Mekar Bhuana Blossoms at the Asian Games By Michele Cempaka
The melodic sound of gamelan music is omnipresent on the island of Bali. Its rhythm, which fluctuates from fast and frenetic to a slower, almost hypnotic beat, has the potential to become a tool for meditative or deep contemplative practice for anyone who fully embraces this ancient art form. It is this presence which the gamelan embodies, that Vaughan Hatch, co-founder of the gamelan group ‘Mekar Bhuana Conservatory’, truly loves. Mekar in Balinese means ‘to blossom’ and bhuana means ‘the world’.
An ethnomusicologist who originally hales from New Zealand, Vaughan made his home in Bali and founded Mekar Bhuana Conservatory in 2000. His reason for creating this organization was driven by the belief that all rare forms of Balinese performance art needed to be revived, documented and conserved in Bali. In 2004, Putu Evie Suyadnyani, his wife, added the dance component to the conservatory, involving herself in the preservation of more unusual forms of Legong dance.
This little known group began to gain greater recognition when they were invited to the Shanghai Expo in 2008. Their performances were well received, so an event organizer invited them to perform at the Asian Games. In November, they will be heading to Guangzhou, China for the 16th Asian Games Concert Series. The troupe of 20 musicians and 5 dancers will be representing Indonesia at the games, showcasing rare and previously extinct seven-tone semar pegulingan repertoire accompanied by gambuh dances.
A semar pegulingan orchestra has quite different instrumentation from the common modern ensembles such as gong keybar and semarandana. It is their unique mix of metallophones, cymbals, a bell tree and kempur gong together with several flutes and other instruments, which create the melodic tones that soothe one into a deep and relaxed state. One’s mind naturally empties, as the music sends gentle vibrations throughout one’s body. It is this gentle rhythm that many Balinese would call taksu or spirit – the essence of source. The quiet beauty of this style of gamelan brings one into a sacred space akin to the feeling one experiences while meditating.
The traditional semar pegulingan playing style is relatively unadorned and the melodic line is enhanced and reinforced by the eight gangsa metallophones and the four gangsa jongkok. Complicated interlocking patterns that you may hear in modern semar pegulingan ensembles are a new innovation and are directly influenced by the gong kebyar style that swept Bali in the 1920s, as well as additions by academically trained composers. (www.balimusicanddance.com)
The Mekar Bhuana Conservatory has a repertoire which includes two once-extinct Pagan Kelod semar pegulingan pieces: Condong Perang Subandar & Sumamang Jawa. These pieces were reconstructed from field recordings made by Pande Made Sukerta in 1977 and donated to the conservatory. They are both quite challenging to play, due to the complexity of the compositions as well as the elegant yet focused emotional state that is required to present the music in its original form. This will be the first time these pieces have been heard since the early eighties and many decades since the dances have been performed with semar pegulingan accompaniment.
Another piece which will be performed, Sekar Gadung, was constructed from a 1972 record. Last year, the conservatory recorded this piece on their debut album before performing it in Singapore. In addition, their closing piece, Ginanti was reconstructed from the oldest known recording of Balinese gamelan, recorded by Odeon-Beka in 1928, the dubs of which were given to the conservatory by Edward Herbst for study and analysis purposes.
The conservatory’s gambuh dancers are currently being trained by I gusti Agung Susilawati, ex-Kokar teacher and dance expert from Sibang. They will perform four court dances at the Asian games: Condong Subandar (a courtier’s dance), Putri (a princess’ dance), Patih (a general’s dance) and Gabor (a welcome dance).
‘Gambuh’ is a long dramatic tale of the great Majapahit Kingdom that once controlled much of the Indonesian archipelago. Gambuh dance was traditionally accompanied by giant bamboo flutes and small percussive instruments, but around the 17th century a bronze court ensemble called semar pegulingan was created—probably based on counterpart instruments in Java—and in some regions this was used to accompany this royal art-form. Even though the scale relationships are quite different between the two ensembles, talented court composers were able to transfer the melodies to suit the nuances of the bronze instruments. (Bandem & deBoer 1978).
Mekar Bhuana believes that the addition of the gambuh dance component has added more attractiveness to the ancient semar pegulingan pieces, encouraging more people to have the desire to listen and learn the music. Impressively, one of the lead players of the group is only 16 years old, making him the youngest Balinese who is quite skilled at performing a variety of court music. His interest in the music has blossomed into true dedication, as he comes to the conservatory several times a week outside of group rehearsal times to memorize the long court melodies with their winding modulation. The future of this music and dance is with future generations. In line with this, Mekar Bhuana have made great efforts to make these art-forms more attractive, via media such as FB, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and their own websites, www.balimusicanddance.com and www.mekarbhuana.com, as well as by creating attractive group merchandise, including t-shirts and stickers. Regular performance opportunities, particularly on an international stage, also makes the young musicians feel valued for their efforts; this is why prestigious opportunities, such as the Asian Games Concert Series, have an impact on documentation and preservation.
Along with their passion for performing worldwide, Mekar Bhuana has a number of goals which they continuously strive to achieve. They feel it is important to increase both local and international awareness about rare and endangered Balinese performance art forms and to record and document these art forms for their preservation. They are also committed to learning a wide variety of rare compositions from local guru or reconstructing gamelan repertoire from old recordings and notations. Additionally, Mekar Bhuana encourages villages and courts to preserve their valuable art forms, including original gamelan instruments, playing style, repertoire, dance costumes, etc.
Currently, they have achieved one of their primary goals, which is to create a center where anybody can come and learn these rare art forms and appreciate the beauty of the unique styles of gamelan and dance, as well as learn and share their valuable knowledge and experience. Their center is located in Kertalangu, Denpasar. All of their musicians and dancers continue to study many of these exceptional art forms and are skilled in performing a number of rare styles from villages across Bali. Finally, Mekar Bhuana hopes to one day provide a complete archive of traditional performance art forms which will be accessible to the general public.
“I believe that the concepts that were conceived by court musicians, who weren’t actually blue bloods, were inspired by nature. Things were much slower then. I can imagine that people would just sit on the beach or listen to the birds in the rice fields for inspiration. The value of court gamelan music is not just in preserving artistic heritage – I think it can provide valuable inspiration for modern gamelan composers. There’s a lot of electronic and acoustic music out there that’s slower and more meditative. There’s no reason why gamelan can’t go in that direction. Perhaps it doesn’t have to be so energetic and emotional? Emotional can mean a lot of things; it doesn’t have to be aggressive or confused,” Vaughan suggests.
Mekar Bhuana has been involved in several projects which have given greater exposure to the value and artistry of court gamelan music. For example, in 2009, they were invited to perform at ‘A Tapestry of Sacred Music Festival’ at the Esplanade in Singapore. The group presented five performances of rare seven-tone semar pegulingan repertoire (from Banjar Pagan Kelod, Denpasar, Kamasan, Klungkung and Gianyar) and pelegongan repertoire (from Teges Kanginan, Ubud and Banjar Tegal, Kuta). During the festival, Vaughan Hatch presented a talk and demonstration on this rare music and the ensembles. In addition, they released an audio CD of seven semar pegulingan and two pelegongan pieces which has already sold out, so this CD will soon be re-released.
In 2010, they reconstructed a previously extinct Pagan Kelod-style semar pegulingan saih pitu piece, Sumambang Jawa, and performed this accompanying dance (Putri & Condong) for the first time in many decades at the Oberoi, Bali on August 17. So far, Oberoi, Bali is the only hotel in Bali which has the initiative to support Mekar Bhuana’s reconstruction and preservation efforts. “I hope that both the tourism industry and the Government will start to pay more attention to the importance of documenting Bali’s dying artistic heritage,” says, Putu Evie, the conservatory’s co-founder and director.
The future looks bright for Mekar Bhuana Conservatory. In 2012, they plan to organize a tour of Australia and New Zealand, showcasing some of their finest compositions. When Mekar Bhuana is asked to do major performances, the members always make an effort to learn rare or extinct repertoire, documenting, preserving and exposing these classical art forms so that more people become aware of their existence. Before Mekar Bhuana performs in Guangzhou, they plan to document the music and dance on video (HD DVD) and in audio format (CD) for longevity. Currently they are seeking sponsors, particularly organizations with business interests in China, to get involved and support this documentation.
Interested parties who would like to support Mekar Bhuana Conservatory can contact Putu Evie by emailing: info@balimusicanddance.com.
