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Oberlin Javenese Gamelan Concert Dec. 14 Features Alumnus Marc Benamou, Guest Director
By Charity Johnson ('99)
THE PROGRAM
• Lancaran Kebo Giro
• Kodhok Ngorek
• Lancaran Wrahatbala
• Bedaya Duradasih
• Ketawabg Subakastawa
• Bibaran Udan Mas
RELATED
"Javanese Gamelan music, with its many melodic lines and simultaneous improvisation on several instruments, appeals to the Western listener's love of polyphony." says Roderic Knight, professor of ethnomusicology at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In its first formal concert since 1989, the Oberlin Javanese Gamelan, guest directed by Marc Benamou '79, will present a free, public concert on Thursday, Dec. 14, at 9 P.M. in Warner Concert Hall.
The program was chosen from the traditional Javanese Gamelan repertoire, which exists in an oral tradition originating from Java, an island in Indonesia. Besides Oberlin students and faculty, the 21 members of the gamelan include an Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association visiting faculty member from Java.
The instruments of Oberlin's Javanese Gamelan were purchased in 1970 from a Chinese merchant family in East Java, and at the time consisted of a set of instruments in Slendro tuning. (This set was augmented with a matching set of instruments in Pelog tuning, custom built for Oberlin in 1984.)
The Oberlin Javanese Gamelan was first offered as an ensemble at the Conservatory in 1971, and has been variously taught by Molly Johnson (now assistant to the President), and visiting Shansi and Fulbright scholars R.M. Wasisto Surjodiningrat, Edward Van Ness, Sri Djoko Raharjo, Suratno, Tom Ross, Aloysius Suwardi, and Rene Lysloff. Knight has taught the gamelan since 1990; it is offered every other academic year.
The fall 2000 gamelan was taught by guest director Marc Benamou, whose residency was made possible by special arrangement with the Dean of the Conservatory and the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association. Benamou, regarded as a leading non-Javanese scholar of Javanese vocal traditions, has performed extensively with gamelan groups in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.
The gamelan offers the opportunity to participate in an ensemble experience that is "both enjoyable and challenging for Western performers," says Knight, "since the parts are learned by ear and played from memory, and require always being attentive to the group dynamic." The music is distinctive in many respects, Knight adds. "It is calm and orderly, with only slight changes in tempo, dynamics, or mood as a piece progresses, and the instruments are tuned to non-western scales, which attract our notice. The combination of bronze metallophones and gongs with a xylophone, bowed lute, and voices is very attractive."
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