According to the mythology of the Javanese people, the metallophonic music of Indonesia was created by the native bronze age culture almost two thousand years ago. The legendary god-king who ruled Java needed a way to summon the other gods, so he invented the gong. Later, he added other gongs, and thus began the gamelan orchestra. Today the gamelan includes dozens of unique gongs, metallophones, and xylophones, plus drums, bamboo flutes, spike fiddles, and other instruments.
The earliest image of the gamelan comes from stone carvings on the great 8th-century Buddhist temple of Borobudur in central Indonesia. The current form evolved in the royal courts of Java in the 12th century.
These vibrant percussion ensembles have long attracted and influenced Western admirers, including composers Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, John Cage, Lou Harrison, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and others, as well as pop artists like Mike Oldfield, King Crimson, The Residents, and Mouse on Mars.
In Bali and Java, the gamelan is a community affair, with public practice sessions and performances at all civic and religious ceremonies, even in the smallest villages. Everyone participates — from children to grandparents.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the gamelan and its ambient progeny, on a program called BOROBUDUR. Music is by JON IVERSON, LOREN NERELL, ROBERT RICH, MICHAEL STEARNS, TUU, IASOS, and ATOMIC SKUNK.
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Amazing songs, I am here at work, listening to VPR radio and dunno how it got there but it is fun listening to this, I have a night shift at a webhosting company and it's pretty relaxing to listen to your amazing music while i work here. Thanks for the efforts, it's really visual.
Posted by: Mark | 16 July 2011 at 09:02 PM
Gamelan 3 weeks in a row? Really?! It's nice but not that
Posted by: Ned | 14 August 2011 at 11:12 PM
Ned, you didn't say where you are hearing the show, so it's hard for us to respond to your comment. We've only done one Gamelan show this year, #952.
Sometimes stations miss our feeds and repeat shows they aren't supposed to; other stations that run more than one show a week repeat the previous week's show deliberately. We have no control over any of this.
If you want full control over what shows you hear, that's what our various subscription plans are for;-)
:: SH
Posted by: Stephen Hill | 15 August 2011 at 02:25 PM