MUSIC, PHILOSOPHY, AND TIME

IN

JAVA AND ANCIENT CHINA:

a comparison

Elliott Goldkind
 This paper was originally conceived as a comparison of time as it functions in the

musics of Java and ancient China. Time can be interpreted as a staggeringly broad topic when

understood in its most general sense. In conjunction with its extreme multiplicity of meaning,

there is, even within a culturally non-comparative domain, the possibility of a lack of

precision regarding this concept and its usage. While perhaps not immediately ameliorating

the issue of vagueness, I will at the onset put forth that the following discussion will pertain to

time as it functions musically, philosophically and cosmologically.

As is often the case with studies of a comparative nature, in this paper I have

encountered some problems with the compatibility of the objects of comparison; at times,

"apples and oranges," if you will. Of course the aim of such a study is not to prove that the

topics are alike in formulaic composition, diverging only in the value of their component

criteria; if any value is to be gleaned by such an undertaking it is simply via the shedding of

light upon both sides of the comparison, not solely as they stand in relation to the other, but as

separate, autonomous entities as well.

As for the form of this paper, sometimes the breaching of a particular topic might

digress in such a way as to connect to a tangential aspect pertinent to one side of our

comparison. This, at least in this case, would be quite difficult to avoid. This study, like many

studies of a comparative nature, is an artificial construct, thereby implying, even under ideal

circumstances, a certain degree of topical expository imbalance. This obstacle, while by no

means unconquerable, is to some extent exacerbated by the nature of our subjects.

As stated above, this paper will explore the music of Java and ancient China. To be

1
more specific, the gamelan music of central Java and the classical music (Ya Yüeh) of China,

primarily from the Chou through the Han dynasties. This Chinese music is somewhat

problematic for the scholar for the simple (if somewhat ironic) reason that we are not

completely sure what this music sounded like. While there is no shortage of printed scores

and writings on music, many of which go back well over 2,000 years, it is rare to find a

description of the music itself but rather a study of the philosophical, moral or political

ramifications of the music or its performance. Fortunately, great scholarship has unearthed

much of the music of this period and, as a result, we have something that is believed to be a

fair representation of this ancient music.

Any discussion of a foreign music would wisely aver, for the benefit of the uninitiated

(and the reminder of all others) that the value of such a discussion relies upon the awareness

and understanding of the cultural role implicit in the import of such music. This discussion

will follow this maxim. We must keep in mind that all "musical events are profoundly culture

bound"1 and thus the failure to dissociate the referents from our cultural criteria, in as much as

this is possible, promotes a failure to understand anything substantial about the music of

others. Judith Becker writes: "There is not an abstract 'universe of music' which becomes

manifest in different ways in different cultures, and the term music is a rather sloppy cover

term applied to acoustic phenomena which are the result of any number of different mental

processes and conceptualizations."2 Arthur Waley puts it another way. In his introduction to

1
Becker, Judith, "Hindu-Buddhist Time in Javanese Gamelan Music" (May, L919) , p.1.
2
Becker, Judith, "Time and Tune in Java", University of Michigan Press.
2
the "Analects of Confucius", Waley boldly juxtaposes the Eastern and western concepts of

music. He says,

"Our view of music as an agreeable arrangement of sounds, listened to solely

for enjoyment, and of dancing as a means of social distraction combined with
mild bodily exercise, is a very abnormal one...Music in the view not only of
primitives but in that of almost all non-European peoples, exercises a magic
power not only over the heart of man, but also over the forces of nature."3

While Waley's view might reflect a biased naiveté regarding Western music, the distinction of

the roles of music as they function in the East and West should be clear enough.

If we are prepared to accept the necessity of a cultural context for the study of musics

outside of our own, we are then prepared, at least in our case concerning China and Java, to be

bombarded by a plethora of fascinating philosophical entities. When discussing the musics of

ancient China and Java, whether its temporal characteristics or otherwise, it will necessitate

the discussion of their natural worlds, religions, cosmologies, numerologies, as well as their

contentions about how music is learned, played, composed and received by the listener.

When we listen to any music, what do we perceive of its utilization of time? Although

it would be difficult (or impossible) to deny that music must exist in time, what does that

statement mean and how can it inform us? Let us consider the different temporal arrays in

which music may be organized. Judith Becker, in her paper “Hindu-Buddhist Time in

Javanese Gamelan Music,” speaks of the different forms of time in which music can exist: A

piece can exhibit linear time, thereby displaying a “thrust” from beginning to end; a piece can

exhibit cyclic time, such as (her example) the blues form, whereby a musical passage is

3
The Analects of Confucius, Translated and annotated by Arthur Waley, NY: Vintage Press,
1938, p.68
3
defined by limited amount of material, in the case of the blues by its durational/numeric

material, and repeated ad libitum. Regarding such a schemata Becker writers, “Repetition of

one element which changes in another element is a fairly universal way of structuring musical

events.”4 She also makes the distinction between teleological and non-teleological time, i.e.,

music that is driven towards a final goal or a music where the dichotomy of means and ends is

less paralleled by a piece’s linear development.

When we discuss ancient Chinese music we will be discussing music primarily of the

Chou (1125 – 255 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) dynasties. Unfortunately, despite the

apparent extreme specificity with respect to chronologic periods, we are still dealing with a

period of about 1,300 years long that existed over 1,750 years ago. Javanese gamelan exists

today and is believed to be a fairly accurate demonstration of a gradual and “logical”

extension of its primal forms, i.e., a living tradition! Ancient Chinese music is more akin to

the historical relic; we are due privy to it less by the contemporary practicing culture than by

the hard work of historians, archaeologists and scholars. What we have been able to salvage

has shown us the varied positions that music has occupied in society as influenced by the

philosophic and scientific climates that existed through the ages. As for philosophies, it was

the Chou dynasty that gave rise to both Taoism and Confucianism. Each held a different

place for music.

“As soon as distinct philosophical schools emerge, we can detect a divergence

of interest in music. The early Confucian texts concentrated on the function of
music as an educational and cultivational device, an instrument and a metaphor
for order in society, a means of self-expression in harmony with the whole, and
a matrix of ritual practices that order human interactions and the interactions

4
Becker, “Hindu-Buddhist Time in Javanese Gamelan Music,” pp. 3-4.
4
 between humans and spirits. The Taoist texts, on the other hand, concentrate
on the absolute qualities of music as a natural phenomenon, the music of the
winds, the earth and the heavens, and the process by which man plays his part
in the score of the great natural symphony.”5

While music plays an important inter-relational role within the cultures of China and

Java, the scope of these roles is very different. While one might be inclined to say that the

role of Chinese music has greater scope on its culture, let us, at least for the time being,

content ourselves with the notion that the difference is not one of quality or quantity. The

difference is one of essence. Consider the following quotation from the Yüeh chi:

“Therefore when music goes forth:

Orderly relations are clear,
The ears are sharp, the eyes bright,
Hsüeh is in harmony, the ch’I is balanced.
Transforming ways and refining customs,
Music brings peace to all in the world.”6

This passage should give us a foreshadowing of what we will encounter when we

delve more deeply into the Chinese manifestations of musical meaning. Javanese gamelan

music, despite the predominance of the Islamic faith since the 14th century, takes root in

ancient Hindu-Buddhist religious beliefs. It is inextricably bound to the notion of time, (more

so than Chinese music, I would say), that is, time as a general and as a philosophic concept.

This duality of the perception of time can be seen in the assertion that “time is believed to be

the illusion of the phenomenal world.”7 The role of the music of the gamelan is to suspend

the interplay of time, thereby allowing for transcendence, the transcendence of the

phenomenal world, i.e., enlightenment. “For the Buddhist, timelessness is possible at any

5
DeWoskin, Kenneth, “Philosophies on Music in Early China,” p. 36.
6
DeWoskin, Kenneth, A Song for One or Two, Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies,
University of Michigan, 1982, preface.
7
Becker, “Hindu Buddhist Time,” p. 7.
5
moment and comes with the attainment of enlightenment and the release from the time-bound

cycles of birth and death.”8 From the preceding, we should be able to further differentiate

between musics, in this case as they start to involve the philosophical domain.

To the modern man of the West, it would be logical to see the Yüeh chi quote above as

reflecting a “scientific” outlook. This would be altogether correct, for there is much evidence

documenting the wealth of Chinese scientific developments, many of which go back hundreds

or even thousands of years. It appears today that the Chinese were not only interested in

knowledge but knowledge of an interrelated, encyclopedic nature. While it may have been

the Buddhist’s goal to transcend reality by leaving behind the illusory-phenomenal domain,

“transcendence” for the ancient Chinese was realized by the understanding of the all-

patterned, all complimentary universe, where “the Ten-Thousand Things”9 were in some way

linked together by some particular relationship which could, “in the best of all possible

worlds”10 be observed or divined.

While this might seem all well and good, it might, at this point in our discussion, seem

rather curious why such emphasis concerning the manifold and complex nature of the

universe should have such import in a paper concerned with music. If this does seem like a

cogent objection then we must remind ourselves of the words of Waley concerning the nature

of music. For indeed it was music that served the ancient Chinese as “the uniter … a kind of

8
Ibid., p. 4.
9
The “Ten Thousand Things” is not to be taken literally. It is a Chinese metaphor for the all-
encompassing universe.
10
This is a reference to the incongruous Western philosophy of Leibniz. I couldn’t resist.
6
intellectual ‘philosopher’s stone’.”11 It was believed that accurate aural perception was of

paramount importance in man’s perception of the world around him. It was essential to the

understanding of other aspects of man and nature. Acute hearing and aural sensitivity was

understood as a metaphor for sagacity and perspicacity.

So then if a sage did in fact have such a great investment in what he understood as

something called “music,” what was this music for him, what composed its essence? For the

Confucianists and many Han thinkers, music’s most important element was pitch. To the

Western musician this may hardly seem noteworthy (no pun intended). Many Western

musicians, composers, theorists, etc., see pitch as the primary element of music. There is,

however, a fundamental difference in the Chinese, Javanese, and Western notions of pitch as

they function as structural elements. For the Chinese, that the pitches were fixed was of the

utmost importance! They were not to be satisfied with an arbitrary pitch with “perfect-

relative-pitch” extrapolations. This is because according to the Chinese music theoreticians,

the entire collection of pitches is a derivation of one seminal pitch. The name of this pitch is

the huang chung, which means “golden bell.” The ancients did not believe that they were an

artificial construct but in fact the mediating force through which they could understand their

world. “The fact that the 12 pitches were inherent in nature was important. The sage did not

create them; he discovered them. Then he found a system by which to make them explicitly

and useful to mankind.”12

11
DeWoskin, A Song for One or Two, p. 31.
12
Ibid., p. 60.
7
 The idea of pitch precision, (with respect to a fixed number of vibrations per second)

is absent in Javanese gamelan/music theory. Musical instruments were imbued with a magic

power and, consequently, there arose great superstition concerning the gongs, the most

ancient of gamelan instruments. Borne of this superstition was the Javanese tradition that

ruled that the ancient sacred gamelan sets could not be copied. Alas the lack of fixed pitch

standardization among gamelans. Another reason for the omnipresent variance in gamelan

tuning is the Javanese musicians’ recognition and appreciation of the subtle differences in

gamelan tuning. These musicians have become aware of the fact that some pieces and patets

will sound different (or better?) on particular gamelans.

“According to Javanese tradition, the god Sany Hyang Guru ruled, in the
beginning, as King of all Java, in the kraton at the summit of Maedra mountain
in Mudang Kamulan. This mountain, which is now called Mount Lauri,
marked the boundary between the kingdom of Suradarta and Madiun. The god
Guru needed a signal by which he could summon all the gods together, so he
made a gong tuned to a certain pitch. As the different messages beat on the
gong became more complicated, he made a second gong, tuned to another
pitch. In time he made a third to simplify matters further, and three tones of
the original gamelan set, named Lokanata, or Lokananta (literally ‘King of the
World’) were formed from the three pitches of the gongs. This gamelan set
was supposed to have been created in the Javanese year 167 (circa 230 A.D.).13

We mentioned before the importance of the status of the huang chung and its lü

derivations as something inherent in the natural order of the universe. Thus it seems more

akin to scientific fact in contradistinction to the gong tones which seem to be enchanted

mystical phenomena. “The sound of the gong is not an acoustic phenomenon of vibrating air,

but a voice. All the forces operating beyond and behind the visible world find ways to speak

13
Lindsay, Jennifer, Javanese Gamelan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 4.
8
to man. In Java, gongs are the favored way.”14 “Because of this special function, gongs are

highly respected and feared.”15

As we progress along the path of this ethnomusicological enquiry we encounter

something that becomes a problem with respect to nomenclature. Let us for now, to facilitate

our basic grasp of the problem at hand, label this entity, the “supernatural.” We shall now see

that this “supernatural” element of our two musics takes on two very different guises, at least

with respect to our Western tools of analysis and classification. Regarding the role of music

for the Javanese, let us (as Kunst does) talk about music’s incarnation as magic. The

following is a quote from Kunst’s “Music in Java.” Despite its length it appears because it

not only pertains to the music of Java, the subject of Kunst’s book, but also sheds comparative

light on the other side of our study.

“For, music is, originally, pure magic, ‘incantation’; a song is nothing but a
magic formula in melody, whose effect, however, will by the exact opposite of
what is intended, if it is not performed perfectly truly and on the right pitch.
This magical character of music is prominent even on the highest cultural
levels; we need only remind the reader of the twofold meaning of the Latin
word Carmen, i.e., song and magic formula (hence the English and French
word charm(e)s = amulets), and of the fact, that the French word enchanter
and the English nouns enchantment and incantation, are derived from the Latin
incantatus, that is: treated, fascinated, bewitched by a cantus, a song.
“We may remark in this connection that one of the first things to which each
succeeding Chinese dynasty always devoted especial care was to calculate, all
over again and in the most meticulous manner, the length of the huang chung
tube, from which the basic note of the tonal system was derived (and upon
which the metrological system was based, too), in order that music might
henceforth become the saving grace of the ruling dynasty, instead of the being
the cause of its ruin, as had been the case with its predecessor. In

14
Becker, Judith, Traditional Music in Modern Java, Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii,
1980, p.1.
15
Ibid., p. 4.
9
 Bougainville, one of the Soloman islands, the pitches of the sacred panpipes
are transferred each year, in solemn fashion, to the accompaniment of a
ceremonial dance, to a small number of newly-manufactured instruments. The
same in Java. There, too, the scale of certain gamelans was – and even is to
this day – considered desirable and worthy of being imitated,16 above the
others, as, for example, that of the very old gamelan slendro Layem of the
Regent of Tasikmalaya, and of one of the two three-toned gamelans Munggang
of the Susuhunan of Solo, which are probably much older still.”17

For Java and China, music clearly serves to penetrate beyond the realm of rational,

everyday existence. But the media by which this process takes place are quite different in

nature. Both postulate the interrelation of a speculative element with a known element, but

this duality is centered upon very different axes. For the Chinese, music, as it relates to time

and many other aspects, is the key to a correlative theoretical system. By this is meant a way

to provide a holistic portrait of the world with everything being interrelated via a common

core. Throughout the classical period, the nature of the correlation theory embraced an

extremely broad and varied gamut of correlates. Perhaps music was adopted as the cosmic

medium because of its primacy of intellectual consideration;

“… of all art forms, it was considered to be the most direct manifestation of the
universal life force, or ch’i. Music may be defined as moving, patterned
sound, and sound was believed to be the ground of being, since all things were
thought to resonate in an eternally flowing current of sound. This sound
current was also characterized as the breath (ch’i) or energy of life which
pervades the universe as spirit, its vitality resonating as audible (perceived) or
inaudible (silent or unperceived) sound. In other words, music is perceived as
a model of the way in which diverse parts may fit into an orderly whole. This
‘fit’ is expressed in the word ‘harmony,’ in both its musical and extended
metaphoric uses. As an actual instrument and as a metaphor, music is a useful
link between men and men, men and spirits, and men and nature.”18

16
I realize this contradicts Becker. Who is right?
17
Kunst, Jaap, Music in Java, The Hague: Martinus Nishoff, 1949, p. 48.
18
Bong-Ray Lin, Marjory, “Aesthetic Principles in Chinese Music,” p. 21.
10
 As we will soon see, the extent to which the Chinese went to incorporate music into

their scientific schemes may seem quite extreme, or even bizarre. It will be presented in, what

is hoped to be, a fair, unbiased, historical/musicological tone. Here is an example of a

critique embracing a different attitude: “… the mystical belief that chronology and

numerology had something in common with the music system led them to follow a course by

which endless and futile pursuits were made to reconcile the 12 months of the year and other

chronological numbers with the 12 tones in the traditional system.”19 Whether we view this

with objectivity or not, we will still see the Chinese use of music, and pitch in particular, as a

form of a cosmic dowsing rod. “A particular pitch had associated with it a length, numbers,

volume, a season and hour, a direction, a flavor, a color, smell, shape and feel, a sensory

system, an internal physiological system, a star – in short, one of the 5 phases and all its

correspondents.”20

For the Javanese, music was less a tool that gave rise to increased knowledge as it was

a bridge joining the spirit of mortal man with the realm of the cosmic universe, thereby

separating it from the illusory phenomenal world, i.e., enlightenment. This process takes

place in, and is reliant upon, the Hindu-Buddhist notion of time. Although Javanese gamelan

music must exist in time and may allow the listener to alter his perception of the passing of

time, it is this music that, more importantly, exists as a model of time.

19
Lai, T.C. and Mok, Robert, Jade Flute: The Story of Chinese Music, New York: Shocken
Books, 1981, p. 25.
20
DeWoskin, A Song for One or Two, p. 167.
11
 Time, as it functions both in and outside of music of Java cannot be understood

without realizing that it is based upon the concept of cyclicity. The cycles of which this is

composed are not of a dimension that can be perceived by mortal beings (e.g., an hour, day,

year, 12 bars, etc.) but cycles whose extreme durations clearly imply a super-human

dimension. The cycles are metaphorically represented in the Indian-originated myth of the

dreaming Vishnu:

“The god Brahma sits on a lotus, which emerges from the body of the sleeping
god Vishnu. At Vishnu’s feet sits his wife Laksmi. Brahma, Vishnu and
Laksmi are all floating on a raft-like couch which is actually the body of a
mythical snake, suspended in the middle of an endless cosmic ocean. Laksmi
strokes her husband’s leg, he dreams and from his dreaming emerges the lotus,
from which the god Brahma appears.
Every day of a Brahma lifetime (100 Brahma years) the god slowly opens and
closes his eyes 1,000 times. Each time they open, a universe appears, which
dies away again as Brahma lowers his eyelids. The opening of Brahma’s eyes
creates a universe of four declining stages, after which the universe fades again
into nothingness.
At the close of each Brahma lifetime (approximately 311,040,000,000,000
human years) Brahma and the lotus and the sequence of universes dissolve
again into the body of the dreamer.”21

The length of cyclic units is an example of the philosophic and cultural doctrine whose

aim is to de-emphasize the importance of the ego-individual. “The kind of time of the

dreaming Vishnu unambiguously belittles the role of the individual.”22

While the Chinese correlative theory may seem as speculative, its inherent

speculations reflect a concern, thus a faith, in the ability of music to have a more immediate

21
Becker, “Hindu-Buddhist Time,” pp. 7-8.
22
Ibid. p. 13.
12
effect on mankind. Whereas for the Javanese, “causation is far beyond the human realm,”23

the Chinese believed that, ultimately, upon correct mastery of the musical elements, they

could profoundly affect their understanding of the workings of nature. As we have already

stated, the absolute genesis of this music theory is the huang chung (golden bell) and its

absolutely precise fixed length, and therefore fixed pitch. From this huang chung were

generated 11 others pitches (lü) based on the 3:2 algorithm of overblown fifths.24 From this

generative cycle of 12 pitches the first five were chosen as the basic tonal materials. The

names of these 5 tones were: kung, shang, chiao, chih and yü, which if we assign the first,

kung, to the pitch f, it may be represented as such:

To anyone familiar with Asian music, this tonal arsenal should not come as a surprise.

These “5 tones” are, what we in the West call the “pentatonic scale.” Although we have

already emphasized the importance of the fixed and precise measurement of the huang chung

pitch, the 5 tones do not, in themselves, represent fixed pitches but only a fixed interval

structure, a system akin to our movable-do system. The kung tone of the 5 tones was,

however, combined with one of the fixed 12 pitches (lü) to then provide a system of 5 tones

whose pitches were fixed. By such a combination, “mode keys” were constructed. Such a

23
Ibid.
24
Most books on Chinese music will explain this in great, if not conflicting detail.
13
scale construction may be thought of as the Chinese corollary to the Western “(F) pentatonic

scale.”

With the 12 lü and the 5 tones we begin to see concrete evidence of the Chinese

penchant for building systems of regularity. These pitch and tone systems had a dual nature.

First, they were used in a concrete manner that involved their actual acoustical properties.

This includes the theoretical and physical basis for the construction of both musical

compositions and the instruments that performed them. Second, these pitch and tone system

were used as the basis for abstract numerological correlative systems. For both types of

correlative systems the numbers 5 and 12 are of great importance. Perhaps no other area was

more essential to the correlative theory than that of time.

Music’s most obvious and concretely apprehensible relationship to time is its

application, often connected with rituals, on specific days or parts of the day. Kunst, although

describing time as it relates to Javanese mysticism, seems to betray a Taoist influence as well.

He writes, “In the silence of the night Nature has, for the Eastern mystic, its own peculiar

sounds. Whoever is accustomed to hearken to these sounds needs no chronometer to tell him

the time.”25 For the Javanese, choice of patet is tightly connected to time of day. Not only are

there mode-prescriptions for various parts of the day or evening (as in the lengthy overnight

wayang kulit performances), but there are even traditional restrictions against the playing of

pieces in certain des at certain times of the day or night.

The Analects tell us, “The Master said, In the morning, hear the way, in the evening,

25
Kunst, p. 77.
14
die content.”26 While this may not represent a specific time prescription for music, it at least

informs us of the Confucian ritualistic role of music with respect to a daily division. Similar

to the Javanese, days of Chinese ritual music performances would also correspond to certain

mode key prescriptions. “The Programs of Chou allows only 8 of the possible 60 mode keys

in prescribing those to be used at the most important ritual functions: the winter solstice, the

summer solstice and ancestral sacrifices. According to a Sung record of music lore, during

the Sui dynasty (AD 589-618) ceremonial music was performed in only a single mode key:

the kung huang.”27 “The temporal dimension of music was important for the cosmos-music-

mind correspondences that early Chinese thinkers sought to define.”28 This is perhaps

something of an understatement; over the centuries voluminous efforts to reconcile the

numbers with a temporal-dimension aspect were made. Malm writes, “The 12 tones

themselves were supposedly created in order to provide a cosmologically correct hung tone

for the proper scale to be used in each of the 12 months or 12 hours.” This corresponds to the

utilization and transposition of mode keys, with a different “tonic” (as a Westerner might

understand it) for each year or day division. “The 5 tones, in turn, were connected with the 5

directions, the 5 elements …”29 What Malm means by the 5 elements is, what Chinese

philosophers called, the 5 phases. These 5 phases were wood, fire, earth, metal and water. As

the Chinese scale system was complete with its 5 tones, so was its correlation to all of the

elements, which composed the world. The sounds, as they existed in the form of 12 fixed

26
Analects, IV, 8.
27
DeWoskin, A Song for One or Two, p. 49.
28
Ibid., p. 14.
29
Malm, William, Musical Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia, Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall, 1967, p. 149.
15
pitches, and 5 scale positions, functioned as standards in relation to time – time whose other

important increment of measure was the year. “The yellow bell was fixed at the winter

solstice, establishing a permanent relationship between the 12 pitches and time as marked by

the cosmic clock.”30 Huan T’an, an early Han philosopher wrote, “Each of the 5 tones follows

its own direction – spring corresponds with chiao, summer with chih, autumn with shang,

winter with yü, and kung stays in the center, uniting the four seasons of the year.”31

Time, as it is approached by the Chinese musical system, is confronted in a scientific,

realistic manner. Not only did the Chinese believe in the effectiveness of their efforts, but the

proportions of their subject were humanistic. What we have described as correlative theory

has been aptly titled. This is because such processes do not so much attempt to transcend

their world via a musical device as much as they try to unify and interrelate the elements of

their world. If we accept this correlative nature of the Chinese musical “magic,” then it seems

perfectly logical to view the nature of its Javanese corollary as representative; that is to say,

an earthly entity created and utilized to represent another dimension or plane of existence.

We have already introduced the concept of cyclicity and its indispensability to the

music of Java. This, of course, probably means very little to anyone not well acquainted with

the music of the gamelan or its theoretical framework. Javanese gamelan music can be

understood as the musical representation of the Hindu-Buddhist doctrine of time, which is

composed of infinitely recurring, immensely large cycles. Cycles, which, as was previously

mentioned, not only transcend the realm of human-lifetime limits but even the limits of

30
DeWoskin, A Song for One or Two, p. 14.
31
Ibid., p. 69.
16
practical human time conception. Among the beauties of the music-theoretical framework is

how clearly and easily its actual musical/acoustic manifestations can be heard and understood.

If we listen to a central Javanese gendhing, what will we hear? In addition to a delightful,

hovering melody (granted, subjective adjectival usage!) and drumming (the purpose of which

in no way is to be thought of as subsidiary in importance), we will hear an entire array of

different instruments, which serve to mark time by sub-dividing the gongan. These

instruments are the gong, kenong, kempul, and kethuk. Perhaps the best Western cor0ollary to

gongan (used here strictly as a heuristic device) would be period. Just as periods are built of

phrases and form the structure of a Western composition, so does a gongan function in a

Javanese gendhing (in as much as such a correlation is possible given the inter-cultural

domain, of course). Were we to examine the periodicity of these time marking instruments,

we would have a clear representation of the “binariness,” which is such an important factor of

Javanese music, in conjunction with its cyclic character. We would see that the gong which

sounds once per cycle (hence the name of the cycle: gongan) is subdivided by the other

colotomic instruments; i.e., into halves by the kenong, quarters by the kempul which

subdivides the kenong’s phrases, and eighths by the kethuk which subdivides the kenong and

kempul phrases. Within a gongan we see the concurrent action of many different polyphonic

layers, or stratified polyphony, as it is often called. If we are to understand the nature of time

as it manifests itself in music we must first digress and, briefly, examine the system of

calendrics as it exists for the Javanese. While this may seem to be an improbably tack, we

will see that calendrics not only affect the Javanese conception of time, but such systems have

a mutual-symbiotic relationship with gamelan-time organization.

17
 In Java there are many different calendrical weeks, which occur concurrently. The

most prominent are the 5 and 7 day weeks.32 If the days of these two weeks are coupled (like

the names of the lü and the 5 tones, to produce mode-keys) then, alas, the creation of 35

separate possible days. This cycle, which is actually the product of 2 cycles running

concurrently, forms the “month.” “Important days are reckoned as those points of

coincidence between the different, continuously ongoing cycles.”33 Just as time is structured

by the relationship of concurrent cycles, so is the music. “The organization of time as cyclical

units with smaller moving within larger cycles and with points of cycle coincidence marking

important moments of time is also the basis of the organization of the music system.”34 By

such musical organization, the representation of the structure of time is achieved. “The

important structural points in gamelan music are those points at which several horizontal lines

come together on the same note. The greater the number of horizontal lines which coincide at

one point, the more important is that point in the formal structure.”35 The gong that occurs

only once per cycle, and from whose periodicity all others are derived is the marker of the

convergence of all strata. Because of this the precision of the gong’s occurrence is extremely

crucial. Were the musician to miss a gong-tone, it would, in essence, devalue the cyclic

stratification that composes a gongan. The ramifications of the gongan execution are

formidable as the gongan is a portrayal of a cosmic cycle! Javanese calendrical time is

32
There are also 6, 7, 8, and 9-day “week” cycles but, as this is not a paper whose focus is
calendrics, I will concentrate on what seems to be the most relevant.
33
Becker, “Time and Tune in Java”, p. 198.
34
Ibid., p. 200.
35
Becker, Traditional Music in Modern Java, p. 28.
18
pulsative, that is “reckoned by the distance between points of coincidence of 2 calendrical

cycles,”36 as opposed to our concept of time, which is spatial.

From the examination of the ensemble organization of the gamelan we have gained

insight into the music’s temporal-philosophic dimension. For the music of China we have

seen how pitch organization relates to activities concerning time. Melody, however, informs

us further.

It has been said that poetry is undoubtedly the basis of the ancient musical art of

China.37 Within Chinese music it is melody (as opposed to harmony or rhythm) that is its

most important aspect. It has also been asserted that “Chinese melody is more strongly

related to language than is the case with any other melodic system.”38 As Chinese is a tonal

language, the precision of specific vocal inflection is essential. Such prescriptions carried

over into sung poetry (song) and instrumental music, which was based on poetry as well. For

music as well as poetry a system of neumes evolved. These neumes, in their simplest form,

were melodic patterns of 2 notes that either ascended, descended, or stayed at level pitch.

There were also modifications based on the manipulations of consonants. The formulaic

arrangement of the neumes was of such importance that it served as the framework of the

composition of a piece:

“The Ch’u Lu, for instance, states that ‘the five tones must be matched (or
harmonized) with the 4 neumes. If the 4 neumes are incorrect, then the 5 tones
are useless. Level, rising and falling and modified movements must be correct,

36
Ibid.
37
Levis, John, Foundations of Chinese Musical Art, New York: Paragon Book Reprint
Company, 1963, p. vii.
38
Ibid., p. 3.
19
 each must be in its right place. If you substitute rising for level or falling for
modified movements, then it makes no music at all.’”39

Were we to analyze the neume structure of a piece of music40 we would discern a

characteristic of the music and thus be able to make an important distinction with respect to

time and its Javanese counterpart. Whereas rhythm in Javanese music manifests itself in

cyclic form, the rhythm of Chinese music is linear. While we may or may not feel driven

towards what follows by what precedes (I find much of Chinese music static and hovering),

we can still say that there is an absence of a palette of actions that is repeated. As the building

blocks of Javanese gongan are participants in a divisive formulaic scheme, where colotomic

elements are interrelated by binary subdivision, Chinese melodic schemes represent and

additive process, where in the accumulation of neumes propels the music from point A to

point B.

Poetry also plays a role in ancient Javanese gamelan music. The melodies for these

ancient pieces were “based on the melodic patterns of the classical Javanese poetry called

Kidung (poems in the old Javanese language called Kawi).41 “To the Javanese, singing and

poetry are one and the same thing; poems are always recited in sung form.” “The strophes

which are sung couple with the strict rules of poetic construction.”42 Similar to the

importance of the organization of neumes in Chinese music, is the compositional process as it

incorporates the principles of binariness and cyclicity. “Binariness is a quality of Javanese

space as well as a principle of organization of things great and small. Cyclicity is a quality of

39
Ibid., p. 57.
40
Levis does this in extensive detail in his book.
41
Lindsay, p. 4.
42
Kunst, p. 122.
20
Javanese time. Both combine in gamelan music to produce musical cycles divided binarily.”43

A musician’s training begins with the study of process, not fixed content; for these processes

escape no aspect of gamelan. “From the lower density parts of the slenthem, to the melodic

patterns that combine to create the Saron barung part, to the high density parts of the gender

of celempung, every aspect of gamelan music is formulaic.”44 Melodic treatment is no

exception, as “the basis of pitch differentiation [serves] as a redundant marker of cycle

subdivision level.”45 In every gendhing there is a main theme or melody. In addition to the

colotomic instruments and the sarons, there are other instruments which play variations on

this them, thus a heterophonic treatment of the theme. Two interrelated devices will

demonstrate the melodic role in binary cycle subdivision. They are the pancher and imbal.

While these devices are not present in all gendhing they serve as a fine example of the

subdivision process, which manifests itself in the melodic dimension. From the example

below46 we have the following theme from which the pancher and imbal are derived:

“The following fragment, an extract from the gendhing Genjong, provides an example of

pancher and imbal. The transcription follows the Jogya kraton notation. On the upper staves,

the minim with the stems downward represent the nuclear theme, and those with the stem

upwards the pancher; in the imbal-part, the crotchets with the stem upwards represent the

43
Becker, “Time and Tune in Java,” p. 203.
44
Becker, Traditional Music in Modern Java, p. 20.
45
Becker, “Time and Tune in Java,” p. 206.
46
From Kunst, p. 170.
21
gawé, and those with the stem downwards the ngintil. Further, T stands for ketuk-beat; W =

wela, for the missing of a colotomic beat; N for kenong-beat; b, d, and t, respectively, for the

drum-beats bem, dungdung and tepak.”47

(See appendix for score excerpt)

The pancher, meaning literally: pole used to mark out part of a field, is a tone that is

played between the tones of this nuclear theme. It is always a single tone repeated quite often.

In this example it is the note d’’ and is played by the saron barung, staves up. It is employed

so

“the impression is created that this nuclear theme is, as it were, curled like a
festoon around a fixed pivot, or, to put it another way, hanging upon a straight
line.”48 “Now this manner of playing with pancher on the saron barung is
nearly always accompanied by imbal, (literally: to repeat) on the demung.
This imbal is a method of playing in which the nuclear them is played by one
of the niyaga’s ‘broken up’ into half values (say, two crotchets for every
minim), what time another player beats alternatively with the first, but in such
a way that his tones, each of which comes between two of his colleague’s, are
always one step lower than the nuclear theme tone immediately preceding it.”49

What is the ultimate goal of music? Just as the origins of music reflect the nature of

the culture that produced the music, so are the purposes of that music also a reflection of that

culture. With respect to music’s purpose, for the Chinese, the divisions between Confucian

and Han doctrines is quite pronounced. Although we have seen the profound connection

between art and philosophy in both sides of our examination, perhaps the distinction between

musician and philosopher is especially blurred during the Han dynasty. Music was a

47
Ibid., p. 170.
48
Ibid., p. 168.
49
Ibid., p. 170.
22
scientific talisman that could make the diverse elements of the world comprehensible and

malleable. In this vein we should see music as a conductor of pantheistic doctrine; in theory,

practically any element under the sun could be understood, if not controlled by correct

manipulation of the musical materials.

For Confucius, music was no less important although his utilization of it differed

greatly from that of the Han. For him, music is to be used in connection with ritual and

education. Although his musical attitudes lack the extensive scientific rigor of the Han

period, we cannot underestimate his faith in the importance of music’s role in one’s moral

development. He said, “At 15 I established my will to learn. At 30 I stood on firm ground.

At 40 I lost all doubt and at 50 I knew the mandate of heaven. At 60 my ear was attuned.

And at seventy, to be decorous was to obey the dictates of my heart. I could never breach the

rules.”50 From this statement we can infer music’s importance, not as the rootstock but as the

fruit of spiritual growth.

Implicit in ancient Chinese civilization is a clear awareness of selfhood. In both the

ritualistic, morality-conscious Confucian tradition or the scientific, pantheistic culture of the

Han, the collective consciousness is always content in its firm footing on Earth. For the

Chinese, if there was something akin to transcendence it was not in the form of a radical

departure from the phenomenal into the noumenal realm. Although by the late Han,

philosophers had posited the “Grand Mystery,” something akin to the noumena as put forth by

Kant, their attitude concerning it resembled an earlier, Eastern prototype of Western logical

50
Analects, II, 4.
23
positivism. This is exemplified in the Analects: “Tzu-kung said, Our Master’s views

concerning culture and the outward insignia of goodness, we are permitted to hear; but of

Man’s nature and the ways of heaven he will not tell us anything at all.”51

Music for the Javanese has an opposite focus. It strives to transform the consciousness

of the self into something at one with the collective cosmic realm. In striving to achieve a

state of nirvana the niyaga strives to attune himself with the universe. This can be seen by

something as basic as the ensemble formation of the gamelan itself. Solo instrumental music

in Java is uncommon and even “soloistic” displays within the ensemble are, with the

exception of introductory passages, rare. In gamelan music the emphasis is on personal

humility. Such subjugation of the ego is perfectly congruent with the temporal/calendric

notion implicit to a multilevel-cycle of correspondence. “The aim of the ensemble is for no

single musical line to stand out.”52 Through such playing, gamelan truly does achieve a

spiritual and temporal effect quite distinct from that of Western music. We will end our

discussion with two impressions, one from Kunst, the other from J.S. Brandts Buys (quoted in

Kunst):

“Javanese music … maybe best characterized as ‘time become sound’; it is

‘aimless’ in the better sense of the word; it renders a state or a condition; it is
not becoming but being. If we wished to describe this difference by means of
a single adjective, we might say that Javanese music is static, and modern
European, dynamic.”53

“The gamelan gilds the time. The hours forget their usual course. The
quarters shrink to golden minutes; minutes seem like blissful hours. Now in its

51
Ibid., V, 12.
52
Becker, “Hindu-Buddhist Time,” p. 14.
53
Kunst, p. 120.
24
 softer moments, the music sounds as if I heard angels sing, now, when at half
strength, as if I heard angels sing, now when at half strength, as if I heard all
the chimes in heaven. And then again, in the fullness of its might power, it is
as if a storm of bronze thunders through my temples.”54

54
Ibid., p. 249.
25
 APPENDIX

Excerpt from Kunst:

26
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Becker, Judith. “Hindu-Buddhist Time in Javanese Gamelan Music.” Paper given at some
conference; I know not where.

Becker, Judith. “Time and Tune in Java.” Xeroxed (fair use?) from an ethnological journal
whose title has escaped me.

Becker, Judith. Traditional Music in Modern Java. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii,
1980.

Bong-Ray Liu, Marjory. “Aesthetic Principles in Chinese Music.” Journal of the

International Institute for Comparative Musical Studies and Documentation (Berlin) in
Associate with the International Music Council (UNESCO), Vol. XXVII. No. 1, 1985.

DeWoskin, Kenneth. “Philosophers on Music in Early China” Journal of the International

Institute for Comparative Musical Studies and Documentation (Berlin) in Association with the
International Music Council (UNESCO), Vol. XXVII. No. 1, 1985.

DeWoskin, Kenneth. A Song for One or Two. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies,
University of Michigan, 1982.

Kunst, Jaap. Music in Java. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1949.

Lai, T.C. and Mok, Robert. Jade Flute: The Story of Chinese Music. New York: Shocken
Books, 1981.

Levis, John. Foundations of Chinese Musical Art. New York: Paragon Book Reprint
Company, 1963.

Lindsay, Jennifer. Javanese Gamelan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.

Malm, William. Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia. Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall, 1967.

Waley, Arthur, trans. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Vintage Press, 1938.

27