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Bali: Court Music and Banjar Music

Various Artists
Bali: Court Music and Banjar Music The Indonesian island of Bali is so small and densely populated that there has long been a complex system of cooperation among banjar, community groups within a village. Every family member shares duties in the household, every community member shares duties in the village, and every musician shares duties in creating a song. In the same way neighboring rice farmers have coordinated alternating watering patterns for maximum production, Balinese courtmusicians have developed interlocking melodies for maximum expression. The gamelan ensembles heard here—consisting of bronze gongs and metallophones, bamboo flutes, and hand drums—are played in the kebyar (“lightning”) style, at times so fast that it would be physically impossible without cooperation between paired players. The resulting music culls harmony from seeming chaos. The liner notes explain this phenomenon, as well as a brief history of Balinese musical tradition.

Track Listing

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101
Gong Kebyar of the Puri of Peliatan
06:49
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102
Gong Kebyar of the Puri of Peliatan
05:20
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103
Gong Kebyar of the Puri of Peliatan
06:54
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104
Gong Kebyar of the Puri of Peliatan
04:46
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105
Gong Kebyar of the Puri of Peliatan
06:52
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106
Gong Kebyar of the Banjar of of Belaluan Sadmerta
04:04
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107
Gong Kebyar of the Banjar of of Belaluan Sadmerta
25:13