Issues of Pastiche and Illusions of Authenticity in Gamelan-Inspired Composition

Abstract

This article reconsiders some of the issues surrounding new music for the Javanese gamelan, principally by western composers, and is largely based on personal experience of working with them, most notably the late Lou Harrison (probably the most distinguished such composer). After a brief historical summary, indicating different responses to the gamelan since Debussy, the paper focuses on some of the problems confronting the composer in recent times, which relate mainly to tuning differences when western instruments (or singers) are added, and to the appropriation of traditional Javanese structures. It argues that the relative ease of replicating at least the superficial aspects of these structures can betray inconsistencies and have limited value, unless the western composer's strongest suit – his or her own tradition – can be usefully brought to bear on the creative endeavour. Some of the contrasting ways this has happened are examined, from the concertos of Harrison, through two works (one western and one Javanese) which, unlike his, exploit instrumental tuning discrepancies, to finally my own Missa Gongso, which confronts them using a western choir. These various solutions also support the notion of a gamelan's unique identity, defined not only by its tuning but also by a kind of dialect stemming from its location.

Notes

¹The main source referred to is Alexander J. Ellis (1885), ‘On the musical scales of various nations’, and these key points are cited by Perlman (1994: 532).

²Marc Perlman puts it succinctly and forcefully thus: ‘Music in Java has nothing to do with just intonation…’ (1994: 513). One of the interesting questions raised in his article is why composers so interested in just intonation felt themselves drawn to the gamelan (1994: 541).

³The first of the three Estampes for piano (1903).

⁴It is included on the CD recording ‘Interaction: New Music for Gamelan.’ Leonardo Music Journal CD Series Volume 2 — ISAST 2, 1992.

⁵Although not couched in quite the scholarly tones of his 1994 article, and nowhere near the same length, this article, from 11 years earlier, presents a wider range of major issues and the essence of Perlman's criticisms of new music for gamelan.

⁶The festival, under the auspices of the British Council and the Indonesian Red Cross, brought together musicians from the leading music academy, Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (S.T.S.I.), Solo, Central Java, with the famous Scottish percussion virtuoso, Evelyn Glennie. Two concerts were held in Jakarta, both featuring ROH, performed by the S.T.S.I. musicians, a solo recital by Evelyn Glennie (with piano accompaniment) and shorter pieces (including one specially composed by myself) bringing her and the gamelan players together.

⁷Supanggah's first name is usually spelt Rahayu but the old orthography is reproduced from the programme book for this composition.

⁸Although not concerned directly with the specific point Hastanto made, Benjamin Brinner's ‘Tuning-mode-form matrix’ diagram gives an excellent idea of the complex interrelationship of these elements of karawitan (1995: 438).

⁹Writing from the perspective of an American group versed in Javanese traditional music and taking on the challenge of this work, Dwight W. Thomas (1983: 91) wrote: ‘The Harrison concerto played havoc with our fantasies of authenticity…’. He seemed to view the concerto as falling between two stools and analysed the gamelan part more in terms of western procedures than Javanese ones.

¹⁰Saying it is based on or in the style of Javanese forms (such as gendhing kemanak or lancaran) is quite different from saying it is a gendhing kemanak or lancaran, which is what happens, for example, in the Lou Harrison Double Concerto, where terms like ‘Ladrang’ and ‘Gending’ are written into the titles of the pieces.

¹¹Vincent McDermott (1986: 27) addresses the same point by asking: ‘If there is a Solonese style, a Yogyanese, and a Cirebonese, why not an Amsterdam, a London, an Oakland, or a Portland style as well.’