The sounds of gamelan instruments were first heard in the US at the Chicago Exposition in 1893, and it’s close to 100 years since Indonesia’s rich musical heritage was introduced to the West through the pioneering research of American ethnomusicologist and composer Colin McPhee and others. Since then, many generations of American composers – from Lou Harrison, John Cage, Barbara Benary and Paul Dresher to Jody Diamond, Michael Tenzer, Wayne Vitale, Evan Ziporyn and others recently associated with the so-called American (or Global) Gamelan movement – have done much to integrate both traditions in various ways.

Born in 1987, California-based composer Brian Baumbusch belongs to a new generation of musicians whose experiences of gamelan music, its sounds and traditions, have largely evolved alongside (and in parallel with) their knowledge and understanding of Western music and culture. This symbiotic relationship has resulted in a far more integrated synthesis between East and West.

Composed for two separate sets of ‘American gamelan’ instruments designed and built by Baumbusch, Prisms for Gene Davis is divided into nine short, uninterrupted movements and culminates in the dizzying multilayered complexity of the final movement. Rich in modal invention, polyrhythmic variety, tempo changes and instrumental layers and contrasts, this impressive work demonstrates the extent to which both traditions have now become indissolubly linked.

The Jack Quartet are in excellent form throughout the Three Elements for String Quartet (2016). An exploration of complex polytempo structures and combinations, the first movement’s floating, airborne quality is imparted through sweeping open string-like shapes and curves. The second movement contains crunchy harmonic contrasts, while the third movement’s fast-paced dynamic and linear motion suggests early Philip Glass.

Hydrogen(2)Oxygen combines Baumbusch’s own gamelan-inspired set of instruments (created by the composer for his Lightbulb ensemble, founded in 2013), featuring the Balinese performing ensemble Nata Swara and Jack Quartet in an ambitious work that takes its inspiration from Conlon Nancarrow’s polytempo techniques. The use of more extended time structures in the first two movements imparts a more meandering narrative quality to the music, while the third movement’s more compact and tightly structured design is closer in spirit to Prisms for Gene Davis. With a detailed and informative set of booklet notes by Oscar Smith, ‘Chemistry for Gamelan and String Quartet’ is highly recommended, not only to aficionados of American gamelan music but also to those who are relative newcomers to this exciting and vividly colourful music.