Gamelan Orchestra
Traditional gamelan music from the Yogyakarta Kraton
The melodious gamelan music is being played by the Niyagas (gamelan players) dressed in traditional Javanese costume. The Pesinden (female and male) are singing with distinct, beautiful voices. The Pengendang, the man who beats a wooden slit drum called the Kendang, directs the performance, and usually also is the dance master. With the sound of kendang, he gives order to the gamelan players, to the singers and to the dancers.
A gamelan orchestra is a traditional music ensemble of Indonesia, typically including many bronze percussion instruments. Following the court tradition of central Java, gamelan is performed in the pendopo (an open pavilion with a cavernous, double-pitched roof, no side walls, and marble or tile floor), where sounds reverberate in the roof space, enhancing the acoustics.
The gamelan (from the Javanese word "gamels", meaning to strike or hammer) is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together – instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable. The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that previously dominated Indonesia and instead represents a native art form. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing.
This Javanese traditional music concert, photographed 25 March 2010, was performed by the palace gamelan music ensamble directed by (pengendang) W.Ragamulya. It was held in the Srimanganti Pendopo, an open (performance) pavillion in the main body of the Yogyakarta Kraton (Sultan’s Palace), which is the royal palace and seat for the Sultanate. According to Javanese belief, the ruler is the centre of the universe, and the Kraton thus both the capital of Yogyakarta province as well as the hub of the cosmos.