Collections of themed recordings curated by John Noise Manis
1 – 11:00 Gendhing bonang KEMBANG GEMPOL pelog lima
2 – 26:00 Gendhing KEMBANG MARA pelog lima
Collection: Digital Series, Gamelan of Central Java
The pieces comprising the present album are part of a release of 2003 that won in France the prize ”CHARLES CROS – Coup de Coeur 2004‘.
The critics at the time commented:
“…Cet enregistrement se voit donc bienvenu pour approcher les raffinements du domaine musical javanais….”
(P. La., Le Monde)
“…On se laissera aussi séduire par le superbe Kembang Mara qui déploie sur vingt-cinq minutes l’envoutante structure du gending…”
(Frank Bergerot, Le Monde de la Musique)
The flower (gempol) giving the title to this composition does not have an English equivalent. We may simply enjoy the pure sound of the gamelan in its typical instrumental version.