Experiencing gamelan and exploring the correlation between cultural identity and the conservation and development of traditional music

Javanese gamelan is not only music of the past that has a profound status in Javanese society, but also a music that witnessed and experienced domestic cultural change and western cultural permeation. As a traditional music, today's gamelan retains its significant status and successfully unfolds various cultural activities and cultural communications. The development of gamelan in the contemporary era is of great significance. It is the abundance of gamelan activities and surrounding musical
ambiance that construct people's cultural awareness and cultural identity; conversely, the construction of cultural awareness and identity promotes the inheritance and development of gamelan in the contemporary era. This thesis analyses the reciprocity between gamelan and identity, and takes another traditional music, Sayerho, from China as a case study to explore how the absence of identity may hinder the development of traditional music.