West Java ~ Tembang Sunda - Ida Widawati & L.S. Malati Ida Ensemble - Sundanese Sung Poetry [Inedit]

Originally posted by øשl in the early days of the blog, but track 2 was actually a rip of the entire CD as one track. So here's a proper version:

West-Java [Java-ouest] - Tembang Sunda
Ida Widawati and L.S. Malati Ida Ensemble
Inedit W 260056, recorded 1993, CD released 1994

Tembang sunda is a style of classical vocal music that originated in the Sunda province of highland west Java. Unlike Sundanese gamelan music, tembang sunda was developed in the court during the Dutch colonial period [mid-19th century]. The traditional vocal portion is sung free verse poetry, the instrumental accompaniment being performed on zither and bamboo flute.

øשl's comment [taken from his original post]:
this is one of the best joints i been lucky enough to hear owl year, but then i say that about everything. i knew it was gonna be good, like everything sundanese & classical from west java is, but dam the fidelity is superb. i been sick for a minute now but am convinced this musique brought my fever down dramatically. when the two ladies seen seated above sing in unison, i break out in goosebumps, which is unusual for an owl. hype hype hype. this is a headswirler. i won't attempt to contribute my typically attention deficient $.02 about this particularly poetic musical tradition & instead refer u to the enclosed pdf booklet, lovingly included in this dynomite package.