The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

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Michael Tenzer
pulsations serves as the basis for cyclic repetition. After a few cycles have elapsed, a fourth, faster, longer and
still more irregular melodic part enters, for which the 44-pulse cycle continues to serve as substrate.
Even more recently Balinese composers have added new instruments in contrapuntal arrangements,
especially Western ones, further increasing the complexity of the texture. My last example, untranscribed,
is from Wayan Sudirana’s Arakok (2006) a work for gamelan plus trumpet and saxophone (audio ex. 6).
Gamelan music of Bali and Java has long been associated with the kind of intercalated polyphony
described in the first few examples above, but an unsuspected internal diversity of style plus recent historical
developments make the situation more complex than that. <strong>The</strong>re must be many similar cases of world musical
traditions in which an early musicological claim of stylistic uniformity now needs to be reassessed on the basis
of newer research. Familiar but totalizing and simplistic characterizations of musics limit our view of human
musical variety, creating unnuanced categories. Polyphony, monophony, and heterophony exist both side by
side and in complex mixtures the world over.
Audio Examples
Audio example 1. Basic Balinese melody-elaboration relationship: 1:2:8 intercalation in Gabor
Audio examples 2a-c. Polyphony by pitch divergence between parts at structurally weaker positions:
a. Conventional intercalation with divergent tones at metrically weaker positions;
b. Repeating pattern: quasi-drone against melody;
c. Divergence through contrary motion arising unavoidably from the juxtaposition of idioms associated with instruments
with different ranges (Taruna Jaya)
Audio example 3a. counterpoint, irregular phrasing and non-stratification in Sekar Sungsang
Audio example 3b. the independent elaboration of melodic lines in parallel harmony in repertoire associated with scales and tunings
allowing for such parallelism Sekar Ginotan
Audio example 4. divergence in pitch, time organization, and structure between the bamboo flute and the rest of the ensemble
(Merak Ngelo)
Audio examples 5a-b. intentional independence of parts and greater freedom in simultaneous pitch relationships. Geregel (5a),
Caru Wara (5b)