The name Siswå Sukrå literally means ‘the Friday students’: thegroup rehearses on Thursday evenings, or Friday in Javaneseterms, since days begin at sunset in the Javanese calendar.

The gamelan allows players of mixed ages, abilities andexperience to play together. Siswå Sukrå resembles a typicalcommunity group in Java, some players being relatively new tothe music while others have studied in Java.

is a community gamelan groupof fifteen or more players, based at theRoyal Festival Hall in London. The group hasgrown out of the Southbank Centre’sresident gamelan programme, which beganin 1988. It is tutored by Pete Smith, one ofthe UK’s leading gamelan musicians andteachers.

Siswå Sukrå plays pieces from the centralJavanese gamelan repertoire, both classicaland modern, in moods ranging from solemncourt ritual to exuberant village celebration.Its programmes are designed to introducenew audiences to a great musical culturethat has fascinated composers from theWest for over a century.

Enquiries and requests for bookings toEmail address: info [at] siswasukra.co.ukWebsite: www.siswasukra.co.uk

A gamelan is a set of tuned percussion instruments,mainly in bronze. Gamelan takes different regionalforms – different ensembles and different music.Siswå Sukrå plays in the central Javanese style,based on the cultural centre Surakarta, although ithas half an eye on Yogyakarta, its rival city, and onSemarang, the capital of central Java. In the UK,Balinese gamelan is also widely played, and theSundanese style from west Java can be heard too.Several other styles exist.

A single gamelan conforms to one or other of twotunings: sléndro, a five-note scale, or pélog,which is a seven-note tuning that allows variousfive-note scales. In sléndro there are no intervalssmaller than one tone in the diatonic scale. A fullgamelan has sets of instruments in both tunings.Each gamelan traditionally has a unique tuning;instruments from different ensembles cannot bemixed. For practical reasons, Siswå Sukrå normallyuses a sléndro gamelan when away from home.

It is usual in the West to think of gamelan musicin terms of layers. The basic melody (balungan,literally ‘skeleton’) is carried by a group ofmetallophones: two or four saron, and half asmany demung, which are the same shape butlarger and pitched an octave lower. The slenthemis another metallophone but with tube resonators,and pitched an octave lower still. All theseinstruments usually play the basic melody orsimple decoration. The peking is smaller than thesaron and pitched an octave higher: it usuallyplays simple decoration.

Behind the melody section are the punctuatinginstruments, which mark structurally importantpoints in the music. The largest, and the least

often heard, is the great gong (gong ageng) withits beat note. When gong strokes come closetogether, they are played on the slightly smallergong suwukan. Intermediate points are markedby the kenong and kempul. The smallestinstruments of this section, and most often heard,are the kethuk and kempyang. In some piecesassociated with solemn dances, a pair ofhand-held banana-shaped punctuatinginstruments (kemanak) are heard.

At the front are the elaborating or decoratinginstruments. Each realises or elaborates thebalungan in its own characteristic style, playinganything up to 32 notes for each note of thebalungan. The player has a repertoire of patternsto choose from, so that there is an element ofimprovisation, but this is not improvisation as injazz, for example.

A Javanese gamelan combines two ensembles:loud-style and soft-style. Most of the decoratinginstruments belong to the soft style – rebab(bowed spike fiddle), gendèr barung (long,2½-octave metallophone) and gendèr panerus(similar but an octave higher), gambang(xylophone), siter (zither) and suling (end-blownbamboo flute). The rebab is the melodic leader in

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soft-style pieces, introducing the piece andsignalling some of the transitions within pieces. Inloud-style pieces the bonang barung (2-octavegong-chime) fills the equivalent role; it too has ahigher-pitched version, the bonang panerus.

The rebab also has the roles of keeping thefemale solo singers (pesindhèn) up to pitch andtelling them when to use miring notes, which are‘in the cracks’ between the notes of sléndro.

While the instruments have fixed roles, there areno soloists and no rank-and-file players: all playtheir part in the texture of the music, in whatwould be called heterophony in Western classicalmusic.

When present, vocal parts are usually just anotherstrand or layer in the texture of the music. As withthe instruments, there are fixed roles for the singers:men usually sing as a chorus, but women usuallysing as soloists in rhythmically free style. Mixedchoruses also occur, with men and women singingin unison at the octave. The texts sung are oftengeneric and unrelated to the particular piece.

In the absence of a conductor, the players mustrespond to audible signals alone. The drumscontrol the tempo, and signal changes ofdecoration style and some transitions betweensections of a piece or between pieces in a suite.

Within its two tunings (laras), gamelan music iscomposed in different modes (pathet) that areassociated with different times of day and thedifferent ‘acts’ of dramas. In order of rising pitch,the pathet in sléndro are called nem, sångå andmanyurå. The corresponding pathet in pélog arerespectively called limå, nem and barang.

A concert programme will ideally follow thissequence of pathet, and will alternate betweensléndro and pélog if both tunings are available.

Every note in the music is part of a pattern thatends at the next structurally important point – thefinal such point being a stroke on the gong ageng.The music therefore appears to work backwardscompared to Western music, where the first beatin the bar is the strongest.

Gamelan music is composed in fixed forms(bentuk) and generally works in repeating cycles,marked off by gong strokes. The melodic materialmay be repeated exactly, but may also be playedon different time scales (iråmå) and with a varietyof different elaborating techniques, so that it maynot immediately be recognisable as the same piece.The changes of iråmå are signalled by the drums,and a switch to the middle-sized ciblon from theother two drums generally indicates a transition tolivelier treatment by the other instruments.

Ayak-ayakan, srepegan, sampak In theaccompaniment of drama and dance, the gamelanis obliged to follow the action. For this purposethere are the ayak-ayakan, srepegan and sampakforms, all of which have multiple exit points so thatwhoever is in control can bring them to an endwithin a few seconds. The ayak-ayakan form is themost refined, and the sampak the most intense;the srepegan is in between. Srepegan and sampakare associated with vigorous action such as fightscenes.

Dangdut is a form of popular song that is nowperformed by various types of ensemble inIndonesia. It takes its name from a characteristicdrum beat said to have been borrowed fromIndian film music.

Gangsaran is essentially a one-note ostinato,

kendhang gedhé

ciblon

ketipung

derived from the repertoire of one of the ancientceremonial gamelan in the royal palaces. It is usedin suites and is again associated with fight scenes.

Gendhing This is the longest form, and can lastover an hour; the shortest take nearly aquarter-hour. Gendhing are divided into two basictypes according to the leading instrument: agendhing bonang is in the loud style and has novocal parts, whereas a gendhing rebab involves allthe soft-style instruments and has vocal parts,sometimes of several kinds: at least female solosinging, sometimes choral parts throughout, orpossibly a combination of both. A gendhing has atleast two sections, the first being relatively refined,and the second always more complex and lively.The second half of a gendhing bonang always startsin a restrained manner but gradually speeds up,sometimes changing its melodic material along

the way. Gendhing bonang are used as welcomingpieces at the start of a concert or ceremony.

Jineman is a solo song with an accompanimentfrom soft-style instruments.

Ketawang is another short form, basically vocal,always performed in a slower iråmå and therefined soft style.

Ladrang This form is a major category covering awide range of pieces: some in the loud style, somein the soft style, and some that switch between thetwo.

Lancaran This short, simple form is the one thatbeginners usually cut their teeth on. It is basicallyin the loud style, and may have vocal parts –typically light-hearted and popular.

Langgam is a curious exception. Basically a solosong with accompaniment, it is derived from thePortuguese-influenced kroncong – a type ofsentimental popular song accompanied by amainly string ensemble. In langgam, thestrumming and plucking of the stringedinstruments are imitated by imbal on the pekingand special imbal patterns on the two bonang.

Palaran is a vocal form, but takes its structurefrom the srepegan: a solo singer sings classicalJavanese verse in a flexible style against the fixedstructure provided by the srepegan, without theloud-style instruments.

Suites Pieces are often combined into sequencesor suites, some becoming standardised. Forexample, a gendhing is often followed by a ladrangor ketawang that forms a sort of third section.

Dance at the Pakualaman Palace, Yogyakarta

A pervasive feature of gamelan music is itsuse of interlocking rhythms – patterns ofnotes that are split between two instruments,two players on one instrument, or even thetwo hands of one player. In this way, fasterpatterns are possible.

Each region has its own patterns, goingby names such as imbal, kotekan and caruk.In central Javanese gamelan, imbal betweenthe two bonang (in a variety of styles) andbetween two saron is very common, butother forms will be heard; also interlockingpatterns between the hands are part ofregular gendèr and siter style.

Ni Madé Pujawati with Siswå Sukrå, St Ethelburga’s, London

The cliché happens to be true: the origins of thegamelan really are lost in the mists of antiquity.The archaeological record shows that some typesof instrument found in the gamelan existed 2000years ago. It is equally certain that others wereadded quite recently, even in the twentiethcentury. The usual Javanese account tells ofgamelan ensembles created over 1500 years ago,but lacks corroboration. From Westerners visitingthe East Indies early in the sixteenth century wehave reports of ensembles that were clearly somekind of gamelan, together with descriptions of theart forms – drama and dance – linked to them.

A history of performance practice is alsomissing. Until the end of the nineteenth century,transmission of compositions was entirely oral.After the arrival of notation, it was still only thebasic melody of the piece that was notated. Noneof the instruments plays exactly what is written:the balungan players must fold the melody to fit itinto the single-octave range of their instruments;the decorating instruments play far more than isnotated; and the punctuating instruments onlymark selected points. Therefore, in the case of an

old composition, we have almost no idea of howits sound has changed over the years. ‘Traditions’can only be traced back to the early twentiethcentury.

The fabrication of bronze gongs by casting andthen hot-forging and filing is a skill developed bythe Javanese gong-smiths in the first millenniumAD and maintained to this day. Some instrumentshave also been made in brass, and steel is oftenused to reduce costs at the expense of tonal quality.

It is often assumed that, since Indonesia is aMuslim nation, the music of the gamelan must beIslamic in some way. This is a non sequitur. Islamtraditionally has had no place for instrumentalmusic, and it would be highly exceptional to find agamelan in a mosque in Java.

Islam arrived in Java only in the fifteenthcentury, by which time the gamelan already had along tradition. Previously the Hindu religion hadpredominated, and characters and events from theIndian epics – the Ramayana and Mahabharata –provided the cultural base for Javanese drama anddance, as they continue to do.

A relaxed rehearsal at the Mangkunegaran Palace, Surakarta

Gamelan music in Java is therefore basicallyindependent of religion: Islam has very littleinfluence on it. In Bali the situation is entirelydifferent: the population, including many exilesfrom Java, continued to practise Hinduism, andgamelan performances are an integral part ofreligious ceremonies.

The gamelan was probably confined at first tothe royal palaces, from where it spread out intoalmost every kampung (village or local community).Java’s colonial masters, following a divide-and-rulepolicy, encouraged splits in the royal family, withthe result that Yogyakarta and Surakarta eachhave both a senior and a junior palace, all withcompeting musical styles. Mutual influencebetween palace and village continues today.

Gamelan music is strongly associated withdrama and dance; a Western-style publicperformance without either of these elements isthe exception not the rule in Java.

The most important form of drama in centralJava is the shadow-puppet play (wayang kulit),using stories from the Indian epics or Javaneselegends. Traditionally a wayang kulit performancestarts at 8 or 9 p.m. and ends just before dawn,but abbreviated performances lasting 2 to 3 hoursare increasingly common. These dramas remainhugely popular. The puppet-master (dhalang) isessentially a shaman, bringing the spirits to life inpuppet form, and therefore belongs to the animist

tradition. He manipulates the puppets, narratesthe story, gives all the characters distinctive voices,cracks jokes, and controls the progress of themusic. He may act as an official mouthpiece foradvice or news, but also enjoys licence to criticise– even, with caution, the central government.

Wayang kulit is now typically performed with alarge gamelan and as many singers as moneyallows. A top dhalang with his specialist performersis expensive, so performances are commissionedto celebrate major life events such as weddingsand circumcisions, and may be adjusted to themeans of the sponsor. Sometimes a wholecommunity will contribute to the costs. At othertimes or for less important occasions there willonly be a gamelan performance, perhaps by thelocal community group.

Several other forms of drama exist, usingstories drawn from the same sources or others.Dance too can be based on scenes from thesedramas, but other dances belong to specificcategories, e.g. the flirtatious gambyong for afemale dancer, and the gandrung dancesrepresenting lovesick heroes. Certain solemndances (bedhåyå and srimpi) are treasured culturalheirlooms of the royal palaces. All these danceforms are dance-as-performance ordance-as-ritual. Tayuban, in which women werepaid to dance with men, is an example of asomewhat disreputable social dance.

Ancient Sekatèn gamelan at Yogyakarta, 1888 Dance rehearsal at arts high school, Surakarta

The first possible English contact with the gamelanoccurred in 1580 during Drake’s circumnavigation:

One day amongst the rest, viz., March 21, RajaDonan coming aboard us, in requitall of our musickwhich was made to him, presented our Generall withhis country musick, which though it were of a verystrange kind, yet the sound was pleasant anddelightfull …

This does not definitively indicate a gamelan,but we can be fairly sure that the music played forthe Javanese visitors would have come from aconsort of viols or of recorders.

After the establishment of the East IndiaCompany in 1600, English ships began to makeregular voyages to Java and the Moluccas. It istempting to see sailors’ reports from Java inCaliban’s description of his island in Shakespeare’sTempest (a play dating from the teens of thecentury)

Sometimes a thousand twangling InstrumentsWill hum about mine ears.

with the words ‘twangling’ and ‘hum’ perhapshinting at the novelty of hearing melodies carriedby percussion instruments. East India Companyemployees’ writings sometimes mention music.

Siswå Sukrå at Myatt’s Fields Park, Lambeth, London

Shadow-puppet performance in London

After the Napoleonic Wars, Java was brieflygoverned by the polymath Sir Stamford Raffles. Hebrought back to England two gamelan, now inClaydon House, Bucks, and the British Museum.Only one Javanese musician came with them, sothey were never played properly, though theinstruments were much admired by Westernmusicians.

It is likely that the first full gamelanperformance in the UK was in 1882, when animpresario rather improbably hired a troupe ofJavanese gamelan players and dancers for aseason at the London Aquarium, a popular placeof entertainment near the Houses of Parliament.This event preceded the Paris Exposition of 1889,when Debussy and other French composers werefamously smitten by the sounds of the gamelan.

It was only in the 1970s, rather later than inother Western countries, that the first gamelan forplaying and teaching purposes was acquired by aBritish university. A gamelan is now consideredessential for any university ethnomusicologydepartment.

Most of the recent expansion of gamelanactivities in the UK has been due to schools, whichhave found the gamelan a useful way of deliveringthe National Curriculum. The gamelan in variousarts centres reach a wider clientele. With its simpleplaying techniques, the gamelan has proved to beaccessible to people with physical impairments orlearning difficulties. The charity Good Vibrations(www.good-vibrations.org.uk), founded by a

member of Siswå Sukrå, uses the gamelan inprisons to develop basic skills that prisoners lack.

The sounds of the gamelan are evoked in severalcompositions by Debussy and Ravel. Latercomposers who have been inspired similarly, ormade use of the compositional principles ofgamelan, include Bela Bartók, Benjamin Britten,John Cage, Henry Eichheim, Percy Grainger,Leopold Godowsky, Charles Griffes, Lou Harrison,György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Colin McPhee,Carl Orff, Francis Poulenc, Steve Reich, Erik Satie,Dirk Schäfer and Peter Sculthorpe.

n Benjamin Brinner, Music in Central Java, OxfordUniversity Press, 2008. A detailed introduction withaccompanying CD.

n Neil Sorrell, A Guide to the Gamelan, Faber, 1990,and Jennifer Lindsay, Javanese Gamelan, OxfordUniversity Press, 1979 and 1992 (the later editionhas better photos). Good short introductions, but outof print.

n Richard Pickvance, A Gamelan Manual, Jaman MasBooks, 2005. A comprehensive guide for players.

Ronggèng dancer, fromRaffles, History of Java,1817

The Southbank Centre’s gamelanprogramme,* founded by composer AlecRoth, offers an array of one-off family tastersessions, introductory workshops for groups,classes for adults of all abilities, andperformances of both traditional andcontemporary gamelan music. It providesopportunities to play and learn both fromJavanese visiting artists and from Britishmusicians who have spent many years livingand studying in Java. Its main gamelan is alarge court-style bronze gamelan – KyaiLebdhåjiwå – in both sléndro and pélogtunings, a gift from Indonesia.

Gamelan advisor:Sophie Ransby, 020 7921 0767gamelan [at] southbankcentre.co.uk

* www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gamelan

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