CATEGORY

In the 1930s a young American composer heard some gramophone records of Balinese gamelan music- the clear metallic music of the land that forever changed his life. Writer Colin McPhee lived for the day when he could travel and study the beautiful island, its people, culture, and music. His classic text written in the 1940s remains the only literary narrative of the island by a classically trained musician, and this unique perspective allowed him to immerse himself in the people, and music of his beloved Bali. McPhee's work is a landmark look at Bali's distinctive gamelan tradition, now available again more than 50 years after it was written. Colin McPhee left Bali in 1938 as the threat of World War loomed over the Pacific.