Perlman, Unplayed 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page i

Unplayed Melodies Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page ii

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Music Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Associates and by Brown University. Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page iii

Unplayed Melodies Javanese and the Genesis of Music Theory

marc perlman

University of California Press berkeley los angeles london Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page iv

Unless otherwise noted in captions, all music examples are by the author. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2004 by the Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perlman, Marc. Unplayed melodies : Javanese gamelan and the genesis of music theory / Marc Perlman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 0-520-23956-3 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Music——Java—History and criticism. 2. Gamelan music—Indonesia—Java—History and criticism. 3. . I. Title. ml345.j3 p46 2004 781.2'4'095982—dc21 2003006432 Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10987654321 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).8 Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page v

To my teachers, whose thoughts inspired this book: Suhardi (R. L. Wignya Bremara, 1937–2000) Supanggah This page intentionally left blank Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page vii

Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Conventions of Transcription and Orthography xv

introduction 1 1. cognitive preliminaries: the nature of musical knowledge and the processes of creative thinking 13

2. a brief introduction to karawitan 37 3. karawitan as a multipart music: the relations between the melodic parts 61

4.thebalungan as melodic guide 87 5. theorizing melodic guidance: the social and historical context of javanese music theory 117

6. three concepts of unplayed melody 127

7. implicit-melody concepts in perspective 159 8. patterns of conceptual innovation in music theory: a comparative approach 172

conclusion 195

Notes 205

Glossary 221

References Cited 227

Index 245 This page intentionally left blank Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page ix

Illustrations

music examples

Cipher notation examples for which Western staff trans-notations are provided are indicated by (S) after the example number.

1. Sample passage in Kepatihan cipher notation xvi 2. Key to notation for barung xvi 3. Tone measurements for pélog and sléndro 41 4. (S) Skeletal melody and comparison of sléndro and pélog versions of male chorus (gérong) part 41 5. The six (modes) 43 6. (S) Three balungan idioms 45 7. (S) Example of selected elaborating parts 46 8. (S only) Location of selected sléndro instruments within total melodic compass of ensemble 50 9. (S) Conceptual range of gamelan melody 51 10. (S) Effective ranges of widest and narrowest instrumental parts 52 11. Two gatra of a melodic skeleton 53 12. (S) “Hanging” balungan passage 55 13. (S) “Slipping” balungan passage 56 14. (S) panerus part for sample two-gatra balungan passage ( dadi) 57 15. (S) called ayu kuning in gérong idiom 58

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x/Illustrations

16. (S) Saron panerus part for sample “hanging” balungan gatra (irama dadi) 59 17. (S) Kenongan phrase from Ladrang Siyem sléndro nem 65 18. (S) Balungan, bonangan, rebaban, gendèran, and gambangan for phrase 33.. 6532 in Ladrang Wilujeng sléndro manyura 66 19. (S) Balungan notation for one gongan of first movement (mérong) of Gendhing Lagu Dhempel sléndro sanga 68 20. (S) Example of composition-specific divergence: Gendhing Lagu Dhempel sléndro sanga 69 21. (S) Example of composition-specific divergence: Gendhing Cucurbawuk sléndro manyura 70 22. Schematic representation of divergence between balungan and “soft” elaborating parts 73 23. Schematic representation of divergence cross-cutting distinction between balungan and “soft” elaborating parts 73 24. (S) Phrase from Ayak-ayakan sléndro manyura 74 25. (S) Phrase from gérong part and skeletal melodies it is sung with in four compositions 78 26. (S) Phrase from gérong part of Ladrang Sri Widodo pélog barang 80 27. (S) Saron melody and multi-octave balungan from Lancaran Tropong Bang pélog nem 82 28. (S) Four irama levels illustrated in terms of density ratios of balungan and saron panerus 83 29. (S) Balungan nibani and balungan mlaku versions of Ladrang Srikaton sléndro manyura 92 30. (S) Two balungan phrases used for céngkok ayu kuning in sléndro sanga 95 31. (S) Standard and nonstandard versions of passage from Gendhing Bondhèt pélog nem 96 32. (S) Use of tone 3 as pancer tone in Gendhing Okrak-okrak sléndro manyura 99 33. (S) Alternative gérong parts for passage from Gendhing Kembanggayam pélog nem 101 34. Analysis of Martopangrawit’s humming of Gambirsawit (mérong) 106 Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page xi

Illustrations /xi

35. Analysis of Martopangrawit’s humming of Gambirsawit (first half of inggah irama wilet) 107 36. (S) Suhardi’s notation of lagu of Gendhing Onang-onang pélog nem 129 37. (S) Balungan mlaku and balungan nibani phrases accompanying céngkok ayu kuning 130 38. (S) Balungan, , and Sumarsam’s “inner melody” for passage from Ladrang Wilujeng sléndro manyura 135 39. (S) Two versions of rebaban for phrase from Ladrang Wilujeng sléndro manyura 136 40. (S) Supanggah’s “essential balungan” and Suhardi’s lagu for Gendhing Cucurbawuk sléndro manyura 140 41. Schematic representations: maximally congruent relationship among melodic parts; divergence between balungan and “soft” elaborating parts; divergence within “soft” elaborating parts; construction of congruent but unplayed balungan 144 42. (S) Use of barang miring by rebab in Ladrang Diradameta sléndro nem 150 43. (S) Rebab notation and Suhardi’s lagu for passage from Ladrang Krawitan sléndro nem 151 44. Schematic representation of derivation and context of formulation of three concepts of implicit melody 160

table

1. Conventional Western pitch equivalents of the tones of Javanese sléndro and pélog used in this book xviii This page intentionally left blank Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page xiii

Acknowledgments

The questions I address in this book have preoccupied me for twenty-five years. The search for answers brought me to Java, and if I have made any progress toward solving these puzzles, it is due to the generosity of my friends and teachers there. First and foremost, then, I owe thanks to the Java- nese musicians who welcomed me into their world, and especially the three musicians whose ideas of unplayed melody so fascinated me: Sumarsam, Supanggah, and Suhardi—three remarkable men it has been my great good fortune to know. Though they are too numerous to list here, I am grateful to all of the musicians mentioned in this book for generously sharing their knowledge with me during my research in Java. And I’m grateful to I. M. Harjito for his ongoing generosity. If this work falls short of their expectations—if anything in it displeases—I ask their pardon: nyuwun pangapunten sadaya kalepatan kula. When I began this research I was trying to integrate the insights of cul- tural studies and postcolonial studies into . I did not plan to apply cognitive anthropology to Javanese music, and I certainly did not envision comparing the historical course of Javanese musical theorizing with that of European art music. Several people inspired this shift of focus, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them here. Carol Krumhansl showed me by her example how to think like a cogni- tive psychologist. An invitation by Lawrence Zbikowski to the “Music, Cul- ture, Mind” conference at the University of Chicago gave me the opportu- nity to try out my ideas about intra-domain analogical thinking with a group of kindred spirits. It was at that conference that I met the cognitive musi- cologist David Huron, whose combination of personal warmth, intellectual brilliance, and joie de vivre makes him the best possible advertisement for cognitive musicology—and, indeed, for the academic life in general. Around xiii Perlman, Unplayed Melodies 7/12/04 2:05 PM Page xiv

xiv / Acknowledgments

the same time, the philosopher Monique Roelofs convinced me that one can appreciate the insights of cultural studies without being swallowed up by relativism. And throughout it all, David E. Cohen showed me how the history of music theory, when approached with rigorous scholarship and imagina- tive sympathy, can find the unexpected at the heart of the familiar. This book relies on material first reported in my dissertation, and I offer renewed thanks to the people I acknowledged there: especially my advisers, Mark Slobin and Roger Solie, and Harold S. Powers, who has inspired me for over thirty years. My dissertation research in Java was conducted un- der the auspices of the Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia and the Seko- lah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, and I thank them again for their sponsorship. Two people nurtured this book in its earliest stages: Robert Labaree, who combines vigorous, acute intellect and passionate enthusiasm, and Mar- garet Sarkissian, who allowed me to subject her to my earliest draft chapters. The final form owes a great deal to my editor,Mary Francis of the University of California Press. The book you are holding is considerably more user- friendly and approachable (not to mention affordable) than the book I orig- inally wanted to write.That book—provisionally titled Making Sense in Ja- vanese Music—will, I hope, appear at some future time; but that the present book exists at all—something rather than nothing—is because of Mary. A book with so many musical examples in two separate notation systems is a challenge for any publisher, and I’m grateful to Laura Harger and Eliza- beth Ditmars for the care and extraordinary attention to detail with which they guided my manuscript into print. And thanks to Heike Gleiss for the photograph of Suhardi that appears on the cover—it means a lot to me. The writing of this book was supported by a semester’s sabbatic leave at Brown University and by a fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center. My colleagues at both institutions gave me invaluable intellectual stimula- tion, moral support, and practical advice. Many people read portions of the manuscript, and it is a pleasure to thank them here: James Baker, Cynthia Benton-Groner, Anna Maria Busse Berger, Karol Berger, Scott Burnham, Thomas Christensen,David E.Cohen, Richard Cohn,Stephen Hinton,Cristle Collins Judd, Louise Meintjes, Steven Sloman, Claudia Strauss, Sumarsam, R. Anderson Sutton, , Wayne Vitale, and Larry Zbikowski. Michael Tenzer and Andy Sutton in particular have been extraordinarily supportive throughout the writing of this book; I couldn’t have done it with- out them. In writing this book, as in all things, I drew strength from the support of my family. And for keeping me on track, I thank my metaethics consultant, Agnieszka Jaworska.