Klenengan notation added: Candra, Sri Hascarya, Wesmester, Luntur

New balungan and vocal notation has been added to the Resources page in lieu of Langen Suka’s mid-year klenengan.

Gendhing Candra minggah Ladrang Sri Hascarya followed by Ladrang Wesmester are all new additions to Langen Suka’s repertoire and we’ll be playing the suite of pieces in the same way as the recording below:

If you’ve never heard Ladrang Wesmester (i.e. “Westminster”) before, make sure you catch it at around 23’57” and you’ll see why the piece is named as such.

Luntur (“Faded”) is a well-known langgam composed by famous singer-songwriter Gesang (1917–2010), who also wrote Bengawan Solo. The melody is in a minor key as can be heard in its original kroncong version (sung by the composer himself in his final years) or with campursari accompaniment. When performed with gamelan however, it transforms into the haunting barang miring scale superimposed over the slendro sanga mode. If anyone can locate a recording with gamelan, let us know. We’ll be including Luntur in our lagu dolanan bracket of our klenengan.

Welcome

Langen Suka LogoWelcome to the website of Langen Suka, a group dedicated to traditional Javanese gamelan music and dance in Sydney. We invite new members to join us as gamelan is something that anyone with or without musical training can learn to play. In Java gamelan is viewed as a representation of an ideal and harmonious society in which each individual plays an integral part according to his or her own character, talents and abilities. While our members come from diverse backgrounds and parts of Sydney, we get together at our weekly practices to play this unique and beautiful music as well as socialising, as the Javanese do, while we enjoy a snack or two during breaks.

This new website was launched in January 2016 and has been thoroughly updated and expanded with additional information and features.

  • Learn about the history of the group
  • View current and past members
  • Find out about upcoming events
  • Browse through our archive of past events
  • Download free resources such as notation for learning gamelan
  • Visit us at our new location at UNSW
  • Contact us to drop by, become a member, or hire us for a performance

Vi King Lim
Director, Langen Suka

Regular practices have resumed!

Langen Suka deserved a good long break after the fantastic end-of-year concert on 27 November. Thanks to everyone who helped with packing the instruments into the truck in record-breaking time after the concert and especially to those who were at UNSW the next day to return the instruments.

Regular practices resumed last Friday evening with a sizeable number of us turning up, most likely keen to get a “fix” after eight weeks without gamelan. At the practice I announced plans for a klenengan in the middle of the year and another dance performance towards the end. More to come about this once I confirm the repertoire.

Now’s a great time for anyone wanting to join the group or learn how to play gamelan as our regular practices will be fairly low-key until we get closer towards a performance. Check out our location and practice time here and drop us an email.