UPCOMING EVENTS

Published by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Printed by Ngai Heng Book Binder Pte. Ltd.

Pre-concert Talk: Brahms’ Piano QuartetThu, 27 Mar 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Mr Andrew Lim

April........................................Open Rehearsal:Gala: Bach: St John PassionThu, 3 Apr 14, 7.30pmEsplanade Concert Hall

Lim Yau conductorSteve Davislim tenor (Evangelist & arias)Martin Snell baritone (Pilate & arias)Jan-Hendrik Rootering bass - baritone (Christus)Nadine Lehner sopranoLucia Cervoni mezzo-soprano Combined Chorus

Pre-concert Talk:Gala: Bach: St John PassionFri, 4 Apr 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Dr Rebecca Kan

Pre-concert Talk:Italian & ClassicalSat, 12 Apr 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Dr Greg Petersen

Pre-concert Talk:Spring SymphonyFri, 18 Apr 14, 6.30pmVenue and speaker to be announced

Post-Concert Symphony Chat: Spring SymphonyFri, 18 Apr 14Esplanade Concert HallOpen to members of the concert audience

Pre-concert Talk:Asrael SymphonyThu, 24 Apr 14library@esplanadeSpeaker: Mr Andrew Lim

February........................................Pre-Concert Talk: Gala: Sumi JoThu, 20 Feb 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Dr Katherine Wallace

Pre-Concert Talk The Titan Fri, 28 Feb 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker to be announced

March........................................SSO on Campus @ Hwa Chong InstitutionThu, 6 Mar 14, 7.30pmJoshua Tan conductor

SSO on Campus@ Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)Fri, 7 Mar 14, 7.30pmJoshua Tan conductor

SSO @ Gardens by the Bay Sat, 8 Mar 14, 6.30pmThe MeadowJoshua Tan conductorFree admission

SSO @ TampinesSun, 9 Mar 14Details to be announced

Concerts for Children: The Story of Babar, the Little ElephantSat, 15 Mar 14, 11am & 1pmThe Republic Cultural Centre TheatreRepublic PolytechnicJason Lai conductorReally Inventive Stuff

Pre-concert Talk: Lugansky Plays RachmaninovSat, 22 Mar 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker to be announced

May........................................Pre-concert Talk: Charles Dutoit & Chantal JuilletSat, 3 May 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Dr Margaret Chen

Pre-concert Talk: Beethoven’s Fifth SymphonyFri, 9 May 14, 6.30pmlibrary@esplanadeSpeaker: Mr Lionel Choi

SSO Classics in the Park:Mother’s Day ConcertSun, 11 May 14, 6pm Singapore Botanic GardensJason Lai conductorFree admission

SSO on CampusThu, 21 May 14Jason Lai conductorDetails to be announced

SSO on Campus @Victoria Junior CollegeFri, 22 May 14, 7.30pmJason Lai conductor

Concerts for Children:Come Meet Mozart!Sat, 31 May 14, 11am & 1pm University Cultural Centre Jason Lai conductor

Information correct at time of print and is subject to change.

Richard Strauss and his Music! p.6

Getting To Know You – Michael Boudewyns of Really Inventive Stuff p.8

For more information, please visit us at www.sso.org.sg or email: hazel@sso.org.sg

All SSO events are endorsed by the National Arts Council and local schools are eligible for up to 50% claim/subsidy from Totalisator Board Arts Grant.

Singapore Symphonia Co Ltd 4 Battery Road #20-01Bank of China BuildingSingapore 049908Tel: 6602 4200Fax: 6602 4222Email: ssonet@singnet.com.sg

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MICA (P) No. 032/03/2013Newsletter of the SSO Community Outreach Department

Jan - Apr 2014

www.sso.org.sg

Editor’s NoteDear Readers,

The start of a new year always brings wonder and excitement and the SSO has prepared a line up of fantastic treat for you in the coming months! Celebrate the works of Richard Strauss with us this January as we bring you the Strauss Festival. See how he influenced the world of music in this issue’s Classipedia. In March, we’ll have free performances on campus and at the Gardens by the Bay, and we invite those who love the children’s literary classic The Story of Babar to come and witness the of Babar to come and witness the of Babarstory brought to life through music, acting and puppetry. In our Getting to Know You section, Michael Boudewyns of Really Inventive Stuff shares why you shouldn’t miss our next Concerts for Children, which bring Poulenc’s Babar music with Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

We hope to continuously be part of your musical journey as the year turns – we’ll make sure it is full of sights and sounds that will amaze, inspire and engage you!

Yours Truly,The Editor

ContentsCover Story 3Classipedia 6Getting To Know You 8Fun & Games 10Recent Happenings 12Ask Auntie Melody 14Fun Facts 15Upcoming Events 16

Editorial TeamEditor & Coordinator:Hazel Faye Jingco

Contributors:Mona LimDr Margaret ChenLyra Tan

Senior Manager, Programmes:Kua Li Leng

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s performance at Singapore Turf Club drew yet another great crowd, as thousands of audience members gathered on 14 Sep for a musical experience set against the magnificent backdrop of The Racecourse. As part of the SSO’s series of outdoor concerts every season, this concert was indeed a wonderful opportunity for music lovers to gather and enjoy fantastic classical music in a unique environment. This concert was led by Associate Conductor Joshua Tan, who had this to say:

“These concerts are of extreme importance since they provide something very different from the usual subscription concerts. I hope that the casual and educational aspects will encourage regular concertgoers to bring those who have not been to an SSO concert before. The venues where we typically hold these concerts also help to bring the musicians closer to the audience and there are opportunities for interaction before and after. A number of people have come up to me and mentioned that because of such concerts, they have started to attend our regular programmes!”

Grab your copy of the SSO’s children’s CDs!

Sat, 8 Mar 146.30pmThe MeadowGardens by the BayJoshua Tan conductor

Free Admission

Concert subject to prevailing weather conditions For more information, please visitwww.sso.org.sg

For inquiries or purchases, please call 6602 4225.

SSO @ Gardens by the Bay

$12each

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COVER STORY

The event was a dynamic, high-energy

and lively affair which started with pre-concert activi-ties to create an exciting experience for families and the community.

While waiting for the concert to start,

parents and children alike were amazed and delight-

ed by the skills of talented balloon sculptors. Rabbits, swans, dogs, and myriad other shapes and creatures emerged as the balloonists worked their craft! Many smiling kids posed for the camera as they donned huge balloon hats and proudly showed off their balloon animals. Some even got to shake hooves and take pictures with the Singapore Turf Club’s friendly mascots, Racer and Clover.

The concert opened with Rossini’s famed William Tell Overture, with Maestro Joshua Tan leading the orchestra in this toe-tapping familiar piece and transforming the atmosphere into a scene reminiscent of the Lone Ranger – truly befitting the venue of the concert! The mood was exuberant, lively and one could not help but smile and be swept up in visions of galloping horses. A trumpet solo heralded this most recognisable melody and the piece concluded with cheers and loud applause.

was clearly one of the most enjoyable pieces of the evening as the audience soaked in the musical atmosphere under the bright moon and waved their light sticks to the rhythm of the music!

The pace quickened as Franz Von Suppé’s best-known work, the Light Calvary Overture opened with a majestic fanfare played by the trumpets and brass followed by violins playing a theme evoking soldiers marching. Maestro Joshua Tan then signalled the brass section to begin the galloping theme which suggests the cavalry riding to battle. Closing on a note of triumphant victory, it left everyone in high spirits after the evening of brilliant music with the SSO! The delivery of a long round of warm applause was followed by an encore that brought cheers and smiles throughout the audiences, The Moon Represents My Heart. Adapted for solo violin and orchestra, the SSO’s energetic and personable concertmaster Alexander Souptel skilfully bowed away at his violin to the delight of close to 2,000 apprecia-tive audience members.

Next came Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture, transporting the audience to the streets of London with music depicting the hustle and bustle of busy streets and conveying both the peace and chaos of life in a London town. Elgar described the piece as “cheerful and Londony, stout and steaky… honest, healthy, humongous and strong, but not vulgar”. The audience members were also offered some lovely moments of a reflective, wistful theme presented by the strings and woodwinds, described by Elgar as the “lover’s” theme,

“calm and tenderly loving”.

SSO @ The Racecourse demonstrated the orchestra’s dedication to make classical music accessible to the community and also celebrated the impact music has not only to the audience members, but also to the musi-cians. “Other than the wonderful music-making with my colleagues, I was overwhelmed by the response from the audience. After the concert, so many families came up to talk and to have photos taken,” conductor Joshua Tan shares. “I think that is one of the most satisfying and memorable moments any musician can have. Not from having a perfect performance but from knowing that the music-making has moved or made an impact on the audience.”

SSO @ The Racecourse was clearly more than just a great night of music. With perfectly selected pieces that complemented one another very well, activities for children and post- concert interaction with the conductor adding to the welcoming atmosphere of the event, it certainly leaves the audience surely looking forward to more musical outings in the future!

What followed was an assortment of pieces from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Ballet Suite No. 1. Assembled by Levon Atovmian, the ener-getic and jazzy rhythms of the Lyric Waltz, the colourful and jaunty mood of Polka and the rollicking dance from Galop left everyone thoroughly entertained. The SSO’s rendition of the composer’s light-hearted work was superb and inviting that it was impossible for the audi-ences not to sway along to the catchy melodies – it was indeed music to dance to!

As the darkness of night fell, children collected light sticks to hold in their hands or wear as bracelets. With seats lit up by a sea of glow-ing lines and the moon high in the night sky, the next piece played by the orchestra, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, suited the evening’s festive mood in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Written by American songwriter Gus Edwards, this captivating work

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BY MONA LIMRICHARD STRAUSS AND HIS MUSIC!

Guten Morgen, everybody! My name

is Richard Georg Strauss and I was born in Munich on 11 June 1864. My father, Franz Joseph Strauss, was one of the best horn players at the Munich court opera orchestra.

intended to portray a particular story, scene or mood. I went on to write a series of increasingly ambitious tone poems: Death and Transfiguration (1889), Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks (1895), Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1896), Don Quixote (1897), Ein Heldenleben (1898), Symphonia Domestica (1903) and An Alpine Symphony (1911–1915).

I wrote Don Juan in 1888, based on Nikolaus Lenau and it was my first completed symphonic poem and my first large work to win international fame. I conducted the wildly acclaimed first performance in Weimar on 11 Nov 1889. It was reviewed as an “enormous success” and attracted thunderous applause rarely heard in Weimar!!

I had a lively temperament with a rich thematic language on one hand, and a penchant for clear formal structures on the other. This can be discerned in the modified rondo form of Don Juan and they were to reappear in all my masterpieces. After a stormy opening, the first Don Juan theme is presented before it is contrasted with three female characters: the ardently devoted, the passionate and the sentimental. The concluding section is followed by the hero’s tragic end.

The one great thing that happened while working on this tone poem was I met the young woman who was to accompany me for the rest of my life, Pauline de Ahna, daughter of a general. She became my wife in 1894.

My tone-poem for large orchestra, Ein Heldenleben, was completed in 1898 and I conducted the first performance on 3 March 1899 at a Museum Concert in Frankfurt. The work, dedicated to Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, received a mixed reception when it was introduced to audiences. Critics in Berlin took matters personally and Hanslick in Vienna, who

CLASSIPEDIA

Ms Mona Lim is a music consultant, educator and composer. She also manages and develops talents and writes curriculums for music education.

had never had anything good to say about symphonic poems anyway, only found positive comments for the singing of my wife. Something of her character is reflected in the new tone-poem. It is almost autobiographical.

Its six movements, intricately interwoven, provide a single symphonic movement, incorporating a slow movement and a scherzo. It starts with the introduction of the hero, whose strong theme starts the work. A love-theme is introduced, with a theme of hope and courage, leading to a third element: a stirring, martial theme. These are developed with the final return of the principal theme. There follows a caricature of the hero’s enemies, with the cackling scherzo-like passage of wind instruments. The hero’s theme returns, now down-hearted, in a minor key and lacking its earlier exuberance, until a theme of victory quells the critical intervention. This transition leads to the second subject depicting the hero’s beloved. This is introduced by a solo violin, capricious and varied, before it joins the hero in a song of love. Off-stage trumpets call the hero to battle in the equivalent of a development, and in the tumult, the hero and his love triumph over the enemies, their theme heard from the trumpet in heroic victory! What a rush!! You should listen to this!!

In 1903, I decided to write a symphonic work and dedicated it to my dear wife and beloved son, Franz. I conducted the first performance of Symphonia Domestica Op. 53 in New York in 1904 during an extended tour of America. It is a musical reflection of the secure domestic life so valued by me and, as such, harmoniously conveys daily events and family life.

Then came my last completed composition, the Duet-Concertino. It was written for bassoon, clarinet and orchestra in my final years, around 1947. This was where I set aside the large orchestras and huge Romantic gestures in favour of a more restrained, almost neo-classical style and a more transparent orchestral style. It somehow had a connection with Hans Christian Andersen’s story The

Swineherd, where a prince (the bassoon) puts himself in a position to woo the princess (the clarinet) by taking a job as swineherd at her father’s palace. It’s a melodic work in three movements with some sweet, nostalgic, almost Mozartian tune. You hear quiet tremolos that lead into a gentle Andante, with a bassoon soliloquy. Then the clarinet joins in and the two instruments engage in a tentative dialogue.

Apparently, I was a natural vocal composer and in the time before my major operatic successes, I regularly wrote songs akin to an artistic break from the symphonic poems and other instrumental pieces. These songs include Traum durch die Dämmerung Op. 29, Ich trage meine Minne Op. 32, and Glückes genug Op. 37. Between Salome (1905) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) (1917), I wrote no songs. In 1918, I returned to the song genre and wrote Krämerspiegel Op. 66, based on texts by Alfred Kerr. Vier letzte Lieder (‘Four Last Songs’) (1947) are considered the final climax of the genre. Maria Jeritza, to whom the late song Malven was dedicated, kept it under lock and key until her death and it was not performed until 1985. I wonder why she did that? Hmmm……

Well, all good things must come to an end. In 1944, when I was 80, I conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in recordings of my own major works. I conducted at my 85th birthday celebrations. Still going strong! But a series of heart attacks did me in…. I died peacefully at home on 8 September 1949. But, my music lives on. You should go and have a listen!

My mother was also musical. I also have a younger sister, Berta Johanna… our cute little Berta…

My father raised us on diligence and thrift, instilling in me precise musical skills and a love of the classics. I commenced piano lessons at the age of four and a half, and at the age of six, I composed my first pieces: Schneiderpolka and Weihnachtslied.

I went to the cathedral school when I was six. Thereafter, I completed my secondary education at the Ludwigs Gymnasium. While still at secondary school, I also received my first and only tuition in composition and played in the Wilde Gung’l orchestral society led by my father. They performed several of my compositions. Actually, my “official career” began in 1881 with my Opus 1, the Festive March. Around the same time, I discovered the world of Richard Wagner. By the time I was eighteen, I had written some 140 pieces, including almost 60 songs and more than 40 piano works.

My style in music began to truly develop and change when, in 1885, I met Alexander Ritter, a noted composer and violinist. It was Ritter who persuaded me to abandon the conservative style of my youth, and begin writing tone poems, or symphonic poems. Tone poems are instrumental compositions

Join the SSO as they celebrate the music of Strauss!

Strauss Festival4, 11, 18 & 25 Jan 7.30pmEsplanade Concert Hall

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Hi Michael, looks like you have a busy calendar

with many shows and tours lined up in the USA and Canada!

How do you feel about performing in Singapore for the first time?Yes, our 2013-14 season is quite busy, and we are super excited! Singapore will be our first international debut outside North America and that makes this trip to Singapore especially exciting! Before arriving in Singapore, we’ll have premiered a new original programme for families, celebrating Beethoven, his remarkable age, and the four famous notes of his Fifth Symphony. Then, we have two new pieces we’ll be presenting with the Philadelphia Orchestra: The Night Before Christmas and The Remarkable Farkle McBride. In addition, we’ll be performing for the first time in Washington, D.C., where we will present our signature show Peter and the Wolf.

Our trip to Singapore, however, is the highlight of our season. We will always remember Singapore as our first overseas debut, and for that it will always be a special place for us.

What do you enjoy most about working with orchestras?We love how each orchestra we perform with reflects the pride of its city and community. Whether it’s Saint Louis, Philadelphia, or Singapore, it’s remarkable to see how a community takes pride in claiming a group of artists as their “hometown team.” It’s a thrill that for the brief time we’re guest artists we get the chance to contribute and be part of the culture of the place we’re visiting. Music is a necessary and much needed part of a community. Music is for everyone; it’s a vital part of humanity. We are honoured to be able

Michael Boudewyns of Really Inventive Stuff!Performer and Producer of The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant

to use our talents as actors and storytellers to help introduce classic compositions and musical stories to young audiences.

Can you tell us briefly the story behind the company Really Inventive Stuff, which you co-founded with your wife Sara? What made you both decide to produce shows combining music, acting and storytelling?We’ve always loved classic stories, vaudeville, and music. For years, we had created theatre for families and young audiences. In 2005, we were invited to create a performance of Peter and the Wolf for an orchestra in New Jersey. We drew upon the storytelling that inspired us, and discovered that our theatrical style was a great fit with orchestras. After the success of Peter and the Wolf, we began partnering with more orchestras and exploring other musical stories that we could tell with a theatrical twist – such as The Story of Babar, Tubby the Tuba and Green Eggs and Ham. In 2007, our performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra was reviewed as “simplicity as a form of genius”. We’re honoured by such a compliment. We believe simplicity is a key to great storytelling. It asks the performer and the audience to take the kernel of an idea, and from the collective imagination, create the world of the story.

Can you tell us about Sara’s character in The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra? What kind of research did she do to prepare herself for the role? As we develop programmes for orchestra, we try to create characters that complement and support the music while bringing the story of the music to life in an entertaining way. Britten’s Young Person’s Guide is an

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

educational and informative composition. The characters are the instruments themselves. It was apparent that Britten’s composition required a tour guide, someone like a Discovery Channel expert, to introduce each of the instruments. So Sara combined the characteristics of a British nanny, a museum curator, and a school librarian, with a sprinkling of Mary Poppins, to create…. Symphonia Semi d’Quaver, an internationally renowned “Orchestra ologist” and devoted fan of composer Henry Purcell. Since the Young Person’s Guide is all about orchestras, Sara invented a first name that’s a spin on the word symphony, and a last name derived from a specific, minute musical notation that’s also fun to say.

The Story of Babar, a beloved piece of children’s literature, is rarely performed as a symphony production. Why did you choose this work? There is a wonderful story of how composer Francis Poulenc was inspired to create the musical adaptation of The Story of Babar: one afternoon as he was improvising at the piano, his young niece placed a children’s book on the piano and said “Play this, Uncle Francis.” The book she gave him to “play” was Jean de Brunhoff’s The Story of Babar. The rest, as they say, is history. Children love stories about animals who do extraordinary things. Babar is one of those characters. His story of running away to the city, having adventures, and then becoming King of the Elephants lends itself to inventive, fantastical storytelling. It’s fun to imagine an elephant getting fitted for a new suit, or driving a car, or eating pastries, or being coronated as King! The music is also very dramatic, and paint a musical atmosphere and provide evocative moods, much like a French Impressionist painting.

For children who are new to or less familiar with classical music and orchestral instruments, do you think these works by Britten and Poulenc are a good start?

Absolutely! The two pieces are very different in style and feeling, so children will be able to enjoy a variety of sounds and textures from the orchestra. Young audiences will not only leave the concert knowing more about each instrument and family of instruments that make up an orchestra, but they will also experience how music tells a story.

What can the audience members expect when they come to see your performance with the SSO in March? We endeavour to create performances that are, first and foremost, playful. We love storytelling that is surprising and delightful. Our goal is to inspire and engage the audience’s imagination while being in the presence of fantastic orchestral music! In the end we want audiences to have had such a fantastic, memorable, and inspiring time with the orchestra that may learn to play an instrument or take music classes, and make coming to hear the orchestra or attending live music part of their lives everyday.

Sat, 15 March 2014The Republic Cultural Centre TheatreRepublic Polytechnic11am & 1pm

For more information, please visit www.sso.org.sg

Concerts for Children:The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant

Catch Really Inventive Stuff together with the SSO this March!

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Matching Inspiration!Can you guess what inspired the following composers to write the musical pieces below? Use the illustrations as clues then fill in the blanks with the missing letters to reveal the answers!

Francis Poulenc’s The Story of BabarInspired by: Jean de Brunhoff’s book The Story of Babar, the Little

One day, Poulenc’s cousin placed her copy of this book on the piano’s music stand and said, “Play this”. He improvised an accompaniment to each scene that became the composition as we know it today.

Richard Strauss’ Symphonia DomesticaInspired by:

A vivid musical characterisation of the

Strauss household, this work harmoniously conveys the composer’s daily events and life at home.

Claude Debussy’s La MerInspired by:

The

As a young boy, Debussy’s parents had plans for him to become a sailor. As an adult composing La Mer, he still had a life-long fascination for the body of water which inspired this composition.

Edvard Grieg’s Morning Mood from Peer Gynt SuiteInspired by: Morning

Grieg composed this piece to depict the intense colours of dawn as portrayed in Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt.

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Answers to be revealed in the next issue!

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FUN & GAMES

Here’s the answer to last issue’s Guess the Instrument!

Left (top to bottom):

XylophoneFrench Horn

Right (top to bottom):

HarpBassoonPiano

Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4Inspired by: The colours and atmosphereof

This symphony captures the many moods of a tourist wandering through this country, home to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Recent Happenings

Pre-Concert Talk: Young Britten25 Oct 13

Peering into the workings of an orchestra rehearsal is a rare opportunity in itself. On this occasion, it was made even more unique with the chance to observe five international soloists and a massive vocal force of four choral groups working alongside the SSO and conductor Lan Shui to bring an all-Verdi extravaganza to the stage. Audience members were first treated to a rousing rendition of the Overture to La forza del destino, a tragic opera centered around two young lovers.

Then began the highlight of the evening – a semi-staged version of Verdi’s operatic masterpiece, the Rigoletto. Korean soprano Seo Whal-Ran, Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, three Russian singers – tenor Khachatur Badalyan, mezzo-soprano Larisa Kostyuk, bass Stanislav Shvets and the Chorus joined the SSO in performing three excerpts and the third act from the opera as David Edwards, the stage director, narrated the storyline. With each soloist deliv-ering a showcase of impressive vocal skill and

31 Oct & 1 Nov 13Open Rehearsal and Pre-Concert Talk:Gala: Viva Verdi!

admirable acting, they delighted the audience with scenes of longing in Caro nome, distress in Parmi veder la lagrime coupled with declarations of love and vengeance in the duet Tutte le feste al tempio. Act 3 followed after with the tenor’s brilliant take on what is perhaps the most famous of Verdi’s arias, La donna è mobile and the masterful quartet Bella figlia dell’amore, an intricate musical depiction of the four leading characters and their overlapping agendas. The tragic duet Morte di Gilda spelled the end of the Rigoletto, bringing with it loud cheers and thunderous applause from the audience as the performers took a bow.

Rounding off the evening with a display of vocal and instrumental grandeur, the combined chorus rehearsed Verdi’s Te Deum from his last quartet of published works Quattro Pezzi Sacri (“Four Sacred Pieces”), with every person on stage giving their all to embody its rich sound. A soprano solo brought the Open Rehearsal to a superb end.

Also on the occasion of the SSO’s celebration of Verdi’s music, choral director, performer and Assistant Professor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Dr Katherine Wallace gave the concertgoers an in-depth and vivid guide into the life, influence and passion of the composer at a Pre-Concert Talk. With works

On 25 Oct, Artistic Director of the Singapore International Piano Festival Mr Lionel Choi led the audience through Benjamin Britten’s early life and the context it provided to the composer’s Piano Concerto.

Plainly noting that the Piano Concerto was composed to show off Britten’s skills as both a composer and accomplished pianist at the young age of 24, Lionel examined each movement in detail and shared accompanying music excerpts. A lively work on the whole, he described the first movement as “setting the tone for something quite fun” and the second to be “a standard waltz from the ballrooms of Vienna turned on its head, demented and out of step throughout – like a drunk at a wedding”. The third was “a grand sweep of emotion”, revised from its original skittish rendition to form the sombre emotional core of the concerto we hear today.

The Talk concluded with a preview of the fourth movement, where every instrument

family vied for attention in a whirlwind of high spirits. Leaving the audience in a similar mood, the Pre-Concert talk had indeed whetted everyone’s appetite for the concert that evening!

that stirred the Italian nation’s spirit and encompassed glory and artistic expression, it is no surprise as to why the opera master’s works are still being widely performed two centuries later. Viva Verdi!

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Dear Stella, Chamber music is a type of classical music that is written for a smaller group of instruments. In the past, these pieces were composed for a group that could fit into a palace chamber. Playing in a chamber ensemble requires special skills and techniques. It is often a challenge to play together and sound good together. Players of a chamber ensemble need to coordinate details in their playing techniques, such as how much vibrato to use and the relative volume between each instrument in different parts of the piece. Many musicians have said that the chamber music experience is one that is intimate and uniquely enchanting – it is like hearing the instruments have a conversation with one another!

Hi Ignatius, Indeed many composers started learning music at a very young age. One of the most famous musical child prodigies, Mozart, started playing the piano at the age of three, and had already composed his first piece of music at the age of five! However, not all composers are child prodigies. Some of them played an instrument quite well as a young child, but not at a notable or proficient level at that time. Did you know that Robert Schumman and Jean Sibelius, despite their enthusiasm for music, both studied law and that Richard Wagner was initially determined to become a poet? It was only during their adolescent years when they turned to the direction of music and eventually became very successful composers.

Dear Auntie Melody,I was looking at your programme booklets and saw that the SSO has chamber concerts too. What exactly is chamber music? - Stella

Dear Auntie Melody,Do great composers have to start really young learning music? Great composers all seem to have been good at music from a young age. - Ignatius, 10

Email your questions to hazel@sso.org.sg

or snail mail them to: SSO Community Outreach Department, 4 Battery Road #20-01,

Bank of China Building, Singapore 049908 Don’t forget to include your name, birth date,

identification number, address and contact number!

Winners will be notified by phone or post

*All questions are subject to

editing for clarity.

Do you have any burning questions about music? Auntie Melody is here to

help! If your question is featured, you will win a surprise gift!

Once upon a time, a little girl came upon a piece of bamboo lying by the side of the road, she took it home and flattened one end of it. When she blew into the flattened end, the bamboo produced a piercing sound. That day, the reed instrument was born.

Today, we will meet two modern reed instruments: the clarinet and the bassoon.

The clarinet is the modern, sophisticated descendant of that piece of bamboo with the flattened end.

The clarinet is made up of the following parts:

1. A mouthpiece with a reed inside. Blowing into it causes the reed to vibrate. This in turn causes the wind inside the instrument to vibrate, creating a sound.

2. A barrel connects the mouthpiece to the main body of the clarinet, which consists of two joints:

3. the upper joint has keys and tone holes for the left hand and

4. the lower joint has keys and tone holes for the right hand. By pressing the keys and holes, a player can play all twelve tones of the chromatic scale.

5. The bell which is at the end of the instrument is the amplifier that enhances the sound made.

Mozart really liked the sound of the clarinet. He thought it resembled the human voice most. I especially like his “Clarinet Quintet in A Major”.

Bassoons are double-reed instruments. While the clarinet uses a reed which vibrates within its mouthpiece, the bassoon’s two reeds, placed into the player’s mouth in a special way called “embouchure”, vibrate against each other to produce a sound.

THE CLARINET AND THE BASSOON

Taking musical lessons at a young age helps you realise and develop your musical talents, but to be great at music and compose great work, one needs dedication, passion and lots of practice!

If the clarinet sounds like a woman’s voice, the bassoon sounds like a man’s voice.

The bassoon is a big instrument, standing 1.34m long. Because it is folded over it really is 2.54m in length. It cannot be supported by the hands and requires either a seat strap or a shoulder harness.

The bassoon has 6 parts:

1. The boot joint, which is the bottom piece that folds over itself, fits into

2. the long or bass joint which is attached to

3. the bell at the very top of the instrument. The other end of the boot joint is attached to

4. the tenor or wing joint which is attached to

5. the curved Bocal or crook (looks like the top of a shepherd’s staff)

6. The double reed slides into the bocal, ready for the bassoonist to play.

As in the clarinet, pressing the tone holes and keys on the joints produces the whole spectrum of chromatic tones.

The bassoon has been around for a long time. Bach and Handel used it in many of their compositions.

Richard Strauss wrote a “Duet Concertino for Clarinet, Bassoon with String Orchestra and Harp” in 1948. Do come and hear the SSO play this on 18 Jan.

Dr Margaret Chen is an organist, curator, consultant, and Senior Lecturer of Music History and Liturgy at the Singapore Bible College

By Dr Margaret Chen

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