DESCRIPTION:
Bhuwana Agung for Soprano Saxophone and Gamelan Orchestra, no. 399 (2008)
Composed by Andrián Pertout

Bhuwana Agung for Soprano Saxophone and Gamelan Orchestra, no. 399 (2008)

Recorded live at Lawrence University Memorial Chapel, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Jared Gebel – soprano saxophone; Gamelan Cahaya Asri: Sonja Downing – presenter; I Dewa Ketut Alit Adnyana – gamelan director

‘Bhuwana Agung’ or ‘Great World’ was commissioned by Julian Burnside QC, and especially composed for Manolete Mora and the Hong Kong University Balinese ‘Gamelan Gong Kebyar’ Orchestra. The work not only serves as an exploration of the ‘Gamelan Gong Kebyar’ genre and the pélog selisir scale, but also as a study of the tuning scheme employed by composer and gamelan tuner Wayan Beratha on the Hong Kong University gamelan instruments. The instrumentation of the ‘Gamelan Gong Kebyar’ orchestra or ensemble is typically made up of distinct combinations of metallophones, gongs, drums, cymbals, a bowed spiked lute, and bamboo flute, with the participation of around thirty instrumentalists. One of the interesting additional features of Balinese gamelan music is the incorporation of paired tuning in the metallophones, which generate “shimmering acoustical beats called ombak (waves)” – the higher pitch defined as pengisep or “inhaler” and the lower, pengumbang or “exhaler.” Three colotomic rhythmic structures have been adopted in the work, which include the following pegongan meters: 16-beat Lelonggoran, 8-beat Bapang, and 8-beat Gilak. The title (Bhuwana Agung) has been derived from Hindu cosmology – the notion of Panca Maha Bhuta, or the ‘Five Great Elements’ – and musically represented via a series of extemporizations based on the five scale tones of the selisir scale.

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