In Java, Leopold Godowsky did not compose a note, but the gamelan music lingered in his ears for weeks, months, years, eventually resulting in his finest work, the Java Suite, fifty minutes of music that can be listened to like a travelogue.
Tobias Borsboom
Godowsky: Java Suite
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About the album
Leopold Godowsky visited Java on a journey through the Far East that began in Japan on October 13, 1922, and ended in Honolulu on May 25, 1923. A trip that took the pianist- composer to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Java and the Philippines.
Japan and China only half pleased him; too crowded, too many people. Only in Java, which with forty million inhabitants he also found a tad too crowded, did he truly fall under the spell of Asia. Everything about the island charmed him: the princely cities of Solo (Surakarta) and Djokja (Yokyakarta), the cratons, the markets, sawas, volcanoes, the sunrise from the rim of the crater of the Bromo, the five hundred Buddha statues on the Borobudur, the wajang puppetry, the oldest district of Batavia, Kota Tua, the gardens of Buitenzorg. But what really overwhelmed him was that he found a highly refined culture that derived its eloquence from an instrument that, like the piano, is a percussion instrument: the gamelan.
In Java, Leopold Godowsky did not compose a note, but the gamelan music lingered in his ears for weeks, months, years, eventually resulting in his finest work, the Java Suite, fifty minutes of music that can be listened to like a travelogue.
Tracklist click to play/pause
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Leopold Godowsky
Java Suite
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Gamelan
4:57
4:57
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Wayang-Purwa, Puppet Shadow Plays
4:32
4:32
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Hari Besaar, The Great Day
5:47
5:47
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Chattering Monkeys at the Sacred Lake of Wendit
2:23
2:23
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Boro Budur in Moonlight
5:25
5:25
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The Bromo Volcano and the Sand Sea at Daybreak
4:34
4:34
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Three Dances: No. 1, Moderato
3:05
3:05
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Three Dances: No. 2, L'istesso Tempo
1:41
1:41
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Three Dances: No. 3, Doppio movimento
2:44
2:44
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The Gardens of Buitenzorg
5:21
5:21
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In the Streets of Old Batavia
4:44
4:44
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In the Kraton
9:00
9:00
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The Ruined Water Castle at Djokja
7:46
7:46
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A Court Pageant in Solo
4:37
4:37
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More information
| Label | TRPTK |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Classical – Romantic (1830-1920) |
| Artist(s) | Tobias Borsboom |
| Composer(s) | Godowsky, Leopold |
| Recording location(s) | Westvestkerk, Schiedam (NL) |
| Recording date(s) | March 2024 |
| Cat. No. | TTK 0130 |
|---|---|
| Release date |
January 31st, 2025 |
Tech specs
| Microphones | Josephson C617 w/ Gefell MK221 capsules (main & height) |
|---|---|
| Microphone preamps | Grace Design m801mk2 |
| AD/DA conversion | Merging Technologies Hapi MkII |
| Recording resolution | DSD 11.2MHz 1bit |
| Mastering resolution | PCM 352.8kHz 64bit |
| Monitoring (recording) | Audeze LCD-X |
| Monitoring (mastering) | Grimm Audio LS1be |
| Cabling | Grimm Audio TPR XLR |
