Music of Indonesia, Vol. 16: Music from the Southeast

They Say...

Review by Banning Eyre, All Music Guide

The chain of dry islands from Lombok to Timor are economically poor, but culturally rich. They fall into two regions: Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) includes the western, Muslim islands -- Bali, Sumbawa, and Lombok -- which have Asian flora and fauna, and remnants of the melodic gong traditions exemplified in Javanese and Balinese gamelan; Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) includes the eastern, mostly Christian islands -- Sumba, Flores, and Timor -- which have Australian flora and fauna, and simpler gong traditions that musicologists have dubbed "non-melodic." This volume begins in Sumbawa with two intimate pieces that unfold between a fine female voice, a male voice, and a graceful violin working in the "gypsy minor" scale. This is night music performed by an old man and his daughter. The longer, more satisfying piece tells the story of a difficult sea journey. Next come four pieces from economically and socially isolated Sumba, an island where traditional religion remains unusually strong. The wavy, sliding melodies of the jungga, a two- or four-stringed lute, have been compared to slide guitar. However, when combined with a high, full-throated male vocal, the feeling of Central Asian and Native American music comes to mind. Also from Sumba, two non-melodic gong ensemble funeral pieces move through muted, trance-like, deep-toned cycles. At a real funeral, this music would go on for days; here, each piece runs just over four minutes. The volume concludes with nine pieces from Timor, the largest and most ethnically diverse island in the chain. There's a lively women's gong ensemble, playing funeral cycles at a higher pitch level than in the Sumba selections. There are five mixed-chorus vocal pieces, some slow, mysterious, and monophonic, and others lively work songs featuring interaction between different kinds of voices. There's a long selection of bidu, chugging, high-lonesome string and vocal music played by the Meto people at domestic celebrations. A guitar literally scrapes out bustling rhythm while a violin and singer hang on long, high notes. Concluding this diverse volume are two regional variations on bidu, both rich with moody melodies and the heightened energy of a country jam session.