Music From The Morning Of The World: The Balinese Gamelan & Ketjak, The Ramayana Monkey Chant

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005IZB
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,333 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Indonesia > Bali

Track Listings

1. Ketjak Dance

2. Gamelan Gong Kebyar: Baris; Gambang Betjak

3. Sekehe Gambuh: Sekar Leret

4. Gamelan Gong: Barong Dance (Excerpt)

5. Lullaby

6. Gamelan Angklung: Margepati

7. Sekehe Genggong: Pemungkah; Frog Song; Flute Solo

8. Gender Wayang: Ansarun

9. Golden Rain (Hudjan Mas)

10. Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exuberant and packed with energy and life, October 18, 2000

By 

Kean Chhay Chang (Vic, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music From The Morning Of The World: The Balinese Gamelan & Ketjak, The Ramayana Monkey Chant (Audio CD)

Great music and very well recorded for sure, I really enjoyed this cd because, it's nothing like I have ever heard before, packed with energy, life, vibrant and full of sudden shifts in mood. Gamelan gong kebyar or just kebyar mean "to burst into full bloom, lightning or to strike a match" and indeed it does desrcibe this musicial style for sure. Track 1 and track 10 is the ketjak or kecak the monkey chant which enacts scenes from the well known Hindu epic of the Ramayana. Very exotic and unusual even though it had been recently developed and spawned from an older vocal chant used to put girls into trance. The vocal chant is interesting as it shifts in vocals and moods and also the style... pretty good... even better is to watch them perform live and get the experience performance. Track 2 packed with energy and colour from the musical composition used for a dance, 3 is the traditional and rare dance theatre which was believed to have originated from Java, this style is very mellow and quite distinct however the conclusion of the track ends with a large ringing of the gong, track 4 an excerpt from the barong dance which is often performed for tourist, track 5 a very rare and unusual vocal performed by a young girl, quite beautiful and delicate and my favourite was track 6 with the gamelan angklung this track was packed with everything from the quick and sudden intro through to the shifting of moods and compositions and the list just goes on for sure. This cd is great packed with goodies... The quality of the music is very outstanding as well. To record music from Bali was a break through for sure... The booklet contains information about the music but not as spectacular as the cd and music itself... I recommend it for music lovers who like something exotic...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balinese Music Before Mass Media, October 7, 2000

By 

"banos" (Los Banos) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music From The Morning Of The World: The Balinese Gamelan & Ketjak, The Ramayana Monkey Chant (Audio CD)

This is a classic recording. The only grounds on which you can really fault it is that it is just excerpts of these different genres, so each selection is, by traditional Balinese standards, incomplete. But they do shine and pulsate with the different energies of Balinese creativity. The Ketchak excerpt is evocative of far more spiritual, visceral energy than you feel seeing a typical performance these days in the big hotels, or down on Kuta beach, or even in Ubud nearer the old cultural center. The same goes for the other excerpts. A classic recording by a pioneer of fine quality field recording.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot and beautiful, July 25, 2005

By 

Jodawi (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music From The Morning Of The World: The Balinese Gamelan & Ketjak, The Ramayana Monkey Chant (Audio CD)

The transition midway through "Golden Rain" made me think "Wow... balinese gamelan is the punk-rock of world music". Probably not really a good description, but this is the recording that turned me on to gamelan, leading to joining a gamelan orchestra.