Music For The Gods: The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition, Indonesia

Amazon.com
This classic of ethnomusicology was originally recorded in 1941 by the Fahnestock brothers, Bruce and Sheridan, on what was then state of the art aluminum discs. The music is amazing both for the quality of the sound and the beauty of the performing gamelans--the word means both the band and the music they play. The sound is rich and clear; individual notes hang shimmering in the air like rainforest hummingbirds. The enclosed booklet tells the story of the expedition that the Fahnestocks organized to capture these sounds, recorded just before the creeping invasion of Western influence. The journey included shipwrecks and lugging the unwieldy recording equipment through impenetrable jungles. It reads like a possible musical adventure for a future Indiana Jones flick. --j. poet

From the Label
The second release in Mickey Hart's Endangered Music Project captures the shimmering music of Indonesia as it existed in 1941, when the Fahnestock brothers set sail to record the indigenous musics of Bali, Java, Madura and Arjasa with state-of-the-art Presto disc-cutters. This collection is an extraordinary achievement in the restoration of deteriorating cellulose-acetate discs, and in the preservation of the elegant and haunting cultural traditions of the Indonesian archipelago prior to its westernization in WWII.

Music accompanies all aspects of Indonesian life -- the work of farmers, the play of children, royal ceremony, theaters, or rituals of birth and death. The most important form is the gamelan, ensembles dominated by magnificent bronze gongs and metallophones ( bronze-keyed xylophones). The gamelan is characterized by what might be called a sacred geometry -- everything from the number of beats to the arrangement and design of the instruments adheres to a precise symmetry and cosmology, reflective of a worldview rooted in Hindu Buddhism.

In contrast to the driving energy of the large gamelan ensembles are simple and gentle performances featuring haunting voices, bamboo flutes and reed instruments, and one featuring nothing more than an Indonesian Jew's harp played by a young girl. And there is the legendary kecak, or Monkey Dance, the complex counterpoint of interlocking chants by a two-hundred man chorus, building to a kind of ecstatic, otherworldly frenzy.

These recordings provide a window on a world radically different from our own -- one which has been changed almost beyond recognition in the intervening years. But thanks to the Endangered Music Project -- and above all to the heroic efforts of Bruce and Sheridan Fahnestock -- this MUSIC FOR THE GODS will resonate through the ages.

Tracks:

'Taboehgan'/Gamelan Semar Pegulingan
'Sekarinotan'/Gamelan Semar Pegulingan
'Pedat'/Tongtong
'Genderan'/Gamelan Gong
'Pemoengkah'/Gender Wayang
'Kerejing'
'Laghoe Dingdang'/Sandur
'Merakngila'/Gamelan Semar Pegulingan
'Gambang'
'Kecak'
'Abimenijoe'/Gender Wayang
'Gambangan'/Gamelan Semar Pegulingan
'Dandang Gendis'/Mamaca

Amazon.com

This classic of ethnomusicology was originally recorded in 1941 by the Fahnestock brothers, Bruce and Sheridan, on what was then state of the art aluminum discs. The music is amazing both for the quality of the sound and the beauty of the performing gamelans--the word means both the band and the music they play. The sound is rich and clear; individual notes hang shimmering in the air like rainforest hummingbirds. The enclosed booklet tells the story of the expedition that the Fahnestocks organized to capture these sounds, recorded just before the creeping invasion of Western influence. The journey included shipwrecks and lugging the unwieldy recording equipment through impenetrable jungles. It reads like a possible musical adventure for a future Indiana Jones flick. --j. poet

Customer Reviews:

Magical protection in a cd.......2007-07-17

I first got this disk from the library, just out of curiosity, and fell in love. The sound quality isn't so great, because the medium they were recorded on is falling to pieces, but that's fine with me. I grew up in the age of cheap record players. I don't mind a few pops and hisses. It's all part of the experience. This was recorded in '41, I think, so it's a precious artifact.
There's a variety here, mostly gamelin, but some vocal as well, and something that sounds like jew's harp or barimbau or some weird buzzy thing. The monkey god chant is amazing. My favorite track of all is #10. I could play it a thousand times and never tire of it. It makes me feel like I belong, like it's a story of life and I am included in the story.
I have also found that this recording has magical powers. Whenever one of my neighbors is playing something irritating, I put this on really loud and drown them out. They're so fascinated, I guess, by the weirdness of the music, that they shut up and don't complain. (This also works with Getz and Gilberto.)

Authentic Gamelan Music.......2002-01-08

Yet another magnificent CD from Mickey Hart's "The World" series, this time focusing in upon historical recordings of Indonesian music. The most noticable music on here is, naturally, the Gamelan music. I love it. I bought this CD hoping to learn more about Southeast Asian classical music and I was not at all disappointed. In fact, this CD helped kindle my interest in Gamelan music. If you've never herd the beautiful sounds of Balinese Gamelan orchestras, this CD will really get you hooked. If your already a fan, then why haven't you bought this CD yet? I love it and you will too. Not that the only music on here is Gamelan. There are other styles as well, just not as well represented. One of the must unique of which is the Kecak or "monkey chant". I should also point out that the music here is all raditional, and in some cases vastly different from the modern music you'd here in Bali today. Also, a wide range of regions within Indonesia are represented (a great feat considering that Indonesia is such a large region).

the thing that justifies my music collection.......2000-05-01

This CD is my most prized possession. I have listened to it so much that my brain can play it back - yet it is still listen-to-able. It contains a variety of types of music collected by the Fahnestocks during their South Pacific explorations during WWII. Every track is worth the price of the album, but the gamelan sounds stand out... one goal of the Fahnestocks was to document the music of the peoples of Indonesia before Western culture made it what it is today. If I knew of any other recordings from this era, I would buy them too.

The liner notes give a brief telling of the expedition. The Fahnestocks risked life and limb to make this music available. Take advantage.

This is a must have.......2000-02-27

This recording from almost 60 years ago presents mostly Balinese music. No doubt a different generation of Balinese musicians, it has a different feel than what you find in the contemporary recordings. You will keep listening over and over to its haunting sound.

mind blowing and expanding.......1999-07-14

gamelan music remastered with the help of the percussion artist of the Greatful Dead. Haunting and simple melodies contrasting sharply with the harsh reality of tribal lifestyle. As a returned peace corps volunteer I find this cd authentic and true to the spirit of the people.

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