THE UC DAVIS DEPARTMENT OF PRESENTS THE

UC Davis Ensemble

Henry Spiller, director

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PROGRAM

Jipang Lontang trad.

Galatik Mangut A. Idi

Jeruk Bali Djai

Ladrak trad.

Lutung Bingung A. Absar

Kunang‐kunang ("Oray‐orayan") trad.

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12:05 pm, Tuesday, 2 March 2010 Room 115, Music Building

[INSERT STANDARD “QUIET” TEXT.] This performance is made possible in part by the generous support from the Joy S. Shinkoskey Series of Noon Concerts endowment.

NOTES

Introduction: Indonesia is a nation with 13,000 islands (of which a few thousand are populated), the fourth largest population in the world, and hundreds of ethnic groups and languages. Indonesia's second largest ethnic group is the Sundanese; approximately 30 million Sundanese speakers dominate the modern province of West Java. Sundanese people look back to the medieval West Javanese kingdom of Pajajaran (1333–1579) as a homeland and for the roots of Sundanese culture. Stories and cultural images have developed a romanticized vision of Pajajaran as a mystical, ethical utopia of great natural beauty and its rulers as models of wisdom and power; the memory of Pajajaran inspires modern Sundanese people to maintain a strong Sundanese identity. While the majority of the Sundanese population still lives in rural or semi‐rural settings, large cities and the cosmopolitan culture they nurture have become an increasingly important element of Sundanese lives.

Gamelan Degung: The term gamelan refers to matched sets of instruments (primarily tuned bronze percussion instruments) that are unified by appearance, manufacture, tuning, and other characteristics. Each gamelan is unique. The gamelan ensemble known as degung (or ) consists of hanging bronze , chimes, metallophones, drums, and suling (bamboo flute) tuned to a pentatonic scale. Degung developed in the aristocratic regencies of colonial West Java to provide refined, courtly listening music. Since the 1920s, degung has evolved into a more egalitarian, but distinctly Sundanese, genre. The ensemble’s characteristic tuning is called pelog degung; in Western terms, pelog degung's pitches are approximately Ab‐G‐Eb‐Db‐C. None of the actually plays the theme literally; each instrumentalist constructs his or her part by applying variation techniques to the theme. The result is a complex web of polyphony in which the various musical lines come together in unison at rhythmically significant points in the music, only to immediately diverge once again.

Jipang Lontang is a traditional opening piece.

Galatik Mangut is a lagu klasik (classical piece). Like most lagu klasik, Galatik Manggut features a florid part played on the (one‐row gong chime) and simple stick drumming.

“Jeruk Bali means literally “Balinese citrus” and refers to a popular grapefruit‐like treat, but, as is the case with many instrumental pieces, the title has no apparent relationship to the tune. This catchy became well known when it was released on a recording called Sangkala Degung, which sold well throughout Indonesia and was released on vinyl in the United States as well.

Ladrak is another lagu klasik that dates from the earliest days of degung. In the 1950s, it became fashionable to add a choral melody to lagu klasik—a style known as rampak sekar. The words describe the beautiful mountains that surround Bandung (the capital city of West Java and the center of Sundanese culture) "like a jeweled belt that girds the past to the present."

Lutung Bingung means literally "confused monkey"—in this case, there may be a bit of word‐painting in one of the phrases, which consists of a short, fast, confused melody that contrasts with the rest of the tune.

Kunang‐kunang means "fireflies." Today we are using the piece to accompany a children's and game called "Oray‐orayan." This is not profound poetry; the words are enjoyable because they are simple (if you're a Sundanese speaker), silly, assonant, and alliterative.

[Rudy: plz place side by side, here, as is text w/translation for the piece immediately above (Kunang…)] Oray‐orayan luar‐leor mapay leuwi Entong ka leuwi, di leuwi loba nu mandi

Oray‐orayan luar‐leor mapay sawah Entong ka sawah, parena keur sedeng beukah

Snaking along, wriggling past the river Don't go down to the river, in the river many are bathing

Snaking along, wriggling past the rice field Don't go down to the field, in the field the new rice is sprouting

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THE UC DAVIS GAMELAN ENSEMBLE Henry Spiller, director

Sharmi Basu Jessica Bolanos Joshua Cameron Nakisa Choupani Gregory Cotta Michael Dorrity Sarah Geller Sintia Gomez Christopher Haupt Calvin Le Eric Lindae Kristofer Lorenz Nuradilla Mohamad Fauzi Richard Perez Molly Raney Steven Spinner David Verbuc

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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Henry Spiller is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on Sundanese music and dance. He considers performance an important part of his research and has studied with a variety of Sundanese teachers, including Undang Sumarna, Otong Rasta, Burhan Sukarma, Entis Sutisna, and Tosin Mochtar. At UC Davis, he is an assistant professor in the music department and directs the UC Davis Gamelan Ensemble, which he established in 2006. The ensemble gives participating students a practical introduction to Sundanese performing arts.

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UPCOMING EVENTS…