Al Suwardi / Darno Kartawi / Joko Prasadiyanto - Gamelan Of Java, Vol. 2: Contemporary Composers

The second volume in this important and fascinating new five-part Lyrichord series of Javanese gamelan music is devoted to present-day compositions, produced by John Noise Manis. Six works, commissioned by Manis, were composed by Solonese musicians, all faculty members of Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Surakarta. Although each work has it's own special character and language, the musicians are united in their exploration of new styles, the variations of classical forms, and in their diverse use of instruments, both traditional and newly invented. Each musician illustrates his own work in the CD booklet, and the disc includes six commentaries and biographical notes on a pdf file.