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Spirits of the Northern Javanese gamelan

07/15/1998

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The first piece is a very nice introduction to the sound and rythm of the Cirebon iron gamelan, less formal than the Central Javanese form. Afterwards, there is high drama in two dance/singing pieces, unfortunately without translation or story-line, with gamelan accompaniement. The record ends with a vigorous mask dance of Prince Panji. In these last pieces one again gets the impression that an important visual (or language) aspect is lacking; one has to picture the dancers in one's imagination to get the full picture. Which is difficult if you have never been to Cirebon..."