Gamelan Taniwha Jaya Repertoire

Beleganjur
“Gamelan of walking warriors”, the gamelan beleganjur ensemble is a traditional funeral procession music – a far cry from the sombre funeral marches of Western cultures. The noisy ceng ceng (cymbals) and reong (pot gongs) are intended to frighten the demons away, so that the soul can leave the body in peace.

Baris
This is an arrangement of one of the most popular dance pieces in Bali - usually performed by a young boy, and often one of the first pieces a young dancer will learn. Its origin is from a warlike sacred dance, but is now secularised and intended to show off the virtuosity of the dancer. The angsel (break) is one of the more obvious features of this music – a recurring rhythmic accent where the dancer and musicians syncronise a jerky sudden gesture.

Kompyang
There are two very common Balinese techniques on display in this piece – a melodic technique (empat – 'four') where half of the players play the melody four notes higher than the others – and kotekan (flowers) an elaborating technique where the players play patterns that interlock with each other.

Sekar Gendot
Written in 1927 by one of the most famous Balinese composers, I Wayan Lotring, Sekar Gendot was originally for the much smaller ensemble that accompanies the shadow puppet performances. Here it is in an expanded version for Gamelan Gong Kebyar.

Liar Samas
"Liar Samas" is Balinese for 'four hundred', and the story goes that the composer of this piece (I Wayan Lotring again) named the piece this, because that's how much he charged as a commission fee!

Teruna Jaya
Teruna Jaya is another standard in the Balinese repertoire – it is written in Kebyar (“to flare up”) style, meaning it is characterised by sections that are full of unpredictable, irregular rhythms, and wild contrasts of dynamic and tempo. The pieces begins with one of the longest examples of this style of music, and the composition is a tour de force of Balinese virtuosic style.

Manuk Rawa
Manuk Rawa is another dance piece, translating as 'Swamp Bird'. This is the only piece on the programme that utilises the full gamelan ensemble, and is our piece de resistance! At the end of the piece, you can hear the swamp bird, chirping away on the kantilan, the smallest instruments.

by I Wayan Lotring (ca. 1898-1983)

This piece was composed by arguably the most influential composer in 20th-century Bali. He was particularly famous for spiking his compositions with unpredictable rhythms and asymmetrical gong cycles. This work, composed in the 1920s, begins with a slow introduction known as a gineman, played by soloists. After this, there are four main parts: a fast introductory section for the full ensemble; a slower section; a section in medium tempo; and a fast closing section. This final section is itself composed of two contrasting types of music: a fast, loud ostinato alternating with a quirky and rhythmically lopsided passage.

Dancer: Evie Suyadnyani

This Balinese dance was choreographed in 1988 by Ni Luh Swasthi Wijaya Bandem, combining movements from the many different types of rejang. Rejang is traditionally a group dance performed by prepubescent girls, unmarried females or post-menopausal women, depending on the village. They are said to be the bidadari (heavenly maidens) come to earth. This version, Rejang Dewa, has become widely performed in temples since the 1990s.

This music usually accompanies a masked dancer.