Java: Javanese Court Gamelan

Overview

The island of Java is known as being one of the first places to be able to work bronze and thus create bronze musical instruments: bells, gongs, and the famous gamelan ensemble. The word "gamelan" refers to the whole ensemble, not the instruments. Beside the bronze instruments, such as the different kettle drums, kettle gongs, and bronze metallophones, the gamelan also includes a rebab (a two-string fiddle), a choir, some sulings (small bamboo flutes), a small and a large zither, drums of different sizes, and more. Interestingly, no two gamelans are tuned alike, though they are similar, since gamelans used to play in a given style. And there exist many different styles of playing with their own repertoires. On this high-quality CD, listeners hear a few pieces from the Javanese court gamelan.