The Java Suite (originally published as Phonoramas. Tonal journeys for the pianoforte) is a suite for solo piano by Leopold Godowsky, composed between 1924 and 1925. It consists of twelve movements and is influenced by the gamelan music of Java, Indonesia, extensively utilizing pentatonic harmonies throughout.
Historical background
Godowsky remarked in the work's preface:"Having travelled extensively in many lands, some near and familiar, others remote and strange, it occurred to me that a musical portrayal of some of the interesting things I had been privileged to see, a tonal description of the impressions and emotions they had awakened, would interest those who are attracted by adventure and picturesqueness and inspired by their poetic reactions.Who is not at heart a globe-trotter? Are we not all fascinated by distant countries and strange people? And so the thought gradually matured in me to recreate my roaming experiences. This cycle of musical travelogues-tonal journeys-which i have name collectively "Phonoramas", begins with a series of twelve descriptive scenes in java."
Structure
The suite consists of twelve movements, divided into four parts. Godowsky composed the work under the influence of gamelan music after a visit to Java. A typical performance of the work lasts approximately 50 minutes. The first complete recording of the entire Suite was made in 2016 by Esther Budiardjo, on Pro Piano Records CD PPR224529.
Part One
1. Gamelan (A minor)
Native music, played by the Javanese on their indigenous instruments, is called Gamelan. The Javanese ensemble is a kind of exotic orchestra, con- sisting mainly of diversely shaped and constructed percussive instruments of metal, wood and bamboo, comprising various kinds and sizes of bells, chimes, gongs, sounding boards, bowls, pans, drums. (some barrel-like), tom - toms, native xylophones, sonorous alang-alang (zephyr-like, aeolian harp- like) and other unique music implements. The only stringed instrument I could discern was the ancient, guitar-shaped reéaé, which is held by the leader in a position similar to that of the lute.
Both rulers of the two Sultanates of central Java: the Susuhunan of Solo and the Sultan of Djokja, and the two independent princes, Manku Negoro of Solo and Paku Alam of Djokja, have the best, largest and most complete native orchestras (Gumelan). They own old instruments of inestimable value, the enchanting sonority of which is attributable to the mellowing process of time.
The sonority of the Gamelan is so weird, spectral, fantastic and bewitching, the native music so elusive, vague, shimmering and singular, that on listen- ing to this new world of sound I lost my sense of reality, imagining myself in a realm of enchantment. Nothing seen or experienced in Java conveyed so strongly the mysterious and strange character of the island and its inhabitants.
The Gamelan produces most ethereal pianissimos, particularly entrancing when heard from a distance. It is like a perfume of sound, like a mus- ical breeze. Usually the music, beginning very softly and languidly, becomes faster and louder as the movement progresses, rising, at last, to a barbaric climax.
In this, the first of the descriptive scenes, I have endeavored to recreate a Gamelan sonority~ a typically Javanese atmosphere. Except for the one chromatic variation(pages 9-10),which is intentionally Occidental,the movement is almost exclusively diatonic and decidedly Oriental (Far Eastern).
2. Wayang-Purwa, Puppet Shadow Plays (A minor)
‘This ancient, characteristically Javanese quasi -histrionic entertainment, produced on festive occasions, is very popular in Java. It symbolises to the Javanese their past historical greatness; their hopes, aspirations and national solidarity. To the subdued accompaniment of the Gamelan, the Dalang, manager, actor, musician, singer, reciter and improvisator, all in one,-recites classic Hindu epics, or modernized and localized versions of them, or other mythical or historical tales and East Indian legends, while grotesque, flat leather puppets throw shadows on a white screen to interpret and illustrate the reciter’s stories. These puppets the Dalang manipulates by means of bamboo rods. Wayang-Purwa is somewhat of a combination of Punch and Judy and Chinese shadows.
3. Hari Besaar, The Great Day (A minor → C major)
The Kermess - the Country Fair - is here.
From plantations and hamlets natives flock to the town that is the center of the bright, joyous celebrations, naive, harmless amusements. They throw themselves. eagerly into the whirl ‘of festivities, enjoying the excitement and animation.