A gandrung is a young woman who sings and dances with men at private parties in the east Javanese region called Banyuwangi. Typically, the party would accompany a family event such as a wedding or circumcision. The event involves drinking and flirtation -- even prostitution. It is bawdy and at times dangerous, but it is in fact a secularized version of an ancient purification ritual, and even in its modern form, the evening ends in a mood of spiritual cleansing.
These 11 selections all come from a single night's entertainment performed by a single group consisting of two violins, flute, drums, metal percussion including kettle gongs and triangle, and two principal singers, including the gandrung herself. The music proceeds through a great deal of emotional territory, dramatic and narrative as the gandrung's breathy, floating voice interacts with the high, nasal voice of an older male singer, energized and frenetic as she dances with various men, and serene and reflective in the solo songs that come late in the night. Tempos shift often, but even when the drums, gongs and triangle make a dense, chattering weave, the violins tend to drone, and the gandrung sings flowing melodies with long non-repeating phrases.
This is certainly a case where the story enhances the experience of the music. The ritualized sex play the gandrung engages in can be playful or menacing -- some of the men get very drunk -- and a feeling of darkness and threat comes across in the music. But when the dawn comes, the demons have been purged, the participants have transcended their ribaldry, and there is a distinct sense of deliverance. This modern song cycle with ancient roots makes a powerful introduction to the series. ~ Banning Eyre