Music Of Indonesia 14: Lombok, Kalimantan, Banyumas

Music Of Indonesia (Smithsonian Folkways Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 1997)
• Original Release Date: November 18, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000001DLJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,394 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #22 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Indonesia > General
  • #45 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Far East & Asia

Editorial Reviews

Volume 14 in the Smithsonian Folkways Music of Indonesia series focuses on three lesser-known forms of Indonesian gamelan orchestras and wayang shadow puppet theater. Ethnomusicologist Philip Yampolsky begins this compilation with music of the wayang Sasak from the island of Lombok, which lies directly east of Bali. Wayang Sasak mixes Javanese-style puppets, Islamic stories, and Balinese and Sasak musical idioms. The next style from the district of Banyumas in Central Java is a streamlined version that simply uses four actor-singers, but no instruments or puppets. The finish to the volume comes from the Banjar people of South Kalimantan on the southern tip of Borneo. A thirty-minute gamelan overture to the wayang kulit Banjar is (shadow puppet theater) is followed by music from the same gamelan group for topeng Banjar, a masked dance style.

The published liner notes, along with corrections and supplementary materials, are available here.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rhythm that cannot be missed, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Music Of Indonesia 14: Lombok, Kalimantan, Banyumas (Audio CD)

There are three selections of Lombok Wayung. Wayung is the shadow puppet theatre of Bali and Java, but the island to the East, Lombok has some too. The first selection is long and covers more of the flute and the dalang. Most likely the performance of this piece lasts a few hours, so they edit around representative samples and/or hot spots. The 2nd and 3rd selections are hot spots, with some amazing polyrhythmic percussion that you will never hear in jazz, African, or Indian music.

If you are a listener of rhythms, you cannot afford to miss this CD for these two selection.

Also on this CD are some 'vocal impersonations' of gamelan music which are quite interesting. Apparently there is some comedy involved that would be apparent if these performances were witnessed live, but for CD listeners, you hear very rhythmic and interactive music.