In composing Tabuh-Tabuhan, Colin McPhee aimed to integrate Balinese music into the Western symphonic idiom such that it would appeal to Western audiences without losing its distinctiveness. By using authentic Balinese series of notes such as the pèlog and the jejogan incorporated with other motives (ganderangan and rindik), McPhee created a structure unique to both Balinese and Western traditions. McPhee also wanted to "re-create" Balinese music for a Western audience who could not hear this music performed on its original instruments. To this end, he incorporated the overtones of the different-sized gongs of the gamelan instruments into the orchestral texture, achieving the sounds he heard without their original creators.

Works: Colin McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan (127-75, 67-92).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Marc Geelhoed