SAKTI
The harmony of heaven
Dance concert of classic music from Northern Indonesia

dancers

with the support of Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of The Republic of Indonesia

Indonesia has always been at the crossroads of travel and commerce as already witnessed by Marco Polo in his Milione, but what particularly distinguishes this country of a thousand islands is the richness of its diverse artistic expressions and in particular, its music and dance theater. Already in the bas-reliefs of Borobudur, the magnificent Buddhist temple that dates back to the VIII century, there are representations of musicians and musical instruments that are still found in the Gamelan orchestras, with mostly percussion instruments, gongs and xylophones above all.

Gamelan in fact means "hammer" or "hammering", but the percussions are also accompanied by other wind and string instruments, as well as the voice of a soloist. The Gamelan orchestra is therefore at the heart of every Indonesian form of music, accompanies dance and religious rituals, but also civil ceremonies. The hypnotic sounds of Indonesian music have fascinated even our composers, in particular Claude Debussy who had discovered them in a Balinese group exhibition at the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1899.

For this concert in Piazza del Duomo of Spoleto, which is a European première, the most famous Indonesian music composer, Rahayu Supanggah, will conduct an orchestra of 25 performers with traditional instruments, but even twenty dancers from the islands of the north, Borneo and Sumatra and in particular from Aceh, the region hit by the terrible tsunami in 2004.

To quote Diego Carpitella, musicologist who is attentive to the relationship between traditional music of the world and cultured European music, this concert on the stage of a square that is symbol of classical Western culture highlights the final transition from exotic curiosity to the enjoyment of musical forms of absolute originality that are now part of our soundtrack which is completely intercultural.

RAHAYU SUPANGGAH
Known for his role in the international collaboration Realizing Rama and for the musical scores he composed for Opera Jawa and Robert Wilson’s I La Galigo, Rahayu Supanggah is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary music in Indonesia. A professor of ethnomusicology and composition, he is also an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, performer, and curator who seeks to explore, experiment and create new musical genres. He has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Robert Wilson, Sergio Leone and Kronos Quartet.

Rahayu’s award-winning compositions reflect traditional Javanese karawitan, contemporary Indonesian music rooted in the traditional music of various regions of Indonesia and Asia, concert music, as well as music for dance, theatre, and film.

Rahayu Supanggah is one of the artists selected to represent Indonesia in the National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2013.