Bali Colin Mcphee

THE "ABSOLUTE" MUSIC OF BALI
COLIN McPHEE
FROM
endarya isle
musician's
joyeuse, viewpoint the
where music islanddancing
and of Baliareis not
the only
leg-
loved by aIl, but play a most important part in the life of the
people. Day and night the air is vibrant with the golden, me-
tallic sounds of the gamelan-the orchestra peculiar to Java
and Bali-accompanying either religious ceremony or the per-
formance of dance or drama for the celebration of sorne domestic
or religious event. Here is a music which hassuccessfully
achieved the absolute,-impersonal and non-expressive, with a
beauty that depends upon form and pattern and a vigor that
springs from a rhythmic vitality both primitive and joyo~s. But
more even than this perhaps, what inspires the musician with
wonder and envy, is the satisfactory raison d'être of music in
the community. The musicians are an integral part of the social
group, fitting in among ironsmiths and goldsmiths, architects
and scribes, dancers and actors, as constituents of each village
complex. Modest and unassuming, they nevertheless take great
pride in their art, an art which, however, is so impersonal that
the composer himself has lost his identity.
What can be the reactions of an Occidental, after prolonged
contact with such a music, so essentially different from his own?
What influences will penetrate his growing acquaintance with
it? For four years the writer has lived in Bali, in an isolation
broken only by brief trips to Java, Siam, China and J apan, where
the approach to music is fundarnentally like that of Bali, ab-
stract and anonyrnous. During such a period of time one's con-
ceptions inevitably experience sorne change, become, it is hoped,
broadened and purified. The original nature of music reveals
163
164 COLIN McPHEE
itself with ever greater clarity as a phenomenon of sound rather

than of language, as something springing from the urge to
rhythmic expression, spontaneous and physical, rather than as a
means for unembarrassed self-revelation.
ln conception Balinese music is static, whereas ours is dy-
namic and generally the expression of a crisis, a conflict. ln
execution Balinese music is extremely dynamic, while para-
doxically much of our own music, especially that of the nine-
teenth century, seems by comparison, turgid and lethargic. The
very phrasing of our music is declamatoryj our orchestras are
heavy and lack buoyancy. A breath of fresh air needs ta be let
into the concert halls.
•
The innumerable religious and domestic rites of B.ali anù the
wide variety of dance and dramatic performances demand many
different kinds of music and instrumental combinations. As many
as ten different types of gamelans exist in Bali today. Most
villages are equipped with one, if not more, of each type of
gamelan required for such domestic ceremonies as tooth-filings,
weddings and cremations, or such religious rites as temple-an-
niversaries, carrying of the gods to the sea, or purification of the
village from a curse or disaster. The apotheosis of percussion,
these orchestras consist of many forms of gongs, large and smaIl,
cymbals, drums and a great variety of metal-keyed instruments,
-an ideal medium for the abstract but at the same time dynamic
nature of the music. It is not unusual for the larger villages to
possess as many as twenty-five or thirty gamelansJ each of from
ten to thirty instruments, (though not aIl of these may have
players, for organizations often break up, and the instruments
will be stored away until the time when a new organization is
formed). 1 mention these details only to give sorne hint of the
scale upon which music exists in this island which, though
small, has over a million inhabitants.
The variety of orchestras and their different styles of playing
offer the stranger a constantly new experience. With certain
limitations accepted-such as the now almost exclusive use of one
or another form of the five-note scale-the music reveals untold
THE "ABSOLUTE" MUSIC OF BALI 165
riches, which are gradually disclosed on greater familiarity with

the different repertoires and their individual idioms. Technical-
Iy it is highly sophisticated; the melodic and formaI structure
is generally simple but always flawless, while the complex, ex-
treme1y syncopated, rhythmic undercurrent, and the brilliant,
percussive quality of the orchestration infuse a galvanic energy
impossible to describe. It is precisely this union of a primitive
and joyous vitality with a cultural sophistication which gives
to Balinese music a great deal of its freshness and distinction .
•
The absence of the composer (as an individual urged to self-ex-
pression) may be better understood when one has sorne idea of the
nature of the art and its leisurely development du ring the course
of time. The sculpture in the temples presents scenes from the old
mythology, and varies through the centuries only in style and
treatment. So aiso the music; retaining its tradition al melodies
and phrase formulae it receives new treatment by successive
generations of gurus (teachers) who take the place of the com-
poser. The present tendency, especially in the secular music,
is to break up the old compositions and weid fragments or epi-
sodes from these into new works which, though they may lack
the unit y of the oider music, glow with fresh Iife and vitality.
Only tne most sacred and ceremonial music remains static and
archaic-a sharp contrast to the extremely energetic and coIor-
fuI modern technic. Thus one may say that in Bali music is not
composed but rearranged,-a series of ever changing variations
upon melodic formulae whose sources have long since been for-
gotten.
The primariIy utilitarian nature of this music not only elim-
inates the "composer," but emphasizes a conception rather dif-
ferent from ours,-that music may be something which is not
to be listened to in itself. It may be marched to, danced to, or
used to precipitate a state of trance by its hypnotic power; but
never will it become personaI, or contain an emotion. At a cere-
mony its presence is as necessary as incense, flowers and offerings.
The festive note may even be dissonant and confused, for often
four or more types of gamelans will be assembled within the
166 COLIN McPHEE
temple walls-each with its separate idiom of music and instru-

ments-to resound simultaneously at the climax of a ritual, in
a barbarie splendor of clashing tonalities. Here a state of music
is required for a certain length of time, nothing more.
So music, in its twofold capacity of ceremonial accompani-
ment and secular entertainment, happily functions as one of the
necessities of communallife. The musicians are valuable mem-
bers of the village organization, not artists but artisans .
•
Just how much, and in what manner a so-called pnmItlve
music can be utilized by the occidental composer is a question
for each individu al conscience. The difference between a pas-
tiche and a creative work in which foreign material has been sa
absorbed by the artist as to become part of his equipment is
something which has never been completely recognized. It can,
however, be detected in the variety of influences which jazz has
exercised on the composers of today. By Europeans jazz has
never been convincingly assimilated or more than superficially
felt; but it has entered the blood of the Americans and become a
tonic whose stimulating virtues are weIl established. That a
primitive culture may contain certain desirable qualities which,
through re-creation, will express the artist's emotion with pre-
cision is apparent from the vigorous, if temporary influence of
African sculpture among those painters, in the early part of the
ceI1tury, who found in its sim pli city and strength something more
than the merely exotic.
ln Balinese music there seem to be many elements and even
technical details which can stimulate a composer from the West-
ern world, without of necessity alienizing his work. Ta begin
with, it is strangely ration al ; it has little of that exoticism or
oriental mysticism usually connected with Eastern music. Its
chief strength is its rhythm which, while containing certain
elements found in both Hindu and African music, has a daring
and animation definitely Indonesian. No voice in the gamelan is
without its rhythmic function. Let us take the most simple ex-
ample, the part played by the gongs and cymbals in an ostinato

which opens one of the warrior-dances (baris) .
• ", •• 11
~j~.•t~
O"U'Ml ~ b'. y
~teJ
~•... :.
Such treatment lends an incredible excitement and animation

to the orchestra, a masculine accompaniment to the menacing
postures of the dance. ln other types of music, polyrhythmic
procedure is more developed.
These fragmentary examples are but brief indications of the

orchestral texture against which the drum, with its ever-chang-
168 COLIN McPHEE
ing accents and its great variety of sounds, creates the pattern
that holds the logical development of the music. They can give
no idea of the tone color or the sonority.obtained by the doubling
of many of the parts in two or three octaves.
The orchestra is not always divided thus inta many parts; of-
ten it plays in unison highly syncopated passages which, although
bewildering enough at first hearing, upon analysis resolve them-
selves like mathematical problems. It is impossible here to do
more than cite one or two comparatively simple examples. A
common device is the shifting of the accents in certain passages
50 that they sound as though composed of units of five notes.
Sometimes these shifted accents cause the temporary displace-

ment of a passage which, however, regains its original point of
gravity on the final note of the phrase.
.•.• '=- • .. •.••.. := •
. It is not within the scope of this article to analyze the technic

of Balinese music, or to do more than hint at its most salient
characteristics. The examples above indicate to what an extent
it is pervaded with syncopation. The innumerable complexities
of this syncopation, and its endless variety are convincing testi·
mony to the eternal vitality of the 4/4 bar (as we express it),
so dominant in aIl Eastern music, and upon which aIl Balinese
musie is based. Rhythmic formulae which here are part of every
drum-player's equipment are as yet undreamed of in our world.
The polyphonie nature of the orchestration rises spontaneous-
ly from a musical idiom uncontaminated by any conception of
harmony. A singularly aerial sonorit y results, which is intensi-
fied by the percussive nature of the gamelan. ln the presence of
such a wealth of percussion instruments, and the luminous colof
achieved by their many combinations, one can only regret the

poverty of that group in our own orchestra, and the limitations
of its expression. The Balinese drum, for instance, which is
played with the hands, is a warm and palpitating voice that
translates into sound the beating of the heart, the course of the
blood racing through the body. Alas, our drums are by com-
parison graceless objects, finding their true eloquence in bombastic
andmilitary utterances. Furthermore the number of players in the
percussion section of our orchestra is so restricted that, even with
the few instruments at their disposaI, they must continually di-
vide their attention among the various parts, so that their technic
lacks ease and resilience.
The absence of harmony or modulation illustrates clearly the
inherent power of music to sustain itself through purity of line
and vitality of rhythm. The melodic outline is generally re-
stricted to sorne form or other of a pentatonic scale, for the old
heptatonic scales are today almost obsolete. The melody, how-
ever, does not become static, for each of the five notes of the scale
maybe a point of gravit y, thus forming five tonal centres through
which the melody may pass at will. Although the melodic
contour is always sure and often exceedingly beautiful, the scales,
perhaps because of their strong characteristic flavor, offer fewer
possibilities to the occidental.
It has not been possible to give more than a faint indication

of the technical resources of Balinese music. But the writer is
convinced that in the rhythmic spirit of this art lies something
that is strangely related to the world of today; the metallic
resonance of its orchestration has stirred his imagination with
the sense of new timbres and sonorities. The integrity of the
music, the complete absence of the personal or the pathetic
commands admiration. But most of aIl, perhaps does the example
of the island of Bali inspire the longing for a similar condition
in our own country, one in which music might play a more vital
role in the life of the people.

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THE "ABSOLUTE" MUSIC OF BALI

itself with ever greater clarity as a phenomenon of sound rather

riches, which are gradually disclosed on greater familiarity with

temple walls-each with its separate idiom of music and instru-

ample, the part played by the gongs and cymbals in an ostinato

Such treatment lends an incredible excitement and animation

These fragmentary examples are but brief indications of the

Sometimes these shifted accents cause the temporary displace-

.•.• '=- • .. •.••.. := •

. It is not within the scope of this article to analyze the technic

achieved by their many combinations, one can only regret the

It has not been possible to give more than a faint indication

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