description: The ancient, time-honored art form known as wayang kulit (literally, "leather puppet theatre" or "shadow puppet play") is found in many arts of South-East Asia, including the Malay Peninsula. The present book, an ethnomusicological study focusing on the musical sound and its role in thedrama, explores an aspect of wayang kulit hitherto neglected by scholars. Based on interviews and recordings conducted by the author in the villages of Kelantan, as well as on her experience as a student performer in one of the finest and most skilled wayang kulit troupes in Malaysia, the bookbegins with a useful overview of the various types of wayang kulit in Malaysia. It then goes on to discuss the main theatrical conventions, puppet design, performance structure, musical repertoire, orchestral instruments, and characteristic features of the music of wayang kulit Siam , the mostpopular type of Malaysian shadow puppet theatre.
language: English
title: Malaysian Shadow Play and Music: Continuity of an Oral Tradition
titlecomplete: Malaysian Shadow Play and Music: Continuity of an Oral Tradition (South-East Asian Social Science Monographs)
publisher: Oxford University Press