Glistening Tones of the Gamelan

For anyone interested in music — from the casual listener to the professional composer— Bali presents a musical landscape that stretches far beyond the island’s diminutive physical dimensions. Few places in the world can boast such a rich and varied musical environment. And while the sheer number and variety of ensembles, performances and compositions is in itself quite extraordinary, it is the superb quality of the music that elevates this tradition into a class all its own.

Over the centuries, Balinese musicians have developed a musical language in which layers of melody and complex figurations are interwoven to produce a unique tapestry of sound. The music is rehearsed to perfect synchrony by musicians in village gamelan percussion orchestras. On almost any evening, nne can hear the bell-like tones of the gamelan — from the high, shimmering melodies of the metallophones to the deep, resonant tones of the gongs and drums — drifting across the riceflelds as villagers prepare for yet another temple ceremony.

Music in Balinese culture

In Bali there is a fundamental integration of the performing arts into daily social and religious activities. No celebration or gathering is complete without music and dance. In Balinese religious life, where an elaborate calendar requires an extensive range of ceremonies to be performed, there is a consensus that each event must be accompanied by musical performances. Such performances serve to entertain the gods as well as the human participants, enabling both to return home after the ritual with a feeling of wellbeing and contentment.

Because of the constant and widespread demand for musical performances, a very large number of music and dance troupes is active on the island (one recent estimate put the total at well over 1500). Music is practiced and developed incessantly by these groups in order to maintain a high standard of technique and to develop an integration between musicians and dancers.

This astonishing degree of musical activity not only maintains the tradition, but also extends it. New works are constantly being created and premiered before village audiences eager for new combinations of sound and movement. If these pieces are deemed worthy by the players and the audience, they are added to the existing repertoire and may even gain island-wide popularity. The Balinese view this as “a grafting of new flowers onto the old tree” rather than a break with tradition — an attitude that insures the vitality of the arts here.

These ideals find clear expression today in the Indonesian Academy of Music and Dance (STSI) in Denpasar, where many of the island’s best performers, composers and oreographers work to develop and transmit their arts to a new generation. STSI  also serves as the focal point for an international community of artists and scholars interested in the Balinese performing arts.

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