The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace

Nobat is an ancient Malay art form that binds together an amalgamation of different cultures and beliefs, which culminates into a sacrosanct musical entity symbolizing a Sultan's stature and sovereignty. This study examines the music of the Perak nobat and its uses and functions in relation to...

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Main Author:	Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2009
Subjects:	M Music ML Literature of music
Online Access:	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/38010/1/Raja%20Iskandar%20Raja%20Halid%20ft.pdf
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id	my-unimas-ir.38010
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-unimas-ir.380102023-07-03T08:09:37Z The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace 2009 Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid M Music ML Literature of music Nobat is an ancient Malay art form that binds together an amalgamation of different cultures and beliefs, which culminates into a sacrosanct musical entity symbolizing a Sultan's stature and sovereignty. This study examines the music of the Perak nobat and its uses and functions in relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace. By utilizing a mixture of different qualitative methods, including a combination of various techniques of musical analysis with the methods of anthropology and social sciences, it also aims to understand the temporal and spiritual roles of the ensemble, its unrelenting adherence to age-old taboos and how the musical performance reflects the Malay social stratification. Palace ceremonies were looked into and it was found that nobat pieces are classified according to their hierarchical importance vis-ä-vis the ceremonial structure of the palace. Some pieces are more important than others and are assigned to particular ceremonies based on what the titles imply although they might not necessarily reflect their literal meanings. This present thesis also demonstrated that although polyphonic and complex in its structure, the high level of monotony and static nature of the music is due to the manner the pieces are played - without much dynamics and variations. It is further argued that this is not only due to the subservient nature of the orang kalur towards their environment, especially their master the Sultan; but also the musical functions of nobat itself - mainly to signal important events. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2009 Thesis http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/38010/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/38010/1/Raja%20Iskandar%20Raja%20Halid%20ft.pdf text en validuser masters Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
collection	UNIMAS Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	M Music ML Literature of music
spellingShingle	M Music ML Literature of music Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
description	Nobat is an ancient Malay art form that binds together an amalgamation of different cultures and beliefs, which culminates into a sacrosanct musical entity symbolizing a Sultan's stature and sovereignty. This study examines the music of the Perak nobat and its uses and functions in relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace. By utilizing a mixture of different qualitative methods, including a combination of various techniques of musical analysis with the methods of anthropology and social sciences, it also aims to understand the temporal and spiritual roles of the ensemble, its unrelenting adherence to age-old taboos and how the musical performance reflects the Malay social stratification. Palace ceremonies were looked into and it was found that nobat pieces are classified according to their hierarchical importance vis-ä-vis the ceremonial structure of the palace. Some pieces are more important than others and are assigned to particular ceremonies based on what the titles imply although they might not necessarily reflect their literal meanings. This present thesis also demonstrated that although polyphonic and complex in its structure, the high level of monotony and static nature of the music is due to the manner the pieces are played - without much dynamics and variations. It is further argued that this is not only due to the subservient nature of the orang kalur towards their environment, especially their master the Sultan; but also the musical functions of nobat itself - mainly to signal important events.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid
author_facet	Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid
author_sort	Raja Iskandar, Raja Halid
title	The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
title_short	The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
title_full	The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
title_fullStr	The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
title_full_unstemmed	The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
title_sort	nobat of perak: musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace
granting_institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
granting_department	Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts
publishDate	2009
url	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/38010/1/Raja%20Iskandar%20Raja%20Halid%20ft.pdf
_version_	1783728494756233216

The Nobat of Perak: Musical analysis and its relation to the ceremonial structure of the palace

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