[2] Kunst heard a gamelan ensemble for the first time at the Paku Alaman palace in Yogyakarta.

Impressed, he decided to remain in Java to study Indonesian music, while the other members of his trio departed.

[2] Taking a job as an official in the colonial government, Kunst remained in Java for fifteen years.

[2][4] He ceded much of his collection to the Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (now the National Museum of Indonesia).

[2] In 1934, Kunst returned to the Netherlands, and he became the curator of Amsterdam's Colonial Museum (now the Royal Tropical Institute) in 1936.

In 1956, Kunst released a bestselling album of folk songs, on Folkways Records, entitled Living Folksongs and Dance-Tunes from the Netherlands.

[4] Kunst believed musical study must take into account the cultural context of its creation.