4:30 PM) Session 3: Presentations (4:30-5:30 PM) 4:30 “Balinese Dance and Drama,” I Nyoman Wenten (California Institute of the Arts) 5:00 “Innovating Tradition in Balinese Shadow Play,” Lisa Gold (University of California- Berkeley) Break (5:30-7:00 PM) Session 4: Concert 2 (7:00-9:30 PM) 7:00 Welcome, Packard Lobby: Gamelan Genta Kencana (University of Colorado at Boulder) 7:30 Gamelan Tunjung Sari, Gamelan Santi Suara, and The Bowed Piano Ensemble (Colorado College) 8:15 Intermission 8:30 Gamelan Tunas Mekar (Denver) Gamelan Krama Bali (Balinese Community) CONCERT I In Packard Recital Hall, 3:00 PM Capung Gantung (Hovering Dragonfly) Traditional Gamelan Manik Kusuma Rejang Dewa (Sacred Welcome Dance) Traditional Elizabeth Andrews, Kompiang Metri-Davies, Jessica Ross, Katrina Stahl, and Diyah Widyati, dancers Gamelan Manik Kusuma Jagul (Leaping Fish) I Wayan Lotring Gamelan Candra Wyoga Gabor (Greeting) I Wayan Berata Ni Putu Indira, Ni Putu Laksmi Maqueena, Ni Ketut Marni,* and Ni Wayan Sawitri, dancers Gamelan Candra Wyoga Janger (Social Dance) Budi Susanto Johanes Arr. I Made Lasmawan* Gamelan Candra Wyoga with the University of Wyoming Singers *CC Faculty/Staff PROGRAM NOTES The gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia; in Bali, gamelan accompany village temple ceremonies, life cycle rituals, and social entertainments. These ensembles consist primarily of bronze metallophones in four sizes, horizontal and vertical knobbed gongs, cymbals, drums, and end-blown bamboo flutes. Some gamelan also feature the rebab, a two-stringed spike fiddle. There are some thirty different kinds of gamelan in Bali, each of which has its own history, instrumentation, tuning, repertory, and social contexts for performance. Each pair of metallophones is tuned slightly apart to produce acoustical beats, giving Balinese music its distinctive shimmering sound. This afternoon’s concert features two kinds of gamelan. Gamelan angklung, played by Gamelan Manik Kusuma, employs a four-tone slendro scale with roughly equidistant intervals. This ensemble represents an ancient style of gamelan, traditionally used in village temple ceremonies and cremation rites. Gamelan semar pegulingan, played by Gamelan Candra Wyoga, employs a five-tone pelog scale with intervals of different sizes. This ensemble represents a style of gamelan that developed in the sixteenth century under the influence of Javanese music and musicians; it was originally played at court to accompany royal lovemaking. Both gamelan angklung and gamelan semar pegulingan now play traditional pieces as well as new music and works composed for other ensembles, such as gamelan gong kebyar. “Capung Gantung” is a traditional piece for gamelan angklung. It demonstrates various Balinese musical techniques, such as sharp dynamic changes, melodic layering, interlocking parts, and a cyclical approach to the organization of musical time. “Rejang Dewa” and “Gabor” are dances that welcome both gods and humans to Balinese Hindu temple ceremonies. “Rejang Dewa” is traditional, while “Gabor” was composed and choreographed by I Wayan Berata. These dances derive from the style of women’s welcome dances, demonstrating the halus or refined style, and the dancers shower the audience with flower petals in a gesture of greeting. “Jagul,” created for gamelan semar pegulingan by the great twentieth-century composer I Wayan Lotring, was inspired by a majestic genre of ceremonial music, lelambatan, which features a complex form and diverse textures. The title of the piece is difficult to translate into English, but the linguist Edmundo Luna explains that “One book suggested a species of large eels, while another book (of folktales) suggested a legendary fish with a human head, which came about during a dukun’s (magical healer) botched attempt to switch his son’s body with that of their dog. The dog’s head ended up on the son’s body, making a bebaung (howling dog), while the son’s head fell into a nearby river. The God Siwa saved the boy’s head from being eaten by creating a fish body for the head, with the resulting creature being named I Jagul. Many musicians, though, just think of the specific drumming pattern associated with the piece as being ‘Jagul’” (Edmundo Luna, personal communication, April 26, 2013). Made Lasmawan further explains that in composing the piece, Lotring was inspired by the sight of large fish leaping around a traditional skiff in the ocean near his home at Kuta Beach. “Janger” is a dance genre that features competing groups of young men and women singers. This performance, inspired by a setting by Budi Susanto Johanes, has been arranged for Candra Wyoga by I Made Lasmawan in collaboration with Dr. Nicole Lamartine, Director of the University of Wyoming Singers. Gamelan Manik Kusuma was founded by Professors Peter Schimpf and I Made Lasmawan at Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2011. As a student ensemble, Professor Schimpf states that “this group seeks to experience and promote the rich musical tradition of Balinese gamelan.” Manik Kusuma means “Magical Aroma.” Members of Gamelan Manik Kusuma Aaron Burris-DeBoskey, Louis Descala, Anthony Johnston, I Made Lasmawan,* Shawn Mollenhauer, Kelena Reed, Charles Potter, Peter Schimpf, Zoey St-Lleeuwpaardtlijk, Terissa Thompson, Tyler Van Dam, Jessica Vits, Sam Young Gamelan Candra Wyoga was founded by Professors Rodney Garnett and I Made Lasmawan at the University of Wyoming in 1996. The Alan Willman Fund (Department of Music, University of Wyoming) provided support for the purchase and shipping of the instruments, which were imported from Bali by Lasmawan. The gamelan is housed at the university, but membership in the ensemble is open to both students and members of the Laramie community. Candra Wyoga translates as “Meditation on the Beauty of the Full Moon,” which Professor Garnett explains is “an especially wonderful experience in Wyoming.” Candra Wyoga specializes in playing music from the modern gamelan gong kebyar repertory that has been arranged for semar pegulingan, but the group also plays music from the classic semar pegulingan repertory and works originally composed for other Balinese ensembles. Members of Gamelan Candra Wyoga Ronny Brian, Laurie Bueter, Leif Cawley, Rod Garnett, Jordan Hemingway, I Made Lasmawan,* Christine Michel, Betsy Mock, Krystle Radtke, Amelia Roberts, Mollie Steinke, Caitlin Wallace, Victoria Zero The University of Wyoming Singers Dr. Nicole Lamartine, Director Amy Bradley, Emily Brumbaugh, Brady Carroll, Josh Cooper, JoLynn Fletcher, Pamela Jensik,