Sundanese Reverberances: Untangling Contradictions about the Gamelan Spectacle at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair

ABSTRACT This article revisits the gamelan performances at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, providing an updated and comprehensive study of the scenic specificities displayed and the intersecting interests that contributed to shaping them. Drawing on a wealth of previously unexamined press accounts and transcriptions, and close familiarity with Sundanese and Javanese music and dances, it delves into the performance practices carried out, revealing the many ways in which the staging concept—driven largely by commercial concerns and logistical challenges—diverged from the homeland’s usual practices. It also aims to resolve inconsistencies regarding the socio-cultural background of the performers and the repertory exhibited, and uncovers musical and choreological procedures still present in modern Sundanese customs. Furthermore, the recent discovery and examination of the 1889 gamelan by the authors (in January 2024) has been crucial in understanding how its particular tunings and scales presented a challenge to European musical conventions in the late nineteenth century.