Wayang Educational Package

Gamelan Scores

Gamelan Notation for Six Wayang Kulit Performances

For centuries, the people of Indonesia have revered and nurtured the art of wayang kulit, the shadow puppet theater. In 2003 the significance of this art form was recognized by UNESCO when it declared wayang a “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.” UNESCO has included wayang kulit in the organization’s Intangible Heritage List and its proposed action plan calls for stronger support of puppeteers (dhalang) and increased documentation.

In support of this goal, Lontar has produced a shadow theater educational package for use by educators at the university level to teach students the art, wisdom, and cultural knowledge found in the wayang tradition.

There are three major performance styles of wayang kulit performed today: “classic” (klasik), “contemporary-interpretive” (garapan), and “condensed” (padat). Over the past several years Lontar has documented each of these performance styles twice and, from the large amount of footage obtained, has produced six films with subtitles in Indonesian and English. Lontar has also published six complete performance transcripts in three languages—Javanese, Indonesian and English—and a volume of musical notation.

The Package presents two famous wayang episodes, one with a leadership theme, Rama’s Crown (Makutharama), and one which explores the conflict between different belief systems, The Grand Offering of the Kings (Sesaji Raja Suya).

By Purbo Asmoro (musical arrangement); Suraji (musical notation); Phil Acimovic, Kathryn Emerson (editors).

Short Description:

This book contains notation for all the Javanese gamelan music (as well as sulukan and vocal chorus texts and melodies) presented in six wayang kulit performances that were filmed by the Lontar Foundation: Makutharama and Sesaji Raja Suya, each performed in classical style, contemporary-interpretive style, and condensed style. All gamelan accompaniment for these performances was arranged by renowned shadow master (dhalang), Purbo Asmoro.

About the Author:

Purbo Asmoro is an instructor in the Pedalangan Department at the Institute of Indonesian Arts in Surakarta for over twenty years. In 1989 he was created and debuted an innovative system of story-telling, applied to traditional seven-hour wayang performances, which he further developed the style over the subsequent decade. After studying gamelan performance practice intensely for over a decade.

Kathryn Emerson, originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, began to focus her studies on Javanese wayang kulit purwa. In 2004, she developed a technique for simultaneously translating wayang performances. She has worked as Purbo Asmoro’s translator since 2004.