Mode in Javanese Music — (1987)

By Susan Pratt Walton

One of the most controversial aspects of Javanese gamelan music is its musical mode, pathet. From her experience as a performer of sindhenan, or female singing, Walton analyses the melodies and defines the basic laws of mode for sindhenan. She explains more convincingly than previous authors how two systems of mode operate simultaneously in gamelan music to enhance its aesthetic appeal.