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Folklife Folkways Festival

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Music of Indonesia Series

A collaboration with the Society for Indonesian Performing Arts

This acclaimed 20-cd series documents the music of the Indonesian archipelago, introducing listeners to dozens of beautiful and varied musical styles from throughout this complex island nation. Guitars and gamelans, flutes and drums, voices and brass bands contribute to this musical treasure trove that the New York Times called "monumental and enjoyable."

Indonesian scholar Philip Yampolsky worked from 1991-1999 with the Indonesian Society for the Performing Arts and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to produce this remarkable series. Traveling to congested cities and remote rural areas, Yampolsky and his Indonesian colleagues used state-of-the-art digital equipment to create these beautiful recordings that will appeal to expert and novice alike.

Eachcontains more than an hour of music and extensive annotation that places the performances in their regional and national contexts. Individual CDs cover the gamut from popular roots-based urban music to ancient styles that are little known, even within Indonesia. The liner notes have been updated with addenda and lyric transcriptions and are available free for download by following the album links.

Made possible with funding from the Ford Foundation, the series is indispensable to anyone interested in the region.

Discover Indonesia
SFW40484 (2000) Music of Indonesia Selections from the 20-CD Series. Indonesia is a huge country, spread over hundreds of islands, encompassing peoples of many different languages, religions, and musical cultures. Click for Free Song Download
Vol. 1: East Java 1—Songs Before Dawn:
Gandrung Banyuwangi
SFW40055 (1991) In the Banyuwangi region, located in the eastern end of Java, a vibrant and earthy musical genre called gandrung is performed.
Vol. 2: Indonesian Popular Music—
Kroncong Dangdut and Langgam Jawa
SFW40056 (1991) Kroncong and dangdut are two quite different Indonesian popular music genres that emerged in the capital city, Jakarta.
Vol. 3: Music from the Outskirts of Jakarta:
Gambang Kromong
SFW40057 (1991) Gambang Kromong comes from a virtually invisible part of the capital of Indonesia that most people have forgotten.
Vol. 4: Music of Nias and North Sumatra:
Hoho, Gendang Karo, Gondang Toba
SFW40420 (1992) The Toba and Karo from North Sumatra developed complex instrumental traditions.
Vol. 5: Betawi & Sundanese Music
of the North Coast of Java
SFW40421 (1994) A splendid hybrid created by the encounter between the cultures of Batavia and the surrounding Sunda region.
Vol. 6: Night Music of West Sumatra:
Saluang, Rabab Pariaman, Dendang Pauah
SFW40422 (1994) This highly intimate chamber music is performed with only one or two singers and a single accompanying flute or bowed lute.
Vol. 7: Music from the Forests
of Riau & Mentawai
SFW40423 (1994) Recorded in 1993 and 1994, this recording focuses on the music of three indigenous forest societies of western Indonesia.
Vol. 8: Vocal and Instrumental Music
from East & Central Flores
SFW40424 (1994) These 1993 and 1994 recordings present the virtually unknown, rich, and highly diverse singing traditions from the eastern regions of the island of Flores, an island east of Bali.
Vol. 9: Vocal and Instrumental Music
from Central & West Flores
SFW40425 (1994) These 1993 and 1994 recordings present the virtually unknown choral singing of Ngada and Manggarai of the island of Flores, an island east of Bali.
Vol. 10: Music of Biak, Irian Jaya:
Wor, Church Songs, Yospan
SFW40426 (1996) This album presents music for celebrations and church services on Biak Island in Irian Jaya.
Vol. 11: Melayu Music of Sumatra and the Riau Islands
SFW40427 (1996) Melayu (or "Malay") culture has been influential throughout much of Indonesia.
Vol. 12: Gongs and Vocal Music from Sumatra
SFW40428 (1996) Melodic gong ensembles and male singing with percussion are found throughout Sumatra.
Vol. 13: Kalimantan Strings
SFW40429 (1997) An overview of string music from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo—a region little known for music (especially string music), even within Indonesia.
Vol. 14: Lombok, Kalimantan, Banyumas:
Little-known Forms of Gamelan and Wayang
SFW40441 (1997) Volume 14 in the Smithsonian Folkways Music of Indonesia series focuses on three lesser-known forms of Indonesian gamelan orchestras and wayang shadow puppet theater.
Vol. 15: South Sulawesi Strings
SFW40442 (1997) Cultures along the Indonesian coast in South Sulawesi have adapted foreign string isntruments to Indonesian musical aesthetics.
Vol. 16: Music from the Southeast:
Sumbawa, Sumba, Timor
SFW40443 (1998) This CD, in conjunction with volumes 8 and 9, offers the first recorded survey of one of the least known and most musically surprising regions of Indonesia, the southeastern islands.
Vol. 17: Kalimantan: Dayak Ritual and Festival Music
SFW40444 (1998) Our second album on Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) presents music from seven Dayak groups, three (out of four) provinces, and a variety of genres and ensembles.
Vol. 18: Sulawesi: Festivals, Funerals, and Work
SFW40445 (1999) The string music highlighted in Volume 15 is only part of the picture in Sulawesi. Here we present a variety of other musical groups, recorded in three of the islands four provinces.
Vol. 19: Music of Maluku: Halmahera, Bura, Kei
SFW40446 (1999) Musically, the vast province of Maluku ("the Moluccas") is one of the least known regions of Indonesia.
Vol. 20: Indonesian Guitars
SFW40447 (1999) Guitars are everywhere in Indonesia. Most Indonesian guitars are the standard acoustic instrument: a waisted flat body,a wooden soundboard, a long fretted neck, and six strings.

More Music from Indonesia

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