The most distinctive feature of the program is the presentation of different styles of gamelan composition. The repertoire also presents a wide range of sonorities. The bright and clearly defined melodies of GAMELAN MELAYU, contrast with the rich textures of Javanese gamelan music where sometimes the melodies are obscured by other layers whose functions are to embellish.
The dynamic Gong-Kebyar-like Balinese compositions by I Wayan Rajeg use melodies that are interjected with strident rhythms alongside sharp changes in tempo and dynamics.
The composers of the contemporary repertoire have used a wide range of strategies to express their musical ideas in their interactions with the GAMELAN MELAYU ensemble. In Sunetra’s compositions, the voice extends the tonal vocabulary of the gamelan and adds a linear texture to what is essentially percussive music. Suasana by Suhaimi Mohd. Zain and Perubahan by Tan Sooi Beng extend the GAMELAN MELAYU ensemble to include the traditional Malay gendang ibu and anak drums in both compositions and the Chinese shigu drums in Tan Sooi Beng’s piece. Other added instruments include the Kelantanese rebab and the large Javanese kendhang. Harmonically-inspired structures feature in Wishes by Michael Veerapen and Suasana, along with contemporary rhythms.
Some pieces are a little harder to categorise. On Ayak Ayak is the arranger’s impression and inspiration derived from the traditional GAMELAN MELAYU piece in question.
Re-invention of traditional structures is a word used in performance studies to define the process of redefinition and reinterpretation of a pre-existing cultural structure, a necessary process in the continuity of cultural life.
What is interesting is that the contemporary compositions are vehicles for more than just one idea: jazz inflections with traditional gamelan instrumentation; a synthesis of Javanese, Malay, Western harmonies and general eclecticness; Kelantanese Malay-style music and rhythms with contemporary harmonies and keroncong – inspired inflections; a Balinese re-invention of the Gong-Kebyar style scored for the GAMELAN MELAYU ensemble.
In Malaysia, gamelan can be traditional, and exotic. It is also an emergent expressive vehicle for contemporary voices.
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