Messiaen Festival

Messiaen’s interest in the resonance, colours and textures of the gamelan is well known, indeed, a section of the orchestra is names gamelan in the score of his Turangalîla-symphonie. To commemorate the centenary of Messiaen’s birth, Southbank Gamelan Players presented a programme of Javanese gamelan music inspired by Turangalîla’s theme of transcendent love.

On 7 February 2008, Southbank Gamelan Players performed in the Clore Ballroom of the Royal Festival Hall prior to a performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra of the Turangalîla-symphonie conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Programme:
I. Gending ‘Gendhiyeng’, ladrang ‘Sukarsih’, pèlog nem
II. Ladrang ‘Sri Karongron’, ketawang ‘Pangkur Dhudhåkasmaran’, sléndro sångå
III. Jineman ‘Gångså Munyå’, pèlog barang
IV. Ladrang ‘Perkutut Manggung’, slendro manyura
V. Ladrang ‘Liwung’, pèlog barang
VI. Ketawang gendhing ‘Elå- Elå Kalibeber’, sléndro sångå

Programme Notes:

Gending  ‘Gendhiyeng’, ladrang ‘Sukarsih’, pèlog nem
Gendhing ‘Gendhiyeng’ and ladrang ‘Sukarsih form the opening two numbers of the overture to a wayang gedhog performance (an all-night puppet show using flat wooden puppets and depicting stories from the indigenous Javanese Panji stories). As such, ‘Gendhiyeng’ is believed to have supernatural qualities, being a ‘received piece’, rather than the composition of a court musician. ‘Sukarsih’ can be translated as ‘the joy of the lovers’ (su: exceedingly; suka: joy/happiness; sukarsa: over-joyed; sih: love). Together they also can be used to accompany to the sacred Srimpi dance (danced by four women). Tonight’s performance presents the two pieces in a concert version.

Ladrang ‘Sri Karongron’, ketawang ‘Pangkur Dhudhåkasmaran’, sléndro sångå
Ladrang ‘Sri Karongron’ (resplendent lovers) was composed at the court of Sunan Pakubuwånå X in the Central Javanese city of Surakarta (Solo), to mark the visit of the neighbouring Sultan of Yogyakarta on 12th December 1912. It is considered my many to be the epitome of Solonese refinement, and is here followed by Ketawang ‘Pangkur Dhudhåkasmaran’ (the love-lorn widower) using the classical poetic metre with seven lines of unequal length known as ‘Pangkur’.

Jineman ‘Gångså Munyå’, pèlog barang
A jineman is a light-hearted, at times flirtatious song accompanied by the softer gamelan instruments. Whereas voices and instruments are usually on an equal footing in gamelan music, here the vocal part takes precedence over the instrumental parts. Jineman ‘Gångså Munyå’ (the gamelan sounds) is based on the traditional mid-20th century song ‘Glathik Glindhing’. However the text for this version was composed by Rahayu Supanggah, Southbank Centre Artist in Residence supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, for the score of the 2006 film Opera Jawa, and is a conversation between mother and son about his search for a beautiful wife.

Ladrang ‘Perkutut Manggung’, slendro manyura
‘Perkutut Manggung’ (the song of the turtledove) is a popular late night piece. The turtledove is one of the five Javanese symbols of happiness along with a spouse, a home, transport and a keris (traditional Javanese dagger). On the one hand this piece is a manual on how to look after your doves; on the other it’s also a song about love, playfulness, flirtation and desire.

Ladrang ‘Liwung’, pèlog barang
‘Liwung’, a short joyful piece appropriate for marking the beginning or ending of a ceremony is played here in the Yogyakarta style.

Ketawang gendhing ‘Elå- Elå Kalibeber’, sléndro sångå
Despite the fact that its core melody (balungan) is busy and complex, ‘Elå-Elå Kalibeber’ (to the left, to the right the river turns) is one of the most serene pieces in the repertoire.

An Interesting Crossover...

According to Bob Gluck, the earliest explorations of electronic music [in Indonesia] took place in the early 1960s, beginning with a work for gamelan and tape by Slamet Sjukur an influential professor at the Jakarta Institute for the Arts. The composition, a work for a ballet created in Paris and choreographed by Frederic Franchini, is titled ‘latigrak’ (1963). In Paris, Sjukur studied first with Olivier Messiaen, later with Peter Schaeffer at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM). Two decades later, Sjukur composed ‘Astral’ (1984), a second electronic work, and more recently ‘Gelandangan’ (1998), for karunding and tape.

Born in 1935 in Surabaya, Java, Sjukur is best known for his extensive catalogue of works for dancers and theatre, vocal and chamber music. He has also composed several compositions for multimedia performance with electronics, including ‘Parentheses IV’ (1973), for two dancers, flute, two electric guitars, violin, cello, prepared piano, synthesizer, percussion, live painting, and ‘Jakarta 450 Tahun’ (1977), an environmental work based upon the sounds of Jakarta.

(See: Bob Gluck, Electronic Music in Indonesia, 2006.)