AMERICAN WORKS FOR New World Records 80430 BALINESE GAMELAN ORCHESTRA

This recording is the product of a remarkable intercultural musical experiment. It contains five strikingly varied works, each one the fruit of musical cross-pollination between America and the island of Bali (part of the archipelagic Republic of Indonesia). The three American composers represented here, along with their peers in the Sekar Jaya ensemble, have since 1979 devoted an extraordinary amount of effort, intelligence, and talent to the study and performance of traditional Balinese music-and to creative endeavors that elude classification in cultural pigeonholes. American composers have noted (and admired) Balinese music since the 1930s. Composers as different as Colin McPhee (1900-1964) and Steve Reich (born in 1936) were affected by it. But the three composers represented here differ from their predecessors by their eagerness to perform the music; by their intimate knowledge of it; and by the social awareness which united them in Sekar Jaya's cooperative venture, inspiring them to seek true exchange with Balinese culture. Balinese Gamelan Music For such a tiny island (about the size of Rhode Island), Bali maintains an enormous variety of music. It is best known, however, for the sort of orchestra heard on this recording. This specific ensemble of bronze gongs, metallophones, drums, and end-blown flute is known as gamelan gong kebyar