Work
Tanpa Tanah
for central Javanese gamelan
About
"Tanpa Tanah” – without land… soil… earth…
I was in Canada when you-know-what struck. Having recently returned to NZ via a stint in Australia, I drafted this work for Gamelan Padhang Moncar on the 19th floor of a high-rise hotel in Auckland during my second time in 2-week managed isolation. Although I was relieved to be back (the process to return had been rather protracted) I was not yet standing on New Zealand soil… aspects of the work capture something of what I was experiencing, I suppose, in different guises. Tanpa Tanah contrasts shimmering, soft melodies with animated, repetitive riffs; it makes special features of kendhang (hand drums) and suling (Javanese flute), both performed by Budi S. Putra in its premiere perfromance; its premiere also utilised some very special gambang (wooden xylophone) keys—the pelog 4s crafted by Bill Colvig for Lou Harrison’s Ketawang Wellington composed here in the 1980s.