Jambori Rimba
Priscilla McLean
About this work:
A collaboration of three artists, Priscilla and Barton McLean for the music and Hasnul Jamal Saidon for the video, was formed to create an art work involving the oldest rainforest in the world and its special people in Borneo, as a tribute to the unique Malaysian style of bringing different voices together in one united song, and as an expression of the beauty and harmony of the fragile Borneo rainforest. The McLeans spent three months in Malaysian Borneo at the invitation of the Malaysian government in the autumn of 1996 recording bird, insect, and tribal songs, and inventing a synthesizer melodic-harmonic base in which to imbed and feature the nature and composed music.
A recorded CD plays soundscapes of the Iban tribe, including their own gamelon dance music, plus the synthesizer music and bird/insect calls while the soprano soloist sings composed melodies and performs on sawblade gongs, all with minimal digital echoes and delays. The other performer performs on woodwinds and bows and strikes a musical bicycle wheel. The music, beginning with the soft, langorous synthesizer music, adds the nature sounds and finally the live performance, rising to a passionate climax and receding back to the insect and synthesizer sounds. An art video of Borneo tribal life and forests is shown as part of the performance.
Version: Live performance
Year composed: 2000
Duration: 00:24:04
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble, 2-5 Players
Instrumentation: ,2 Flute soloist(s), ,1 Soprano soloist(s), ,1 Prerecorded Sound (Tape/CD/Other) soloist(s), ,1 Computer/Laptop soloist(s), ,1 Other Wind Instrument(s) soloist(s), ,1 Other Percussion Instrument(s) soloist(s), ,1 Other Stringed Instrument(s) soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: Performance is best with pre-recorded video.