Gamelan Concert

On Sunday, epilimnion and I went to the Boston Village Gamelan (Javanese) concert at the MFA. They were playing on the MFA's instrument, Gamelan Kyai Jati Mulya which was made in 1840 and 1876. It was a really good concert. As an added bonus, their guest artist was I. M. Harjito, one of the professors that I studied gamelan with at Wesleyan University (and oddly enough, when I was living in Middletown after graduation, my apartment was two doors down from his house). I love gamelan music, and hearing it live is far better than a recording, IMHO. The only piece on the program that was familiar to me was the opener, Ketawang Puspawarna, which I know from my gamelan CDs rather than from my experiences playing. The other pieces were good, though, especially the last one, Gendhing Manuhara and ayak-ayakan Rangu-Rangu.

On Tragedies and Dedications

There was something about the recent mine accident in West Virginia that really got to me in a way I find hard to put into words. When watching or reading the news, my first thoughts were always of the miners, and if they'd been found yet. I was crushed when I read that only one miner had survived (I had missed the rroneous report that they were alive). I really wanted all thirteen of those men to come out of that mine alive, instead of one. I feel, in a way, as if that's what should have happened. Usually, no matter how much sorrow I feel over something like this, it doesn't strike me in this way. I usually feel more like what I am, an outside observer.

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I rarely dedicate my compositions to anyone or anything, and when I do, I think long and hard about it. Most of the time, the piece so dedicated was written with the dedication in mind from the very beginning. I feel that dedications are special things and not to be attached to a piece lightly. Nine times out of ten, when I consider a dedication after the fact, I decide against it.
However, I can't exactly ignore the fact that I finished my large ensemble piece right around the time of the Sago mine explosion. And this piece is called Under Earth, with movements titled Caverns, Spelunking, Water on Rocks, and Phosphoresence. Although the piece is not program music or meant to be a direct representation of underground caves and tunnels, it was inspired by subterranean images. So I've decided, after plenty of reflection, to dedicate Under Earth to the 13 miners trapped in that explosion.

Well, that's ironic

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