CYCLICAL NARRATIVES AND THE POWER OF THREE: INSTITUTIONAL HISTORIES AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES OF GAMELAN ENSEMBLES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BY CHRISTINA HORTON THESIS Submitted in partiAl fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MAster of Music in Music with a concentration in Musicology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019 Urbana, Illinois MAster’s Committee: Professor GAyle Sherwood MAgee, Adviser AssociAte Professor Michael Silvers ABSTRACT This project builds upon the scholArship of gamelAn ensembles in the United StAtes, particulArly the work of Brent TAlbot and ElizAbeth Clendinning, by focusing on discourses of music transmission, pedagogicAl lineAges, and the Balinese concept of air mengalir (“wAter flows”). In this thesis, I provide a history of gamelAn music and gamelAn ensembles at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), stArting from the eArly 1970s, and explore various narratives constructed from oral histories, interviews, and archival mAteriAls. I then focus on a particulAr moment of this history—namely the yeArs in which I have been involved in the UIUC Balinese gamelAn ensemble (2015-2019)—And examine the pedagogicAl practices of PAk I Ketut Gede AsnawA situated in relAtion to institutional histories and theories that shape them and Are equally influenced by them. SpecificAlly, I theorize about PAk AsnawA’s pedagogicAl strategies from his own theoreticAl lAnguage and terms and expand this model to tAlk about the educAtional reAlties of the UIUC Balinese gamelAn ensemble at this moment. UltimAtely, I study how the historicAl narratives and pedagogicAl practices of the various gamelAn programs uniquely exemplify what it meAns to be a gamelAn musiciAn in UIUC’s School of Music as well As show how these ideAs about the function of a gamelAn at a US postsecondary music institution interact with lArger institutional forces such as cAmpus policies, the discipline of ethnomusicology, and national And transnational legacies and theories. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: “WHY NOT HAVE BOTH?” THE HISTORY OF GAMELAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.......................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 2: PANCA “WI,” PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES, AND PAK ASNAWA’S PHILOSOPHIES...........................................................................................................................63 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................110 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................116 APPENDIX A: ARCHIVAL MATERIALS..............................................................................122 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEWS .................................................................................................124 iii INTRODUCTION I Ketut Gede AsnawA (PAk AsnawA1), I Putu TAngkas Adi HiranmAyena (Putu HiranmAyena), and I are practicing before gamelAn reheArsAl, trying to solidify certAin sections of music for PAk AsnawA’s dance composition, Tari Canang Porosan. At this moment, PAk AsnawA is the current professor of Balinese gamelAn at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, and PhD student Putu HiranmAyena—A Balinese AmericAn well-trained in the art since childhood—has become PAk AsnawA’s unofficiAl assistAnt over my yeArs of study. As students stArt to enter the gamelAn room for the day, they sit at their respective instruments and join in plAying or wAit for PAk AsnawA or Putu to give extra assistAnce. Throughout the reheArsAl, we review sections and leArn new parts, all trying to follow Putu and PAk AsnawA’s pangguls (mAllets) as best as we cAn. As we mAke mistAkes or try to figure out interlocking parts and harmonies, smiles are passed around, joking remArks are mAde, and lAughter ensues. A sense of trust and support is felt among the musiciAns, mAny of whom have become friends through this ensemble, and have witnessed growth in eAch other throughout the yeArs—in their gamelAn plAying As well as in their acAdemic and personal lives. This is counter-balAnced with the days where we struggle to mAke progress in leArning the music of Porosan. We become frustrated with eAch other and ourselves as we receive annoyed but endeAring glAres from both PAk AsnawA And Putu during reheArsAl. We leAve aggravated with our technicAl or mentAl limitAtions even as we continue running the pattern in our mind again and again until we are certAin we know it. The sounds of reheArsAl follow us outside the clAssroom through recordings shared viA emAil or sociAl mediA. My friends and I plAy them often over our phone or lAptop speAkers while discussing our 1 The title of “PAk” derives from “Bapak,” which means “father.” It is a term of respect used to address older, usually married, men as well as teachers. It is similar to our use of “Mr.” in English. 1 progress with eAch other. As with every semester that I have been a part of this ensemble, there is AlwAys one particulAr piece that becomes a fixation for the gamelAn members—one that encApsulAtes the ideA of what being in a gamelAn ensemble at the University of Illinois meAns to us. In mAny of the reheArsAls for this piece, PAk AsnawA often reminds us of the foundation of tri sakti (Power of Three) as it relAtes to Tari Canang Porosan. In his article entitled, “KebhinekaAn dan KompleksitAs GAmelAn [Diversity and Complexity in Balinese GAmelAn],” from the acAdemic journal Bheri sponsored by Institut Seni Indonesia Denpasar (IndonesiAn Arts Institute DenpasAr or ISI), PAk AsnawA summArizes the religious context of this concept, explAining that the ideA of tri sakti (Power of Three) from Balinese Hinduism serves as one concept of achieving balAnce. SpecificAlly, it is the third dimension within overall balAnce that humAns must try to achieve in their lives (AsnawA 2007: 35).2 Tari Canang Porosan relAtes to the concept of tri sakti becAuse it is named after a type of religious offering cAlled canang porosan, which symbolicAlly portrays the three mAjor gods of Balinese Hinduism. The term canang more generally refers to the smAll, square-shaped offerings found everywhere in Bali (Figure 1)—in houses, on the streets, around temples—that are used in daily rituals to thank the gods. Porosan (Figures 2 and 3) is An element included in the daily offerings that represents the three mAjor gods: BrahmA (CreAtor), Wisnu (Preserver), and IswAra or SiwA (Destroyer). The green betel leAf (daun sirih) symbolizes Wisnu; the white limestone powder (kapur) represents IswAra; and the gambir fruit, which is red on the inside and found in a type of palm tree in Bali, represents BrahmA. The porosan is mAde by dipping the betel leAf in a limestone paste mixture And then plAcing the gambir fruit on top (AsnawA, pers. comm., 2019A). 2 AsnAwa further explAins thAt this third dimension is one of 10 total dimensions. More detailed religious context is provided within his article, which is written in Indonesian. 2 Figure 1 Canang_1, Digital Image, Wikimedia Commons, Feb. 1, 2015. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canang_1.jpg Figure 2 Porosan elements, photo taken by Ni Putu Oka Madriani, 2019 Figure 3 Finished Porosan, photo taken by Ni Putu Oka Madriani, 2019 3 This dance composition, as with mAny compositions at Illinois, is a collAboration within the AsnawA family, with PAk AsnawA composing, his wife and renowned choreographer Ni Putu Oka MArdiAni (Ibu MArdiAni) choreographing, their two daughters Yonitika and Yunirika serving As two of the three dancers. Within this collAborative piece, various elements of the musical composition and choreography symbolize aspects of this type of porosan offering. For example, Ibu MArdiAni’s choreography is for three dancers, eAch representing one of the offering’s elements. Furthermore, one mAin melody with Balinese lyrics sung by the musiciAns addresses the three gods, pays respect to them, and invites them to join us on eArth. Finally, the piece ends with the following vocAl line: Tri Sakti, Maha Suci (Power of Three, Very Holy), actively highlighting this importAnt concept from BAlinese Hindu philosophy (AsnawA, pers. comm., 2019A). Overall, this piece reminds me of how often PAk AsnawA relAtes what we leArn in clAss to this sAme concept of tri sakti. IdeAs drawn from tri sakti influences much of what and how PAk AsnawA teAches his ensemble. It has become a defining feAture in more wAys than one, whether recognized by its members or not. My purpose in thoroughly explAining the leArning, cultural, and creAtive processes behind Tari Canang Porosan is to demonstrate a moment very characteristic of my experiences during my four yeArs as a gamelAn ensemble member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After working closely with the AsnawA family and Putu HiranmAyena, I have stArted to think about the different seAsons—cycles—of the gamelAn program at Illinois as compared to cyclicAl gong structures3 (HiranmAyena, pers. comm., 2019A). As discussed by numerous 3 Judith Becker wrote A chApter (1979) entitled “Time And Tune in jAvA” which explAins how different cyclicAl organizations of time in JAvAnese society correspond with cyclical structures in javanese gamelan. She sees the relationship As homologous, As well As proof