The gamelan Digul and the prison camp musician who built it : an Australian link with the Indonesian revolution / Margaret J. Kartomi.
| Author/creator |
Kartomi, Margaret J. |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2002. |
| Description | xxi, 123 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm + 1 audio disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.) |
| Subject(s) |
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| Series | Eastman studies in music Eastman studies in music. ^A494093 |
| Contents | Foreword / Judith Becker -- Foreword / Rahayu Supanggah -- Pontjopangrawit's youth: becoming an activist and artist, 1893 to 1927 -- Life in Boven Digul from 1927 to 1943: the gamelan is made and departs for Australia -- Pontjopangrawit's life and work between 1932 and 1965 -- The Australian connection, 1943 to the present -- The gamelan Digul as an organological artefact and its recent conservation -- A photographic study of the gamelan Digul -- Members of the Gamelan Digul Conservation Steering Committee -- Tunings of the gamelan Digul. |
| Abstract | This is the story of a particular Javanese orchestra called the gamelan Digul, and its creator, the Indonesian musician and political activist Pontjopangrawit. He was a superb Javanese court musician who was interned for revolutionary activities in the notorious Dutch East Indies prison camp of Boven Digul. The gamelan Digul was made entirely from "found" materials in the prison camp, including kitchen utensils and old doors, and it soothed the hearts of its players in exile throughout the 1930s. In the 1940s, the gamelan was transported to Australia, where the Dutch and their prisoners took refuge from the Japanese. At first interned as enemy aliens by the Australian government, the ex-Digulists were finally released. Cultural activities within the Australian-Indonesian community - often involving the gamelan Digul--served to create sympathy and interest for Indonesian independence, which was granted in 1945. Stories about particular Javanese gamelan orchestras and remarkable gamelan musicians are rare, and this book breaks new ground in both respects. Its musical and political sides will interest all those concerned with Indonesian and Southeast Asian music, performing arts, history and culture as well as the beginnings of Australian-Indonesian friendship. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 114-117) and index. |
| LCCN | 2001048095 |
| ISBN | 1580460887 |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Music | Music Media - Ask at Circulation Desk | CD-5802 | ✔ Available | Place Hold | |
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML1251.I53 K37 2002 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |