Jalak Suren

Length: ca. 5’30”
Instrumentation: marimba

The composition is inspired by the song of the Javan Pied Myna (known as Jalak Suren in Indonesian), a bird native to the islands of Java and Bali. Unfortunately, the Javan Pied Myna’s captivating song has made it a target for ruthless wildlife traffickers, bringing the species to the verge of extinction.

Thanks to the assistance of ornithologist Ben Mirin, who supplied me with several recordings of the bird, I was able to transcribe its song into sheet music. All the melodic themes and most of the gestures in this piece are directly inspired by the bird’s calls.

Performed by David Moliner