Pak Suhirdjan made the pelog section, ‘Kaduk Raras‘, of the Montebello Gamelan. This complete Javanese gamelan has the unique characteristic–outside of Java–of being housed in its own open-walled pendopo. But apart from this nice environmental and acoustic aspect, the gamelan is definitely and unfortunately underused: in the given geographic and cultural context–a rural area in Northern Italy–it has not been possible to set-up regular activities. The fine craftsmanship of the instruments has been appreciated in the rare occasions of their being played at home, and on their being lent to prestigious organizations for special events (Monaco, Turin).
Pak Suhirdjan also made a set of excellent chromatic instruments in the Western scale, namely:
- three twelve-note bronze genders covering three octaves,
- three twelve-note iron sarons covering three octaves,
- forty-eight iron bonang plencon covering four octaves.
Giovanni Sciarrino
(John Noise Manis)
www.gamelan.to