Nugroho’s Setan Jawa evokes Javanese mythology through the genre of contemporary horror as inspired by the silent film classic Nosferatu by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. The film explores Indonesia’s pre-orthodox Islamic stories of the seven deals man makes with the devil to gain wealth. The live score dramatically underpins the mysticism and sensuality of Nugroho’s tale of love and sacrifice. In the excerpt presented tonight, a young wife discovers to her horror that her husband has made a deal with the devil. The devil’s agents (crabs, dogs, and demons) appear to destroy their home, which must be constantly rebuilt by her husband (entranced by the devil’s mask).
Rini’s live score combines elements of Indonesian gamelan traditions with experimental techniques, prepared gamelan, tuning combinations (and clashes), and live processing.
Rini’s composition approach in experimental settings is predicated on three rules: no loops, no playback, everything must fit in checked luggage.