Kumudasmara - Gendhing Rujak Sentul - Srudèng Gosong - Sinom Wènigonjing laras pélog pathet nem

The Javanese Gamelan Group Lindhu Raras in Concert
Special Guests:
Caillan Crowe-McAuliffe, Anne Ivana Samanhudi, Steven Tanoto, Xin Wei Thow, Gerrit Wendt
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
House of Indonesian Cultures - Rumah Budaya Indonesia
Berlin, July 27th, 2024
Bawa sekar Kumudasmara dhawah Gendhing Rujak Sentul kethuk 2 kerep minggahladrang
Srudèng Gosong kalajengaken ketawang Sinom Wènigonjing, laras pélog pathet nem
This large suite begins with another prelude pathetan to introduce the feeling and characteristics
of the pathet pélog nem before a male singer performs a solo piece called a bawa. During the
bawa, the singer is only slightly accompanied by the génder to cue the opening notes of
each phrase. This particular bawa is unique in that there is a brief jineman that is performed
with the other singers in the middle of it. After the jineman, the solo singer finishes the bawa,
with his last phrase cuing the beginning of the gendhing.
The initial merong section of Rujak Sentul is soft and refined until the drummer speeds up the
gamelan, transitions to the ciblon drum, and the music quickly rushes into the lively inggah that is
Srudéng Gosong. Here the texture becomes very animated, with the bonangs playing
interlocking patterns and the chorus singing a catchy melody which the balungan instruments
double.This melody is very prominent and initially gets often repeated, as the gong cycle is short.
However as the piece goes on, the drummer will perform metric transitions where the irama or
density of the notes will change. This will have the effect of stretching out the gong cycle such that
the balungan instruments play the melody slower, while the elaborating instruments and the
drumming get increasingly more virtuosic and faster. Eventually that melody that was
once prominent becomes so stretched out that it fades into the background and becomes a
structural element. The music rushes forward until the drummer brings the whole gamelan to
a stop so that the pesindhen can perform a short solo.
The final piece in the suite, ketawang Sinom Wènigonjing sees the music return to a softer and
more refined character as the rebab leads the chorus to sing macapat poetry. After the final
gong, the soft instruments play once again the pathetan pélog nem to leave the feeling of this
beautiful pathet lingering within the listener.
As is often the case in Javanese gamelan, the text and the names of pieces refer to plants,
flowers or food in an allegorical sense. Rujak is a spicy fruit salad and there is even a type of
Rujak made with Sentul fruit which is a type of wild mangosteen. However, there is a wordplay
here and the text employs Rujak-rujakan to create rhyming pairs of lines that metaphorically
match different kinds of Rujak to an observation or advice. Srudéng Gosong, on the other hand,
refers to a type of spicy grated and fried coconut condiment called serundeng. Again utilizing
wordplay, the text conveys life advice and warns one not to be too distracted chatting and
gossiping while cooking serundeng or else it will burn.