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On
a hillside at the foot of the Alps, in a place called Montebello,
40 km north of Turin, there is a gamelan from Central Java.
It is housed in its own pendopo, which was specially built
for the purpose. Kaduk Raras Raras Sari is a complete pelog/slendro
gamelan. The tuning was set after the well-known Kyahi Kaduk
Manis Manis Rengga. The Montebello gamelan is played by
the Group of the Impermanence. In addition to playing classical
music from Central Java, experimental musical activities
are undertaken. There is a chronic shortage of dedicated
players - surely a question of logistics, but probably also
a matter of cultural tastes. Holding summer sessions with
gamelan teachers and players converging to Montebello is
a nice idea, already experimented. The Montebello gamelan
can be heard on CDs.
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