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.