By Lynette Lim
A composer’s musical notations are not just printed symbols on a page. When performed by musicians, these seemingly humble music scores can bring strong emotions to life.
In fact, immersing yourself in the scores created by Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST) teaching staff can be a truly experiential lesson in the nuances of composing music.
Current YST Vice Dean (Academic Programmes & Quality Enhancement) A/Prof Ho Chee Kong, who was one of the founding Heads of Composition, is a prolific composer. His international commissions and musical compositions of Western and Chinese ensembles have been widely performed at festivals and concerts (“Management team” n.pag.).
A/Prof Ho’s composition, Night, was published in Spice, Magic, and Mystique, as part of a collection of the Southeast Asian Choral Repertoire for mixed choir a cappella, featuring songs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It stands out as a choral work dedicated to the heroic men and women who fought hard to stem the devastation of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. Despite initial discrimination towards healthcare and frontline workers, many locals bravely volunteered in the fight against SARS, which was an experience that presaged the more protracted COVID-19 pandemic. NUS Forever, a theme song that encourages young students to aspire to greater heights, is another inspirational piece. Its message is as relevant today as it was during the NUS Centennial Celebration in 2005 (“NUS Forever in song and spirit” n.pag.)
Currently Head of Composition, A/Prof Peter Edwards is a composer who uses sound to articulate energy, shape, narrative, and perspective. Besides teaching studio composition, he is adept in collaborative composition, experimental music, and computer music (“Faculty”, n.pag.). Annicha : for flute, clarinet B major and piano (with a few preparations) reimagines how a musical gesture produced by several instrumentalists has the infinite potential to be transformed through aspects such as pitch, rhythm, duration, and more complex elements. Meanwhile, Puer natus est nobis takes its name from the Introit chant for the Christmas Day Mass. Though not influenced by the religious text, A/Prof Edwards uses the melody of the chant as the basis of his composition. He interprets parts of the melody as objects that can be brought closer to the listener through careful observation of repeated pitches.
After graduating from the YSTCM’s Class of 2009 and with Doctor of Musical Arts from The Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, A/Prof Chen Zhangyi has been teaching analysis and composition as an NUS alumnus since 2015 (“Faculty” n.pag.). Clara-Luna : for solo violin is dedicated to his daughter, who was a newborn at the time, and is his way of memorialising the tender moments and unique sounds of her infancy. He worked with Professor Qian Zhou while composing this piece, as she kindly demonstrated numerous excerpts of the Ysaÿe sonatas that involved idiomatic and virtuoso writing for the solo violin.
Other works residing in our collection include Adeline Wong’s Snapshots : concerto for cello and chamber ensemble 2005, and Synclastic illuminations : for chamber ensemble 2003. Ms Wong is a senior lecturer at YST, where she teaches music composition. (“Faculty” n.pag.). Snapshots was inspired by Alice Sebold’s novel Lovely Bones, which is told from the perspective of a young murder victim, Susie Salmon. After putting her remains in a safe, the murderer dumps it in a sinkhole. In Ms Wong’s composition, the voice of the cello suggests the voice of the victim, which floats free and omnipresent in her personal heaven and inspires hope in her surviving family members. Synclastic illuminations, which is defined by its simple melodic sequence, begins with high, piercing, jarring and dissonant sounds but works its way to a wider scope of “sound colours.” Its title means “going round and round” and “represents the recurrent melodic idea heard throughout this work and illuminations suggest the kaleidoscope of colours and light captured by the ensemble” (T. p. verso).
Research has found that listening to music can activate the limbic system – the part of the brain that governs feelings, memories, and thoughts (Thompson & Olsen, 2021). Performed as solos or by ensembles, these musical compositions by our very own YST faculty will evoke feelings and inspire not only music majors but all musicians – amateur and professional.
What are you waiting for? Visit the Music Library and check out these scores today!
References
Chen, Zhangyi. (2017). Clara-Luna : for solo violin. Chen Zhangyi.
Chen, Zhangyi.(2017). Clara-Luna. (n.d.) Retrieved April 1, 2025 from https://www.chenzhangyi.com/clara-luna.
De Quadros, A. (Ed.). (2008). Spice, magic and mystique: Southeast Asian choral repertoire for mixed choir a cappella: 12 songs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Carus-Verlag.
Edwards, P. E. (2005). Annicha: for flute, clarinet B major and piano (with a few preparations). N.p.
Edwards, P. E. (2004). Puer natus est nobis (zu irgendeiner Zeit): for orchestra (3.3.3.3 – 4.3.3.1. – pno, harp, 4 perc – strings). N.p.
Faculty: Adeline Wong. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.ystmusic.nus.edu.sg/faculty-adeline-wong/.
Faculty: Assoc Prof Chen Zhangyi. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.ystmusic.nus.edu.sg/faculty-chen-zhangyi/.
Faculty: Assoc Prof Peter Edwards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.ystmusic.nus.edu.sg/faculty-peter-edwards/.
Faculty: Prof Qian Zhou. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.ystmusic.nus.edu.sg/faculty-qian-zhou/.
Ho, C. K. (2008). Night. In De Quadros, A. (Ed.). (2008). Spice, magic and mystique: Southeast Asian choral repertoire for mixed choir a cappella: 12 songs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, (pp. 42-45). Carus-Verlag.
Ho, C. K. (2005). NUS centennial song: for SATB chorus. National University of Singapore.
Leung P. C. & Ooi E. E. (Eds.). (2003). SARS war: combating the disease. World Scientific.
Management team: Assoc Prof Ho Chee Kong. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.ystmusic.nus.edu.sg/management-ho-chee-kong/.
NUS Forever in song and spirit. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://osa.nus.edu.sg/story/nus-forever-in-song-and-spirit/.
Rezaei, N. (Ed.). (2021). Coronavirus Disease – COVID-19 (online). Springer.
Sebold, A. (2002). The lovely bones : a novel. Little Brown.
Singaporeans came together in our fight against SARS. (n.d.). retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.sg101.gov.sg/social-national-identity/case-studies/ourfightagainstsars/.
Thompson, W. F. & Olsen, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). The science and psychology of music: from Beethoven at the office to Beyoncé at the gym. Greenwood.
Wong, A. (2005). Snapshots : concerto for cello and chamber ensemble. 2005. Adeline Wong.
Wong, A. (2003). Synclastic illuminations: for chamber ensemble. 2003. Adeline Wong.
