The Department of Music and Musicology’s Beethoven Room will host an infusion of soulful religious music on Tuesday 19 March, with a two-pronged Gamelan Ensemble concert and workshop coming in all the way from Cape Town.
The Department of Music and Musicology’s Beethoven Room will host an infusion of soulful religious music on Tuesday 19 March, with a two-pronged Gamelan Ensemble concert and workshop coming in all the way from Cape Town.
According to the department of Ethnomusicology, Gamelan (found on the islands of Java, Bali, Lombok and Kalimantan) refers to a set of instruments unified by their tuning and often by their decorative carving and painting.
Gamelan also refers to musical groups, which often feature metal slab instruments, tuned knobbed gongs, flutes, drums, string and other instruments.
Gamelan music has a strong religious basis, and is traditionally used as accompaniment to rituals, customary practices, ceremonies, puppet theatre and dancing.
Offerings of various kinds, including incense and flowers, are often made before a gamelan piece is played.
The instruments themselves are sacred objects: stepping over the instruments or touching them with one's feet are a grave insult and forbidden, at the risk of potential danger for the offending individual or other ensemble members.
Today, however, gamelan music is more frequently played at secular events, including tourist and concert performances, government functions and educational demonstrations, and even as music therapy.
The concert and workshop are a result of the efforts of Lee Watkins, a senior lecturer in the department of Ethnomusicology.
He first contacted the Indonesian consulate-general in Cape Town (the only place in South Africa that has such a musical group) last year.
“At the workshops, participants will be introduced to the instruments, as well as enjoy the experience of learning to perform basic tunes and dance steps. At concerts the audience will be able to listen to gamelan pieces as well watch dancers perform,” said Watkins.
Concert goers can watch a range of gamelan dances and musical performances, ranging from the Piring and Yapong dances to the Jaranan and Pendet dances.
