Musical links investigation

In many parts of Asia, there is the presence of pagodas; which are tall towers with multiple eves, and they are mostly used religiously and worshiping functions. Already this is a relationship between Pagodes and Asian features. Pagodes is a piano type of musical culture that mostly demonstrates the influence of Javanese gamelan music. This musical culture starts with an exploration that has a substantial impact from the oriental music. In 1889, Debussy saw a Javanese gamelan ensemble perform in Paris Exposition Universelle, and the experience that he had that day became part of his following years in musical style. It plays as an encore in Western concert performances. In most cases, Udan Mas is a piece that students take in early stages of their learning process.

Udan Mas is also written as Hudan Mas and is plays in a variety of pathet. Similarities between Pagodes and Udan Mas Melody Ostinato and motif There is a similarity when it comes to the use of ostinatos and motifs in both Pagodes and Udan Mas. For example in Pagodes, Debussy has extensively employed the use of motifs, while ostinatos are frequently used in gamelan pieces. One prevalent difference when it comes the use of ostinatos and motifs in Pagodes and Udan Mas is that in Pagodes, the ostinatos and motifs have a wider range. When it comes to Udan Mas, the ostinatos and motifs have a limit of five notes. An advanced application of ostinatos and motifs have been put together by Debussy in contrasting voices together with interweaving counter melodies and accompaniments.

On the other hand, the ostinatos have been used by Debussy solely despite them being in the same instrument. The description shows the two musical cultures; Pagodes and Udan Mas are related in the way they make use melody. From 0:30-0:44 seconds, they are composed of repetitions of rough third intervals and they produce a shimmering effect. Texture Texture is a common element in both Pagodes and Udan Mas. The polyphonic texture is in both Pagodes and Udan Mas. Gamelan music has a crucial element, that is the layering of music-low instrument that is slower, on the other hand, the higher register instruments function at a faster speed. In gamelan music, three groups of instruments are found; punctuating instruments, bolungan instruments, and elaborating instruments.

The instruments that play at a higher rate are bonang, gambang, and kendhang. These instruments play counter-melodies generally on the more upper register. The kendhang elaborates the rhythm at a faster speed. Structure In the introduction The two musical cultures are similar in the way they use gong ageng. As described by Hood, Mantle (185) the gong ageng punctuate the music by striking on the first beat. The tempo of the piece in the coda of Pagodes is recorded in semi-semiquavers ( starts from mm. 80) on the treble. The speed then slows down to end the section (mm. In Udan Mas, the acceleration starts before the coda at 1:17 seconds, and slows down at 1:39 seconds. If the in-depth analysis is made, it can be found that the Pagodes has a more elaborate structure that consists of contrasting sections, sub-headings, and transitions.

As seen in Emory University (2014), these trills create a ringing voice that imitates the rapid third intervals that are found in Udan Mas. The Differences Between Pagodes and Udan Mas When comparing the structure of Pagodes and Udan Mas, it evident that the arrangement of Pagodes is more complicated than that of Udan Mas. The sections of Pagodes are also divided into sub-sections, Pagodes also has bridges and transitions. When looking at Udan Mas, it is seen that it has two gongans that are followed by their repeats. The presence of gongans is because gamelan music has a characteristic of the colotomic structure where the sections are repeated severally with little modifications. These differences make the two musical cultures to have contrasting influences.