Bamboo Symphony soothes audience<\/p>\n
By Riyadi Suparno<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Flutes do not often take center stage in
\ntraditional Balinese music, with the percussion usually
\ndominating. However, Saturday night's performance of Balinese
\ngamelan at the Jakarta Playhouse (GKJ) might help to alter that
\ncommon arrangement.<\/p>\n
Bamboo Symphony, as the name indicates, tries to better the
\nposition of the \"marginalized\" instruments, according to composer
\nI Nyoman Windha.<\/p>\n
As so the first composition was led by bamboo flutes, with two
\nfemale singers chanting in accompaniment.<\/p>\n
\"Here, I'm uplifting the position of flutes, which represent
\nthe unimportant, the deprived, the marginalized and the weak, to
\nachieve a better position,\" he said.<\/p>\n
From flutes Windha moved to drums in the second composition,
\nKubuwang -- \"ku\" stands for kulit (leather), \"bu\" for bambu
\n(bamboo), \"wang\" for kerawang (bronze or gamelan).<\/p>\n
Windha mixed leather drums, bamboo flutes and bronze gamelan
\nin this second composition, with drums dominating the action.<\/p>\n
In this second piece, Windha combined the sounds of Islamic
\ndrumming with Balinese Kecak (a type of Balinese dance). And the
\nsound of flutes again played an integral part in the piece.<\/p>\n
Unlike Kecak, where human voices create the music, the sound
\nin Kubuwang was produced by the beating of small conga drums.<\/p>\n
\"I intentionally inserted an Islamic element into Kubuwang and
\nthe combination is beautiful. Here, I want to emphasize that the
\nblending of differences, even in beliefs, is beautiful.\"<\/p>\n
Not only did Windha insert Islamic music, he also borrowed the
\nstyle of the Javanese gamelan for his third and final composition
\noor the evening, Santi Mantra (Peace Song).<\/p>\n
Unlike his first and second compositions, the third, played
\nafter a 15-minute break, was much more dynamic, with all types of
\ngamelan played. The dynamic style of the Balinese percussion was
\nvery much in evidence here.<\/p>\n
The two female singers, who were restricted to chanting in the
\nprevious two compositions, now sang a Balinese song, which
\naccording to Windha contained religious verses.<\/p>\n
For the non-Balinese speaking audience, the song was
\nmeaningless, but the atmosphere it created, with the choice of
\nsoft Balinese melodies, created a feeling of contemplation.<\/p>\n
The intention behind the Bamboo Symphony theme chosen by
\nWindha for the evening show was to help the audience achieve a
\npeaceful state of mind.<\/p>\n
Windha, a lecturer at the Indonesian Arts Institute in
\nDenpasar, presented the three compositions at this year's Art
\nSummit with a specific mission: to promote peace.<\/p>\n
\"The situation in our country today gave me the inspiration to
\ncreate these soft compositions. By presenting these calm
\ncompositions, I want to bring peace to my audience, I want to ask
\nour brothers to express themselves softly, not in violent ways.\"<\/p>\n
It was Windha's first time participating in the three-yearly
\nArt Summit. Windha created the first two compositions especially
\nfor this event, while the last was composed in 1998 when
\nIndonesia was mired in crisis.<\/p>\n
Although loaded with messages, the musical pieces in Bamboo
\nSymphony maintained their beauty, attesting to Windha's
\ncreativity.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bamboo-symphony-soothes-audience-1447893297",
"image": ""
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