INDONESIA – Suara Parahianga – Sabilulungan – Degung Instrumental – SP Records

INDONESIA – INDONÉSIE
Suara Parahianga ensemble led by Ujang Survana 

– Sabilulungan – Degung Instrumental – SP Records, recorded in Bandung, released in 1989 (Cassette)

Sundanese musical form Gamelan Degung was developed in West Java in the late 18th century under the patronage of Sundanese bupati regents. Originally created as instrumental court music for the nobility, it evolved in the 20th century to accompany festivals, dances and weddings.

 

This refined and hauntingly beautiful art form contrasts with other Javanese and Balinese gamelan traditions, its smaller ensembles and softer dynamics convey a more intimate expressiveness.

 

The Suara Parahiangan ensemble, directed by suling master Ujang Suryana (1948-2012), comprises a four-holed suling bamboo flute, a bonang with fourteen small bulbous bronze gongs, saron and panerus bronze metallophones, a jengglong with six suspended bulbous kettle gongs, a large goong ageung hanging gong and a kendang double-headed barrel drum.

 

The suling’s delicate, contemplative flights, interweaving with poised, ethereal gongs and percussion, generate a deep, soft, and poetic tension that lingers on.

Né à la fin du XVIIIᵉ siècle sous le patronage des régents bupati de Java occidental, le gamelan degung est un genre musical sundanais. D'abord réservé aux cours de la noblesse sous une forme exclusivement instrumentale, il s'est ouvert au XXᵉ siècle à des usages plus populaires, accompagnant désormais festivals, danses et mariages.

 

Cet art raffiné, d'une beauté envoûtante, contraste avec les autres traditions de gamelan javanais et balinais. Ses ensembles plus réduits et ses nuances plus douces lui apportent une expressivité plus intime.

 

Dirigé par le maître du suling Ujang Suryana (1948-2012), l’ensemble Suara Parahiangan réunit un ensemble d’instruments traditionnels comprenant une flûte suling en bambou à quatre trous, un bonang et ses quatorze petits gongs en bronze, des métallophones saron et panerus, les six gongs suspendus du jengglong, un grand gong goong ageung et un tambour à double tête kendang.

 

Les envolées délicates et contemplatives du suling qui s’entremêlent aux gongs et aux percussions solennels et éthérés créent une tension douce, profonde et poétique qui reste comme suspendue dans l’air.

A1 – Sabilulungan 

A2 – Karedok Leunca

A3 – Colenak

A4 – Dikantun

A5 – Ayun Ambing

B1 – Ngantosan

B2 – Karatagan Pahlawan

B3 – Bandung

B4 – Pemuda Indonesia

B5 – Mojang Desa

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My other Sundanese music posts:

Sunda – Gamelan Degung – Galloway Records here

Java – Pays Sounda – Musique et Chants Traditionnels – Disques Alvarès LD 110 here

Sulaeman – Kacapi Suling - Sundanese Flute & Zither – Universitas Nasional here

Sulaeman – Flute & Gamelan of West Java – Tangent Records TGS 137 here

This vintage postcard depicts a Sundanese Wayang Wong dance drama without masks. Female dancers often portray epic figures from the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as noble female court roles 

(Menak). Photographed in Garut in the Parahyangan highlands 

of West Java, early 20th century:

This vintage postcard shows a Sundanese Wayang Golek puppet theater 

in West Java. Unlike Wayang Kulit, which uses flat leather puppets that 

cast shadows on a backlit screen, Wayang Golek uses three-dimensional wooden rod puppets. The theater features noble or royal characters in 

the center and comical Punakawan clown-servant characters on the outer edges. Two large Gunungan in the shape of leaves or mountains are positioned on the left and right sides of the puppets. These sacred ornaments represent the cosmic mountain (Meru), the tree of life, 

the forest, the boundary between worlds, and the beginning and 

end 

of the performance:

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