Inedit - Gambuh. Balinese Musical Drama

Gambuh. Balinese Musical Drama by the Kedisan Ensemble
(Gambuh. Drame musical balinais par l'ensemble de Kedisan)
Inedit W 260094, recorded 1999, CD released 2000

Gambuh came into being in the 16th century, and it is the ancestor and the basis of all artistic forms which developed in Bali in the following centuries, both in terms of dance and musical accompaniment by gamelan ensembles.

When the Dutch finally managed to colonise Bali at the beginning of the 20th century – they had already dominated the rest of the archipelago for three hundred years – the princely courts began to decline. The 8 Balinese kings were one by one forced to submit to the colonial power and gambuh, due to a lack of patrons, was almost forgotten.

Very fortunately, village communities (banjar) decided to act so that this noble and ancient art form would not be completely lost. Thanks to them, there was a gambuh revival after World War II. Although it had become less accessible to the general public due to the language barrier, the stilted nature of the plot and the dialogue, gambuh, the root form of all of the arts of Bali, was nonetheless revived in some villages.

Little by little, as the village communities took over from the royal courts, gambuh changed its function: it is now performed for temple feasts (odalan) which occur every 210 days according to the Balinese ritual calendar.