Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called kendhang which register the beat. The kemanak (a banana shaped idiophone) and gangsa (another metallophone) are commonly used gamelan instruments in Java. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed instrument called a rebab, siter, and even vocalists named sindhen (Female) or Gerong (Male). Although the popularity of gamelan has declined since the introduction of pop music, gamelan is still commonly played in many traditional ceremonies and other modern activities in Indonesia, both at formal and informal events. Gamelan is used to accompany religious rituals, ceremonies, dance, dance-drama, traditional theater, wayang puppets theatre, singing, concerts, festivals, exhibitions, and many more. For most Indonesians, gamelan is an integral part of Indonesian culture. ON ALBUM ARTWORK: "All the works are played in their entirety by the original instrumentalists, without any kind of adaption. The stereo recordings here were made in the Sultan's Palace in Jogjakarta, Java, in September 1972.
From the beginning of modern times, the islands of the East Indies, a great crossroad of civilisations, witnessed the spread of Indian culture by merchants and navigators and through trading stations. The powerful empire of Srivijaya (from the 7th century onwards), where Buddhism and Hinduism were practised side by side, spread its dominion over the great islands, then was replaced by the rule of the Sailendras Buddhist kings (778-864), which left behind them as one testimony among others the great stupa of Borobudur, the greatest Buddhist work of art in the world. Up to the 13th century several kingdoms and principalities of Indo-Javanese origin founded on maritime trade grew and disappeared. The centre of these principalities ruled by the Maharajas was the latter's residences, the Kraton, around which there developed a cultural life which often attained extreme sophistication. Later, Javanese dynasties were established in eastern Java to found the Kingdom of Modjapahit, where music, dancing, poetry and sculpture probably reached their highest artistic level. From 1450 onwards, Islam began to spread to Java through the merchants, and new Muslim principalities appeared in western Java. Meanwhile Modjapahit became impoverished in its continual struggle against the Muslim princes, who around 1625 brought about the fall of this last Indo-Javanese empire. Of all these principalities, the Kingdom of Mataram, in the centre of Java, became the most powerful when its ruling princes displayed great personality, the will to conquer and creative dynamism. Thus in the struggle for control of the states, Mataram emerged in the reign of Sultan Agung (1613-1645) and consolidated its hold over Java, Maduran and even Borneo. It was Sultan Agung (who took the title of Susuhunan, "Emperor") who founded the dynasty of the present-day Sultans of Surakarta. At the same time, the Dutch, who had taken a foothold in Java in 1596 and had founded the Indies Company in 1602 and Batavia (present-day Djakarta) in 1619, began to oppose the empire of Mataram, seeking to divide the princes the better to control them. And so Mataram in its decline was divided into two Principalities, Surakarta, where the princes descended from the Sultan Agung remained, and Jogjakarta, whose first Sultan, Prince Mangku Bumi, the brother of a Sultan of Surakarta, took the title of Hamengku Buwana I. In a much weakened empire, where the sultans dominated by the Dutch no longer played any political role, the Kraton became almost entirely cultural centres, which preserved the Javanese artistic heritage during the centuries that followed. Islamic restrictions and taboos put an end to music, dancing and theatre, while the Sultans kept up their rituals, borrowed from the royal rituals of their Hindu ancestors. Thus in the Kraton the great traditions of Javanese dancing and music were maintained. Only several centuries later did the people return to the sources, as the old Hindu background had been preserved beneath Muslim culture, and thousands of gamelan appeared in Java and Madura. A continual exchange was established between popular artists and the Kraton, which were - and still are - the guardians of the purest tradition.

1. Gamelan Sekati Kangdjeng Kyahi Naga Wilaga - Gending Andong-andong
2. Gamelan Kodok Ngorek Kangdjeng Kyahi Keboganggang - Gending Kodok Ngorek
3. Gamelan Kyahi Surak - Gending Ulul-uluk
4. Gamelan Kyahi Hardja Mulya - Gending Laras Ati
5. Gamelan Kyahi Guntur Sari - Gending Gangsaran Mit Gending Roningatawan Und Gending Bima Kurda
6. Gamelan Kyahi Madu Kentir - Gending Babad
7. Gamelan Kyahi Kuntul Wiranten - Gending Gambir Sawit

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