Kecapi suling is a type of instrumental music that is highly improvisational and popular in parts of Java. It is related to tembang sunda.
West Java, or Sunda, has a diverse brand of gamelan. Gamelan Degung, gamelan salendro and tembang sunda are three primary types.
Tembang sunda, also called seni mamaos cianjuran, or just cianjuran, is a form of sung poetry which arose in the colonial-era kabupaten of Cianjur. It was first known as an aristocratic art; one cianjuran composer was R.A.A. Kusumahningrat (Dalem Pancaniti), ruler of Cianjur (1834 - 1862). The instruments of Cianjuran are kacapi Indung, kacapi rincik and suling or bamboo flute, and rebab for salendro compositions. The lyrics are typically sung in free verse, but a more modern version, panambih, is metrical. it is usualy drums
Samagaha
Program notes
Lolongkrang
Program notes
Kaleran (344 k)
Ujung Laut (524 k)
Sorban Palid (604 k)
Sakti Records 1999
Purchase CD {email Rae Ann for info on purchasing}
If There Be Rivers, All Will Blossom - This piece, composed by Sasha Bogdanowitsch for Pusaka Sunda, calls to mind the importance of keeping faith in life, and maintaining creativity in hardship. This work differs from traditional Sundanese degung pieces in a number of ways: simultaneous use of two Sundanese tunings (pelog and sorog), separate tunings for each instrument, unique gong structures, chordal relationships between parts, and "through-composed" orientation. Rivers also features haunting melodic interplay between clarinet and suling melodies.
Seler Degung - This piece was first composed and performed by the gamelan degung group at Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) in Bandung in the late 1960's. Its driving pace, irregular phrase structure, and tight ensemble work combine to create a sense of urgency and direction. Jeruk Manis - Jeruk Manis, or "Sweet Oranges," is a lyric piece with simple construction and an expansiveness which provides a perfect setting for beautiful suling improvisations. Although traditionally performed with voice, Pusaka Sunda's arrangement is purely instrumental.
Gagak Lumayang - This piece, "Soaring Eagle," evokes the image of an eagle floating over a sunset. Composed by Burhan Sukarma in 1996, it features the interplay of two sulings, an unusual combination in Sundanese degung.
Ladrak - Ladrak is a piece in the classical degung style. It starts with a traditional degung pankat, or introduction, and features simple drumming with a heterophonic melodic line punctuated by larger gongs. The two sulings play in unison for most of Ladrak, following the melodic line much as a chorus would in West Java.
Jalir Jangji - This song, translated as "Broken Promises," was composed in the 1980's for the singer Euis Komariah and appeared on her recording Muntang Ngeumbing. Burhan Sukarma, who played suling on the original recording, has created a new arrangement for Pusaka Sunda which includes a violin in place of the vocalist. While musicians in West Java have played the violin (or "biola" in Sundanese) ever since its introduction by the Dutch in the 1800's, it is still unusual to hear the violin performed with gamelan. In this arrangment, the suling responds to the violin line throughout, resulting in a dynamic interplay between the two instruments.
Lutung Bingung - Dermayon - Gamelan degung often performs suites of pieces, starting with one piece with a specific mood and moving to another, shorter work with a more contemplative ambiance. This combination provides emotional, rhythmic, and structural contrast Lutung Bingung is a lively degung piece which was recorded in West Java during the 1970's and 1980's. This is followed by Dermanyon, a panambih or rhythmic piece. Dermayon's spaciousness allows for elaborate suling and drum improvisations.
Samagaha - The title of this new work, literally "eclipse," is a Sundanese metaphor for emotional confusion. In this piece, Burhan Sukarma employs a common Indonesian compositional strategy: recombining and recontextualizing motifs and segments of other pieces. He creates meaning in the work by juxtaposing the associations and expectations that listeners have tof each musical component, manipulating each item as a poet manipulates words or phrases to create a new whole. Samagaha features extensive suling solos which contrast with lively ensemble playing.
Burhan Sukarma's style of playing the suling (Sundanese bamboo flute) has influenced several generations of players in West Java. Through his exemplary as the staff suling player at RRI Bandung (Radio Republik Indonesia, the Indonesian government-sponsored radio station), as well as countless recordings on the Jugala, Dian, and Hidayat labels in the '70s and '80s, he became and remains the standard by which other suling players are judged. Burhan came to the attention of Western listeners when the perenially popular album Sangkala was released in the US in the mid '80s. Since relocating to the United States in 1988, Burhan has experimented with ways to transplant and transform his art in this new context. Burhan has appeared all over the United States and internationally. Pusaka Sunda, which Burhan founded in 1988, provides a voice for Burhan's own compositions as well as a means for promulgating the traditional music of West Java.
Undang Sumarna learned Sundanese music in the old-fashioned way. As a young boy in a family of famous musicians, he absorbed the intricacies of Sundanese gamelan music by following his grandfather (noted musician Abah Kayat) and uncles to performances, learning to play the gamelan instruments, one by one, first by watching, then by doing, on stage. His grandfather recognized a talent for dance drumming and taught Undang the dances and their drum accmpaniments. In 1976 Undang began teaching at University of California, Santa Cruz. During his long tenure at UC Santa Cruz, he has introduced thousands of American college students to Sundanese gamelan music and dance. He has performed all over the United States as well as in Canada, and has led groups of his students in performances in his native West Java as well.
James Freeman, Clarinetist, is a member of the New Music Works Ensemble, and Consortmusik. As a chamber musician, he has been guest artist with the Westbrook and Fidelio String Quartets, the Hampton/Schwartz Duo, Pusaka Sunda, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and the Clubfoot Orchestra.
Members of Pusaka Sunda performing on this recording are: Andrew Bouchard, Naomi Gunther, Daniel Kelley, Laura McColm, Kenneth Miller, Heidi Renteria, Henry Spiller, Rae Anne Stahl, Burhan Sukarma, Undang Sumarna, Stefan Tomic, and Linda Wegner
Sundanese Culture
Tanah Sunda has its own unique culture and language, both called Sundanese which is also used to call its people.
Wayang goleks (wooden puppets) are used by the Sundanese to tell the epic play "Mahabarata" and various other morality type plays.
Accompanying "The Mahabarata" is an orchestra called gamelan. The gamelan uses a five note scale as opposed to the seven-note western scale.
The musical arts of Sunda, which is an expression of the emotions of Sundanese culture, include some of the most beautiful sounds in the world. The "tembang sunda" with the kacapi (zither) and either suling (bamboo flute) or vocal accompaniment, and also the degung with its gamelan provide moments of rare musical beauty.
The Sundanese are also known for musical instruments called angklungs, which consist of a frame upon which hang several different lengths of hollow bamboo. Angklungs are played like handbells, with each instrument played to a different note.
Other cultural heritage of Sundanese are:
Dances :
ketuk tilu, tari merak (dance "peacock"), jaipongan (popular Sundanese social dance), tari topeng (mask dance), sisingaan, etc.
Tari Merak (Dance "Peacock")
Photo courtesy of LSS ITB
Sundanese Pupuh (Sundanese poetic meters):
Pupuh specify the number of lines in each verse as well as the ending syllables of each line
Pantun Sunda :
Pantun Sunda is a genre of Sundanese oral narative performance in which a solo storyteller recounts the glory of past kingdoms and the exploits of heroic figures.
Calung :
Calung is a humorous performance in which a group of 4 - 6 people led by a leader performing humorous conversation and in certain periods conducting musical performance using some peaces of angklung instruments with funy lyrics.
Sisindiran :
Sisindiran is an oral performance in which two groups of people reciprocally conducting humorous questions and answers performance using poetic meters; one group asks a question and the other group answers it (and the answer may include a question for the opposite group).
Tarling (guitar and flute music typical to Cirebon)
Sandiwara (opera)
Traditional humorous story: "Kabayan, the innocent man"
Foods and Beverages
Tanah Sunda has many typical foods. They, among others, are dodol Garut, tahu Sumedang (soybean typical to the town of Sumedang), oncom Bandung, peuyeum Bandung, tauco Cianjur, and soto Bandung.
Tanah Sunda also has famous drinks. They are, among others, bandrek (made of water, brown sugar, long thin chopped coconut, and ginger), bajigur (made of water, brown sugar, coconat juice, and pandan leaves), cendol, and sakoteng.
The three main types of Sundanese bamboo ensembles are angklung, calung, and arumba. The exact features of each ensemble vary according to context, related instruments, and relative popularity. Generally speaking, bamboo instruments do not have a strong market in the recording industry. Angklung is a generic term for sets of tuned, shaken bamboo rattles. It is found in many other places in Indonesia, but its greatest variety occurs in Sunda. It can use many players of tuned, shaken rattles, a single tarompet (double-reed oboe) player, and a set of four drummers playing conical drums (dog-dog). Angklung rattles are played in interlocking patterns, usually with only one or two instruments played per person. The ensemble is used in Sundanese processions, sometimes with trance or acrobatics. Performed at life-cycle rituals and feasts (hajat), angklung is believed to maintain balance and harmony in the village. In its most modern incarnation, angklung is performed in schools as an aid to learning about music. Like those in angklung, the instruments of the calung ensemble are of bamboo, but each consists of several differently tuned tubes fixed onto a piece of bamboo; the player holds the instrument in his left hand and strikes it with a beater held in his right. The highest-pitched calung has the greatest number of tubes and the densest musical activity; the lowest-pitched, with two tubes, has the least. Calung is nearly always associated with earthy humor, and is played by men. Arumba refers to a set of diatonically tuned bamboo xylophones, often played by women. It is frequently joined by modern instruments, including a drum set, electric guitar, bass, and keyboards.
The Sundanese zither (kacapi) often serves to represent Sundanese culture. It plays as either a solo or an ensemble instrument, associated with both villagers and aristocrats. The instrument may take the form of a boat in tembang Sunda, or the form of a board zither in kacapian. It is sometimes drastically modified to include more strings, electric and electronic devices, and various styles of playing. Pantun is a genre of Sundanese epic narrative, most often performed by a blind male vocalist who accompanies himself on the kacapi. The performance of pantun usually occurs as part of a ritual Sundanese feast, and can last for most of the night. Tembang Sunda is a type of sung poetry developed in the regency of Cianjur in the late 1800s. Its topics include Sundanese history, aspects of nature, mythology, romance, heroic figures, and tragedies. In performance, one or more singers are accompanied by an 18-string zither (kacapi), a smaller, 15-string zither (rincik), and a 6-hole end-blown bamboo flute (suling). Tembang Sunda is traditionally performed in the evenings for the descendents of the Sundanese aristocracy. Kacapi-suling developed during the 1970s as an instrumental offshoot of tembang Sunda, using the same instruments by without the vocalist. In a typical performance (still primarily in recordings, as kacapi-suling is rarely performed live), the kacapi player outlines a cyclic structure of a song and the suling player improvises a melody based on the original song from the tembang Sunda repertoire. Kacapian refers to a flashy style of playing a board zither, and it is known as one of the sources of Sundanese popular music. It can be accompanied by a wide variety of instruments, and can be played instrumentally or as the accompaniment to either a male or female vocalist.
For decades, the Sundanese have enjoyed performances of locally created popular music. In addition to nationally popular genres, such as dangdut and kroncong, the Sundanese have developed a unique regional style, pop Sunda. It began as a Sundanese musical imitation of American and European popular music played on Western band instruments, with performances in diatonic tuning and singing with a heavy, operatic vibrato. The language, Basa Sunda, was almost the only factor indigenous to the area. In the 1980s the Sundanese composer Nano Suratno reshaped pop Sunda to include performance in the pélog tuning system; he created a large number of hit songs that used traditional ensembles like gamelan degung, and successfuly blended pop music with Sundanese traditional music. Since that time, pop Sunda has come to re-incorporate Western rock and pop instrumentation, and local composers and performers have explored many genres of popular music, including reggae and rap.
A large proportion of Sundanese music is performed on gamelans, sets of bronze or iron instruments supported by carved wooden racks. A Sundanese gamelan usually consists of a core group of metallophones (saron), horizontal gong-chime sets (bonang), vertically suspended gongs (go'ong), and a set of barrel drums (kendang). Other features, including xylophones, aerophones (flutes or oboes), a bowed lute, and vocalists, are included according to the type of ensemble. Pieces for gamelan are normally organized in cycles, with the ending of each cycle marked by the low pitch of the go'ong. These cycles may be played many times in a single piece. The drummer demarcates the cycle by outlining specific patterns; he also acts as the timekeeper, coordinator, and controller of dynamics. Gamelans in West Java encompass a variety of types, from the ubiquitous five-tone gamelan saléndro to the rare seven-tone gamelan pélog, the multi-laras (multiple-tuning) gamelan of Asep Sunandar Sunarya, and the five-tone gamelan degung. Gamelan saléndro is used in instrumental performance, and as the accompaniment for a solo female vocalist, a dance, or the Sundanese three-dimensional rod-puppet theater (wayang golèk). In addition to the standard instrumentarium of metallophones, drums, gong chimes, and gongs, it includes a bowed lute (rebab) and usually a female vocalist. It is versatile and can be played in nearly any context, particularly at important social events, like weddings, ritual feasts, and neighborhood celebrations. Gamelan degung is the other primary Sundanese gamelan; in addition to the usual instruments, it also includes a set of six hanging gongs (degung or jenglong), which gives the ensemble its name. Gamelan degung is frequently used for weddings, and shifted during the latter half of the 20th century from an instrumental ensemble performed primarily by men to one in which the ensemble serves as accompaniment to female singers. In addition, the new repertoire of pieces is less challenging to perform. Women now dominate the performance of gamelan degung, with the exception of the kendang (drum) and suling (bamboo flute), which are still always played by men.
From Sean Williams
