Gamelan of the Yogyakarta Royal Palace

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Gamelan of the Yogyakarta Royal Palace · The gamelan of the royal palace of Yogyakarta is the ensemble that plays the court music of Central Java. Gamelan itself is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese in Indonesia and consists mainly of percussion instruments. The word comes from the Javanese gamel, which refers to playing percussion or striking with a mallet. In 2014 gamelan traditions were recognised as National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia, and in 2021 UNESCO added gamelan to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Music and breakthrough

The sound comes from metal instruments such as gongs, metallophones and small gong chimes, supplemented by drums and often by strings, flute and voice. The ensemble has no conductor in the Western sense: a drummer or another leading instrument signals the changes. The pieces have fixed forms, of which the ladrang is one, and are played in one of two tuning systems, pelog or slendro, in a particular pathet, a kind of choice of mode. Ladrang Liwung in pelog pathet barang follows such a form.

Influence

For anyone who listens to pop music, gamelan matters because it shows what an interplay of repeated cycles sounds like, with layers that each run at their own tempo. These sounds later inspired Western composers and pop musicians. The palace tradition of Yogyakarta is regarded as one of the forms in which this music has been preserved in its purest state.

Listening

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  Ladrang Liwung (pelog pathet barang) · Gamelan of the Yogyakarta Royal Palace