VESSEL ALBUM NOTES

CONTENTS

1) Laras Chopin (6:15) – Stephen Fandrich

2) Tsuki (6:40) – Jarrad Powell

3) Scar (4:54) – Jessika Kenney

4) Ketawang Panembah (6:45) – Darsono Hadirahardjo

5) Iron Tears (12:10) – Stephen Fandrich

6) Difference (8:56) – Stephen Fandrich

LARAS CHOPIN by Stephen Fandrich

INSTRUMENTATION: gender barung, laras pelog (with cello bow), gender ponerus, laras harmonic (with violin bow), gender ponerus, laras slendro (with violin bow), piano (harmonics 2, 3, and 4 of middle C, A220cps and Bb233cps, played with an e-bow), organ gong (aluminum 60cps), organ gong (aluminum 120cps), gong suwukan (bronze)
Performed by Stephen Fandrich

A late fall evening in 2021 became morning and during that transition a Chopin prelude for piano, b-minor op. 28 no. 6, normally a rather chromatic composition, mysteriously wove its way into pathet nem of a gender barung. It was pruned and reshaped upon its new trellis, “for new growth and ornamentation”. Cengkok, in Javanese can mean to prune a bush. In gamelan vocabulary cengkok is a melodic pattern which can be very short or very long. Cengkok, when transposed from one laras (scale) or pathet (mode) to another, are pruned and reshaped to fit appropriately. Laras Chopin was inspired by the concept of cengkok, and an unexpected harmoniousness heard between the harmonics of middle C on a piano, a gender barung, a gong suwukan and two large organ-gongs built in 2021 by Stephen Fandrich. - S. Fandrich

TSUKI by Jarrad Powell

INSTRUMENTATION: voice, gender, slenthem
Performed by Jessika Kenney, voice, and Jesse Snyder, gender & slenthem; text by Zen Master Dōgen*

No writer penetrates more deeply through the veil of mind than Dōgen. His writing is utterly beautiful, mystifying and revelatory. The image of the moon in water is one of the most familiar in Buddhism. One way to look at it is that the moon is Buddha, the water is the mind. When the water is tranquil, the moon is reflected perfectly. But the mind is also the moon, and the moon also the mind. The secret of Dōgen is to entice us toward experience rather than analysis. The moon, the sky, the boat, the shore, these are the means to alone and full. These are the means by which we discover the moment of awakening, yet remain as we are. - J. Powell

SCAR by Jessika Kenney

INSTRUMENTATION: voice and sampler
Performed by Jessika Kenney; additional spoken words by Rahmalina Lintang Sasongka and Anne Stebinger

Scar is a piece which endeavors to unlearn Javanese vocal timbres and melodic patterns without re-learning centering whiteness. This year I learned a sacred Javanese mantra called Kilayu Nédhéng from the great teacher and pangrawit Bp. Djoko Walujo Wimboprasetyo. This mantra has the ability to clear mist, and the text features many images of the military returning to the inner sanctum of the court. During part of my learning process I helped organize my father’s funeral, who passed away from ALS during the worldwide pandemic. I have always felt a connection between the horrors of my father’s experiences of the cold war in Vietnam and the beauty of my learning experiences in Central Java in the 90s. This composition is an original prayer which intends to reject the violence of white imperial privilege, and also to unlearn specifically Javanese vocal tradition. I am interested in the way unlearning can evoke spirits of inclusive liberations. - J. Kenney

KETAWANG PANEMBAH by Darsono Hadirahardjo

INSTRUMENTATION: rebab, gender, slenthem
Performed by Jesse Snyder

Ketawang Panembah was composed in fall 2017, originally for laras slendro pathet sanga. The piece explores “barang miring” in the rebab and vocal parts, a technique where notes from outside the scale are borrowed. It was premiered at Yale University, accompanying a shadow puppetry show. The piece was played in the scene where a prince, the protagonist, meditated in the forest, praying and asking for blessings from God. - D. Hadiraharjo

IRON TEARS by Stephen Fandrich

INSTRUMENTATION: string quartet and Javanese gamelan
Performed by Del Sol String Quartet and Gamelan Pacifica

Inspired by a quotation from author Edith Hamilton’s 1942 book Mythology, where it is written that the song of Orpheus "drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek and made hell grant what love doth seek”. Such a note, such a melody exists, but where? A tone that can pierce a metal heart and allow it to feel again and surrender to love, does such a tone really exist? In the tones sung by the voice, played by the suling (bamboo flute) or rebab (spike fiddle) of the Javanese gamelan, such a tone lives. Many compositions I have completed over the years are each describing a scene in the myth of Orpheus. Featured in this work is the moment where Orpheus meets Pluto to tell of the dance of Eurydice and to make a most unusual plea, that Pluto return Eurydice, the one Orpheus loves more than the universe itself, who died on their wedding day. This magical pivotal moment is told in this composition for string quartet and gamelan. - S. Fandrich

DIFFERENCE by Stephen Fandrich

INSTRUMENTATION: gong suwukan, pelog gender barung, and piano , along with a just-intoned gender ponerus, laras slendro, built by Jarrad Powell and another, laras harmonic, built by Stephen Fandrich.
Performed by Stephen Fandrich

Difference is the sound of the reflection of rays and bursts of moonlight upon dark undulating water—a composition for gamelan and piano born of a musical inquiry into what may resound in the differences between the two, particularly the pulsing caused by very small frequency differences discovered between a piano played with an electromagnetic bow, and a Javanese gender barung (pelog, pathet nem), played with a cello bow. It is composed of the spectral pulsations and tonal illusions that result from bowing long sustained tones tuned to a minute difference in pitch. - S. Fandrich

Del Sol String Quartet – Benjamin Kreith, violin; Samuel Weiser, violin; Charlton Lee, viola; Kathryn Bates, cello

The internationally-acclaimed Del Sol Quartet champions music by living artists, exploring social change, technology, and artistic innovation. They believe that live music can, and should, happen anywhere. (www.delsolquartet.com)

Gamelan Pacifica – Noah Colbeck, Michael Dorrity, Stephen Fandrich, Ted Gill, Emily Hockel, Austin Larkin, Will Lone, Sean Ryan, Troy Scheifelbein, Stephanie Shadbolt, Jesse Snyder, Dick Valentine, Jarrad Powell, Director.

Gamelan Pacifica has been a leading voice for gamelan music in the Northwest for over 40 years. Gamelan Pacifica embraces gamelan as both a contemporary art form and a revered tradition. They have given hundreds of concerts and have created premiere recordings and performances of new works for gamelan by many composers. (www.gamelanpacifica.org)

Excerpts from “The Moon (Tsuki)” from MOON IN A DEWDROP by Dogen, translated by Mel Weitsman and Kazuaki Tanahashi. Translation © 1985 by San Francisco Zen Center. Used by arrangement with North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, LLC. All rights reserved.

Produced by Jarrad Powell
Scar, Laras Chopin and Difference recorded and mixed by the composers. Tsuki, Panembah and Iron Tears recorded and mixed by Mell Dettmer. Mastered by Mell Dettmer.
Cover photo © 2021 by Jarrad Powell
All compositions © 2021 by the composers
℗ 2022 Gamelan Pacifica. All rights reserved
Gamelan Pacifica / Blind Stone Records
PO Box 18574, Seattle, WA 98118