Fresh Earthly Music

2011-07-27T00:25:00.002+08:00

In an ensemble/ company, 虽然谁都能少。。但其实谁都不能少。

Wang Jian Min - inspiration of the year

2011-06-26T17:18:00.005+08:00

These few days' contact with Wang (22-25 June) has left quite a deep impression on me.. and it's probably going to be one of the most enriching and inspiring experience of the year, both for me as a performer and as a research student studying his works.
Despite his cold outlook, high musical expectations and bluntness (if u dont meet his expectations), he is actually very helpful and supportive of our ensemble. He attended all our practices and rehearsals since landing on Wed evening. His schedule the following day for instance all revolve around us - 10.30am (at NAFA giving lessons to all the solo items),12.30pm lunch (with prominent figures), 4.30pm (compo seminar at NYGH), 7pm (going on air and i heard he gave an amazing speech), 8pm rushed back to NAFA (to attend our rehearsals, even though he seemed so worn out by then).
Well and I'm extremely lucky to be given the chance to tag alongside him these 4 days, although on another level, it can be stressful!

Frankly speaking I hadn't slept well for the days leading up to his arrival in Singapore, but I realized that all my worries were unfounded after the first rehearsal session with him. He doesn't speak much, but when he does, it is "一言惊醒梦中人".. The piece (踏歌) he wrote specially for us to premiere in the concert became so much more colourful and enjoyable to perform and as he mentions, all his pieces have 画面性 and there are specific things that he is trying to depict at various sections. As he puts it, most of his pieces can easily be used for dance choreographing.

It was also only when chatting with him that we got to know why he gave us the privilege to hold his compositional recital. For the past years, many professional music groups in China has approached him about this idea, but he never agreed to any of those.. "没意思" he says. But for us he agreed almost immediately because he felt that we are a young and passionate group, 可朔性高 (he never forgot the impression left by our ensemble in the 2008 NCMC competition where he was an adjucator), and felt this opportunity will be extremely beneficial for us and he can "推你们一把 ".. Sure enough, what he spoke on air, or with journalist, has been extremely touching. He is the kind of person which u wont want to let down.

On the philosophy of life, Wang believes in 实在 and 实际的东西 rather than 虚无的形式. Like for instance he told me that him giving me his two main contact forms is the most 实际, namecard (which i still didn't get) is just a 虚无的形式.. hahaa
and when everyone else is getting his autograph (which includes me), he actually said to me "..你还要我的签名阿。。你就不必了吧，这些都是虚的。。。" These reflects his 用心良苦 and to me, these thoughts are really very true. Somehow it also dawned on me about our pursuits in life, do we really want to spend energy on 实际 or 虚无 things? I guess this also explained his dislikes for entertaining guests, there were so many famous performers/ prominent figures wanting to treat him to a meal or bring him for a tour for the days he was here, but he rejected all.. and he especially dislikes eating a long meal that last more than an hr.

His fav. food: sashimi, clams without much flavourings added, prefers plain rice to flavoured rice.. basically likes original tastes

There's now an added dimension for me to do well in my thesis.. hopefully in future there'll be opportunities to study under him

this is fun

2011-04-20T21:24:00.000+08:00

Music For One Apartment And Six Drummers from Mister Magnus on Vimeo.

2011-04-09T22:16:00.007+08:00

This is a song

For you alone,

Of childish fears

And fervent tears.

From dewy lawns it swings

On weightless wings,

And only you

This simple song

Shall move to rue.

- Stefan George

Miraculous Artist- Nobuyuki

2011-04-01T00:57:00.007+08:00

Nobuyuki Tsujji shot to international fame since his gold medal achievement at the Cliburn's competition in 2009. I remembered watching his La Camp. performance through live webcast in amazement then, and today I found the video being uploaded! PLUS a rare video of his piano lesson at age 11. This guy is really brilliant.. amazingly brilliant. Only 1 year younger than me.. but he's really a role model and inspiration. Cliburn was even quoted saying his "performance had the power of a healing service. It was truly divine". Being touched by his playing is truly inevitable ~ Just watch his rach 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47TkYRxxe14&NR=1 He may be blind but his heart burns bright on stage... plus flawless technique Imagine those pieces are already so difficult to learn and this guy learns them by ear.. ~ He really has amazing memory. ~

I lost my wisdom!

2011-03-19T21:37:00.008+08:00

Just went for a surgery to remove 2 wisdom teeth yesterday :( and im given 6 days of MC.. hopefully im well enough to go for class this coming Mon. I was advised not to talk if Im gg to attend classes.

Gdness... i'll never forget the surgical experience.. The local anesthesia (i was given 6 jabs) made my whole left jaw, gum, tongue, lips incapable of moving and feeling, the worst was that I was then asked to swallow 2 panadols and one other pill (Dexamethasone.. to reduce swelling).. wah and it felt as if I am suffering from stroke.. only the right side of the lip and cheek can move which made it doubly hard for me to swallow the pills or even speak! I can really emphatize with stroke patients now.

Anyway I was given 5-6 different pills to swallow 3 times a day. One antibiotic is so bitter and difficult to swallow because it melts immediately u put it in the mouth.. i wasted one of it today.. haha

and i seem to be suffering from an allergy from one of the drugs.. not sure which one.. my face is so red (wow natural make-up.. and super healthy look yea.. haha as if i ran 3km).. now my skin on the hands and legs are getting itchy and red.. AHH! am i gg to lose sleep again tonight?

surprise!

2011-02-22T01:15:00.003+08:00

Just had a pleasant surprise finding many videos of Mr. Tiu's performances finally being uploaded onto youtube. And guess what, I found the video of the b'dae re-arrangements for 4-hands by Tiu and Hecht which I mentioned in one of my very early entries in this blog! This was super long ago in Oct 2006.. I was only in yr 1 sem 1 then!

(Oh mine, remember those times.. fond memories)

All thanks to the user "bowserpianist".. who uploaded quite a number of Tiu's performances just last month.

Will be gg to catch Tiu's "Chopin without Chopin" recital next Sat..

I remembered him as one of the earliest pianist who has really inspired me, at that time when I was still struggling to overcome certain mental hurdles..

it is hard to believe that i once stopped touching the instruments for at least 2 full years..

and then he came to give a masterclass in tj... although i couldnt rem the details now, but i rem listening to his music was amazing.. rich in possibilities

~
1.15am.. lets listen to one of Piazolla's piece "Oblivion"

and one other of my fav, Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody 16th Var to end (segment here)

Fallacies of educational reform

2011-02-17T23:09:00.009+08:00

Just a short entry about Prof. Andy Hargreaves's lecture I attended today..

I thought it is rather interesting to attend something of this sort as I had never been to any of such lectures or exposed to thoughts pertaining to educational management issues from a macro perspective.

In short he pointed out the 5 fallacies of educational reforms as that of:

1) Speed

2) Replacement

3) Numbers

4) Prescription

5) Competition

I was particularly occupied with point 5), where he draws our attention to 'on-field competition' and 'off-field collaboration', both of which produces friendly rivalry that increases performance and results. This 2 entities arent necessary opposite. Well, and he quizzed about how much exactly is 'off-field collaboration' happening between our schools even within our cluster level. By collaboration, he actually referred to not just verbal advices but real concrete (directly beneficial) actions that to certain extent, MAY 'jeopardise' the school which offered help in terms lowering their competitive edge.

I know as a country, our govt do apply this strategy by providing various kinds of aid to our neighboring countries to help them grow economically, resulting in a win-win situation because stability and peace in neighboring countries also meant stability and peace for us, similarly for many other issues including economical growth. So for schools, might it work too? collaboration much more than the sharing of certain resources will not really pull down ur competitive edge against others in national exams?

In a certain sense, I think this sort of points us to the famous quote that, "人不为己天诛地灭!", but perhaps we should re-consider this ancient saying from a broader perspective and not just understanding it from the face-value implication.

Apropos point 4), the conclusion was that mediocre educational practice is defined by standardization and prescription. Of course I think this is also dependent on the level of operational stage the schools are at... certain degree of standardization does have its pros... else many things will go haywire. We all know about the dangers of prescribing (or overly-prescribing), but in fact 'prescription' does have its usage too, especially at the point of taking off.. Prescription is probably an out-of-date concept in our current society, but I do know that for instance, Chinese traditional 'prescription' to learning is that you memorize the texts you are given first (e.g. poem in ancient Chinese etc.), and usually you wont even know what you are memorizing about, and it's after the memorization that the teacher will then delve into the interpretation and understanding of the texts. U'll maybe only slowly appreciate and understand the memorized facts after months or years. Dont be surprised that such 'prescriptive' mode of learning (if we might put it) is still very much adhered to today, especially certain facets in the study of TCM and higher level Chinese language so to speak. I think it does have its own reasons for close adherance through dynasties up till now. Does it really imply that we'll have brighter physicians if such prescriptive mode of learning is alleviated? maybe yes, maybe not.

But of course I do agree that for later-stage development (considering individuality and other factors), overly prescribing will hamper further advancements

Anyway just some after-thoughts... Listening to this lecture does remind me of certain strategies that has roots from history... just like for instance many ppl are now applying Sun Tze's 'art of war' to various forms of management... im not too familiar with these kind of strategies to be truth, so im not too sure if there are any connecting points across all this different theories of effective managements that is everywhere (or so it seems to a layman like me).

sidetracking abit, recently I've been watch the 郑和下西洋 tv series every Sat night on Chan U, this particular version is really gd. Now its still showing the preceeding stage before 郑和 was sent to sail the oceans, about how 燕王 was forced to start a war with the current emperor. It's a long story, but anyway what really impressed me about 燕王 was that even as a leader, he managed to win the hearts of all his soldiers, the great respect, loyalty and willingness to follow him and sacrifice for him throughout the years.. i think thats really amazing. To me its an ideal reflection of good leadership. A great leader is not someone who only knows how to talk and operate at the 'high-up' level.. but someone who can be also function at the most basic level, do the most menial job, respecting ppl under his care, be the first person to lead and try out new implementations etc. 燕王 was always in the lead at any wars, instead of getting the soldiers to sacrifice first while he waits at the last line... although his life is so precious and if he dies, there goes the ppl who joined him in the 'rebel'.

he once said, "本王虽是王，但也是兵，也是将".

9 down! 1 more to go!

2010-04-16T18:32:00.007+08:00

I completed 3 observations today.. making up to a total of 9 completed observations in all! YAY~
This should be worthy of celebration right? haha
But somehow I feel a little sad.. not that I regret.. I gave a 110% for everything already... I think that will be comforting enough... and stories behind should remain untold to uphold peace...

That aside, I have been receiving so many emails about performances in school and I so wish I could go.. Just a few days back, I saw this NIE pop band poster about the upcoming performance... Really reminds me of the life I used to lead for the past 4 years... really really fond memories. For one thing, I can wake up later than 6am generally and take my own sweet time, relaxing while travelling 1.5hr to the extreme west everyday. To worry about the food to eat for lunch, my own modules to clear and going out with friends only... But now demands are much higher.. everyday seems an endless breathless race. Hope everyone is doing great for this final assessment.. Actually throughout the attachment period, I have gone back to ntu a number of times. It indeed feels good to be there again, breathing the familiar chocolate-filled air...

In the sea of greenery lies the lion
the 'zion' of knowledge?
where our hearts beat as one,
a form of comradship.
To the left, lies the Yellow tees, Viva la vida...
we tell ourselves... I will Survive.
we did.
But sometimes, it cant be helped and Tear drops on the guitar
there is no need to Apologise.
we learned.

The memories... we hold dear..

The process that counts...

twenty-two.

2010-02-18T21:05:00.004+08:00

I will miss school very much... The last week has finally arrived much to my dismay. Next Monday onwards marks the start of my marathon and I will only be having a short break after 10 weeks. It's still hard to believe that 4 years have passed so quickly.. and it really seem like I just entered school and it was only yesterday that we had the audition. They are still so vivid in my mind. I even remembered exactly which part of the canteen I was sitting at that time and where was yif sitting. When we walked to the room for audition then it dawned upon us that we're gonna be classmates!

More importantly, the past 2 years have been a really wonderful and much treasured time for me... I have been told when I just entered uni to never leave any blank spaces in my life this 4 years.. and I think I did it.. probably time to retire gradually from these limelight. Take care eveyone :)

22 forever.

am i reaching the borders soon?

2009-12-08T23:02:00.008+08:00

2009 is finally coming to an end... It has been a long time since i last posted here. During this period of time, I have been busy with performances locally, in London and Taiwan. It has been an amazing experience for me in the past months and i really wish that our individual instrumental tuition could last till next semester, which unfortunately is going to end this semester for our batch of final years. I'm now left with the final 2 yangqin lessons which i must treasure dearly. There're still many pieces for me to learn and my teacher actually planned the pieces to do next semester already, until I broke the news to here some time ago... good things always come to an end so quickly...

I think I have really put in effort since i entered year 1 to maximise the time i had and achieve what i can.. but as the saying goes, 'you can't have all the good things from both worlds'.. In the blink of the eye, I'm going to graduate.. this blog has accompanied my learning journey for the past 3.5 years. Looking back, I think it's really time for me to retire from the stage very soon and actually, thinking back now, I do feel a little regretful for spending so much time in music and I often wonder if i have made the right choices.. some things will never the same anymore if you dont treasure it in the early stages.. Success in life to me is not measured by achievements and how fantastic one's ability is.. Will I live the life i hope for? hopefully i can... Although it's a little late already

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero

2009-05-07T11:53:00.004+08:00

Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow...

It's hols once again.. perhaps my final hols that last for more than a month before I'm thrown into the working world.. Time really flies too quickly and it felt like it was only yesterday when I went for the 'audition' and met my new classmates.. sightreading a vocal piece with jean (one on each hand) for yif..., where everytime after choir or during recorder prac, we would ask the helpful yr 4s then, on tips to completing our music assignments... Now it's gonna be my turn, as a going-to-be- yr4 (a.k.a. senior of the senior)... My final sem in school.. think I'll miss it a lot

This final long hols shall be made more meaningful.. I must try to reduce slacking around during hols this time and do some constructive things like continue the arrangement project, do abit of cooking and probably learn the drumset... apart from the yq lessons. Hopefully the swine flu epidemic will improve so I can go UK for the llangollen international musical eisteddfod which comes right smack in the middle of my practicum.. not sure if I made the right choice to go though

oh ya and move from being

okok Carpe diem. dum loquimur, fugerit invida..... haha better get going with blackie..!

tk care everyone!

music as architect, architect as music

2009-04-18T14:49:00.003+08:00

Something to ponder for today:

"音乐是流动的建筑，建筑是凝固的音乐"

Drumline

2009-01-21T22:33:00.001+08:00

Drumline - More amazing videos are a click away

must watch - Volodos!

2009-01-02T23:22:00.002+08:00

Today I chanced upon this video of Arcadi Volodos playing his own transcription of Mozart's Turkish march.. it's really fantastic! unbelievable that it's just one piano, one pianist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuUK5c4gC9w

His Rach 2 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foxwafvzu04&feature=related

great stuffs!

With a Variable Key

2009-01-02T09:57:00.004+08:00

With a variable key
you unlock the house in which
drifts the snow of that left unspoken.
Always what key yopu choose
depends on the blood that spurts
from your eye or your mouth or your ear.

You vary the key, you vary the word
that is free to drift with the flakes.
What snowball will form round the word
depends on the wind that rebuffs you.

~Paul Celan

Happie 2009 to all!

2009-01-01T00:10:00.004+08:00

2008 is now history and it's time for us to move forward again, architects of the future! Hopefully in this coming year, everything would be smoothsailing and a satisfying year for us.. It's time to work hard again.. School is almost starting in a wk's time and it's time to de-rust my brain.. haha.. gotta start getting used to the hecticity of assignments, (rather than play), which I've been too used to for the past weeks..

Come to think of it, it just seemed yesterday that we ushered in 2008, and now it's over.. time really flies and soon i would be graduating. Haha, I really wish that time wouldnt go past so quickly.. I can already feel the weight of making decisions, and sometimes i think life is really a gamble.. when instincts come into conflict with logic/ reasonableness/ practicality.. what do we do? haha

Anyway... it's the first day of 2009.. Stay healthy and happie everyone!!! :)

Essay outline

2008-10-31T00:13:00.005+08:00

Amalgamation and Refinement: Looking into the compositional ideas of Wang Jian Min through his “Erhu Rhapsody No. 1”

Introduction

The 1st Erhu Rhapsody was composed by Wang Jian Min (王建民) in 1988, which falls under the third phase (1976 – 1989) of the developmental phase in contemporary erhu music, marking the end of the Cultural Revolution. While keeping to the traditions brought forward by his predecessors, Wang Jian Min was also absorbed in introducing, exploring and creating new and unique forms of expressions, playing a pivotal role in the development of contemporary erhu music. In his compositions, he strives towards “雅俗共赏，中西并存” as his compositional philosophy (i.e. they must satisfy what he perceived should be the basis of music – “listenable” and aurally acceptable by the masses, while combining refined artistry drawn from both the Chinese and Western musical concepts in terms of structure, form and language (王建民，2003). By combining Chinese and Western musical elements, he refers to compositions exploring and combining traditional elements from China’s folk music, set against modern and contemporary compositional techniques of the Western musical concepts. Although he pioneered many new trends and is constantly experimenting with new ways of composing so as to break away from the traditional musical style, he firmly held that “创新度”是“新而不怪”(i.e. the degree of innovative ideas in music should not be too profound or avant garde that it becomes difficult for general listeners to appreciate) (王建民，2003).

“Erhu Rhapsody No. 1” is Wang Jian Min’s first major erhu composition. Using this piece as a basis for study, I would like to trace how Wang expanded upon forms and concepts from the Western musical tradition, which allowed him to break free from the traditional style of Chinese music writing, producing a work which is highly coherent yet contrasting in content, novel in style, yet not losing its sense of aesthetic beauty. By exploring the scales and harmonic colours, musical structure, thematic materials, textures and virtuosic elements, which are not usual characteristics of traditional Chinese music, we could gain an insight to how Western concepts and techniques of writing were imbued and built upon. Furthermore, I would also take a look at how folk and traditional Chinese music elements were preserved and developed in the piece, which affected the choice of scale (which essential was drawn from the West), rhythms and pulse used, as well as breakthroughs in erhu performing techniques.

Main Points

Ø Provide brief background of the 3 phases of contemporary erhu music
Phase 1 (1949 – 1966)
Phase 2 (1966 – 1976)
Phase 3 (1976 – 1989)

Ø Scale used

According to 孙凰 (2004), 陈静(2008), this piece is written using a self – constructed 9 tone scale C D Eb E F# G Ab Bb B. This scale corresponds to the third mode in Olivier Messiaen’s limited transpositional scale/ mode, where Messiaen was fascinated by scales that only had a few transpositions. It consists of three segments, each comprising of a tone followed by two semitones.

Tracing the general trend of the use of this scale throughout the piece, we could observe how he made use of this scale at different transpositions and may perhaps provide us some insights into the structure of the piece.

We could categorize the piece into six sections. The introduction uses T2, followed by a section which generally revolves around T1 before moving to T2 to lead in to the next section. The fourth section is classified by instability, employing the scale at different transpositions but T0 seemed to be the central mode here. This is followed by a section of more stability in T0. In the final section, the music leads back to T2, which is the mode in which the piece began.

Ø Motivic Idea

4-17 is a prominent idea, especially seen in how the introduction is stemmed from it, as well as in the opening phrases of motivic ideas ‘a’ and ‘d’ (as well as the variants of ‘d’). This served as a unifying feature in the piece across sections and in a sense also blurs distinction between motifs ‘a’ and ‘d’, which are found across sections. It also undergoes intervallic expansion and expanded to form a larger set as seen in Andante.
This motivic idea is inherent in the mode employed by the composer.
4-17 is implicitly a symmetrical set, however this symmetry does not seem to be utilized on the musical surface.

Even when 4-17 is not utilized in other motifs, the composer sometimes made use of other sets which bears resemblance to 4-17 in terms of IcV. (absense of maj 2nds and tritones)
IcV of 4-17: <1,0,2,2,1,0>,
E.g. piano transition (bars 59-60), the two alternate chords are based on 5-21.
IcV: <2,>
Adagio section (at bar 62), the melody was built upon 4-20.
IcV: <1,>

Ø Form/ Tonality/ Motivic ideas

One of the earliest Chinese piece that uses non-programmatic/ descriptive title, resembling Western Classical tradition.
Instead of writing in the usual ternary form with a balanced nature (flanked by an introduction and a coda that is free in tempo) characteristic of traditional Chinese pieces, ‘rhapsody’ is employed as a structural vehicle. This is something that is absorbed from the Western musical concept.

Due to the highly integrated structure in terms of fluidity in motivic ideas (distinct yet similar) and scales used, lack of clear cadential point, as well as ambiguity in tonal center makes clear distinction of form difficult, especially in the traditional sense. The sense of tonality or key centers are largely established by ostinato pedal pattern, or motivic gestures emphasizing a particular note more often than the others.

However, we could possibly say that this piece resembles a ternary form to a certain extent, although it does not adhere strictly to the usual prescriptive characteristics of ternary form.

Introduction

Introduced the idea of 4-17 (prominently utilized throughout the piece)
Tonally rather stable, in the key of D major
Main transposition of scale: T2

Section A (bars 2-73)

Motif ‘a’ (bars 3 – 7) and ‘a1’ (bar 26 – 27). Based on 4-17.
Tonal center: A (maj/min)

Motif ‘b’ (bars 62 – 63). Triad as prominent feature (vertically and horizontally) – contrast with ‘a’.
Impression of tonal center: (C maj à) D major

Main transposition of scale: T1

Transition? (bars 84-99)

Motif ‘c’.
Tonal center: F major à Bb major
Main transposition of scale: T2 (same as intro)

Section B (bars 100-237)

Motif ‘d’ and subsequent variations. Based on 4-17 again (coherence - mirrors that in section A?).
Motif ‘e’

Contrast from previous sections:
Tonal instability: G (maj/min) --> Ab major --> D minor --> D major --> G major
Pass through many transpositional scales (see scales point above).
Higher energy level compared to section A

Section A’? (bars 238-266)

Similarities to Section A: themes somewhat ‘broughtback’
e.g. Motif reminiscent to motif a (in octave equivalence)
Erhu Cadenza – reminiscent of motif a1 and b1

Ways in which it differs:
T0 instead of T1
C major instead of home key of D, although the erhu cadenza ended off in D
Mood

Coda (bars 267 - )

Motivic ideas ‘a’ and ‘d’ from sections A and B are brought back. Emphasis of 4-17, which is explored further.
Tonal center: Return to D major
Transposition of scale: return to T2

Ø Virtuosic elements (breakthrough in performance techniques)

Ø Influences from the Chinese Folk elements

Juxtaposition of major and minor 3rd in 4-17 – characteristic in 苗族飞歌
Pulse and the frequent change in time signature – characteristic in 彝族阿细跳月
Using wooden part of bow to hit soundboard – imitate bamboo dancing of 苗族
Hit against the snake skin with the right hand and the pluck the strings with the left hand – imitate hitting of drums

Conclusion

(still under construction...)

motivic ideas

2008-10-30T21:50:00.004+08:00

2008-10-30T21:49:00.000+08:00

Influences from the Chinese Folk elements

2008-10-27T11:57:00.003+08:00

According to 孙凰, the piece draws upon materials from Yunnan folk tunes, such as those from 苗族飞歌，彝族阿细跳月 and 傣族孔雀舞曲’s tonal inflection and rhythmic characteristics.

For instance, this juxtaposition of major and minor 3rd which portrayed the ambiguity of a major or minor tonality as inherent in the choice of set class 4-17 is actually a prominent characteristic in music of the 苗族飞歌, where there is extensive use of such inflections to create contrast.

After watching a few 彝族阿细跳月clips, I notice that pulse and the frequent change in time signature are important elements, such as the succession of alternating 3 beats, 2 beats or 5 beats, 4 beats, creating a sense of regularity within irregularity. This frequent change in pulse (e.g. bars 26 – 53 [alternating 3/8 and 4/8, 3/8 and 2/8]) and the use of 5/4 (as seen in bars 216 – 219) are characteristics of music from this tribe. The unexpectancy in terms of pulse due to frequent changes and wide variety of time signature aids in creating periods of tension and relief, and inject more rhythmic excitement. For instance, from bars 216 – 237, the change in time signature from 5/4 --> 4/4 --> 6/8 --> 5/8 --> 4/8 --> 3/8 --> 2/8, coupled with syncopations, further upsets the regularity of pulse, aiding in the culmination of a small climax.

(refer to http://you.video.sina.com.cn/b/9768653-1339817027.html for an example of 彝族阿细跳月dance)

The composer also draws upon Yunnan 苗族’s bamboo dancing and vividly depict the hitting of bamboos during such dance, by employing the technique of striking soundboard using the wooden part of the bow with the rhythm

(refer to http://v.ku6.com/show/3dfMtuz6GYSEvxFH.html for a clip of bamboo dance).

In the opening of the Allegro assai section (bar 267), the erhu player has to hit against the snake skin with the right hand and the pluck the strings with the left hand. The aim actually, is to imitate the hitting of drums and these ‘drumming’ patterns, together with the accompaniment gradually became more dense rhythmically and texturally as the registral space widened so as to lead in to the climatic Presto section. However in actual performance, many erhu players omit these 24 bars because they felt the effect was not significant enough, and once the accompaniment enters 4 bars later, it would be drowned, as such sound effects could not penetrate far.

Structure/ form

2008-10-26T23:50:00.007+08:00

In traditional Chinese music repertory, meaning takes precedence over form and structure – an inverse of Western music. In the pre 1950s, we could hardly find any Chinese traditional music that is absolute in nature and a large majority of them bears descriptive titles. Interestingly, this piece is entitled “1st Erhu Rhapsody” which mirrors titles we often finds in Western music (e.g. 1st Violin Concerto etc.), and this is also one of the earliest Chinese piece to be entitled in this manner.

Traditional music[1] are said to be especially difficult to compose. Concepts like the yin and yang are evident in music, with an introduction and concluding section, both of which are usually free in tempo, whereas the middle body is a highly mathematical structure based on lunar, moon, elements of earth etc., all in perfect balance. In other words, the form is usually rather balanced and symmetrical in a sense. However here, we see that it follows the rhapsodic form – something that is absorbed from the Western musical concept. Especially the employment of a presto section which steer the piece to a greater climax at the end is uncommon in traditional pieces.
Rhapsody allows more freedom in terms of structure, greater emotional intensity, and thus lending more room for expressivity.

This piece is written in the style of free rhapsodic form, rather than in conventional formal structure that is clearly demarcated by traditional harmonic and melodic gestures. Thus it is really difficult for listeners do discern the structure of the piece, as changes in sections are blurred out due to fluidity in terms of materials and scales used, connections that one can make in terms of motivic idea, although re-ordered and explored in a contrasting manner. In addition, ambiguity in terms of tonal center, as inherent in the limited transpositional scale employed furthered made distinctions difficult as listeners get a sense of the integrated and free flowing structure that features a range of highly contrasted moods, colour and tonality.

Tentatively, I think we could view the piece as consisting of 5 sections (but I'm not sure if this way of labelling is appropriate because motivically and harmonically, I'm having trouble deciding where to delineate a change in section or even if that particular motif should be seen as a variant or a new motif).

In the introduction, 4-17, which provides the seeds for which motifs and harmonic ideas of the whole piece are stemmed is introduced. This whole section corresponds to T2 (of the transpositional scale) and is rather stable tonally in D, although it is ambiguous whether it is in D major or minor, as inherent in the choice of set class.

Section A correspond music from bars 2 – 83, with tonal center around A (major/ minor). Based on 4-17, motif ‘a’ (bars 3 – 7) is created, which is subsequently re-presented with more movement and varied rhythmically and motivically, which I labeled ‘a1’ (bar 26 – 27).
Motif ‘b’ corresponds to bar 62 – 63. The use of triad is a prominent feature, both in the vertical (triadic harmony) as well as horizontal dimension (melodic movement that outline the triadic harmony). This contrasts with motif ‘a’, which is built upon 4-17. Here, there is an impression that the tonal center is in ‘D’, due to the consistent pedal, and more firmly rooted in D major with the introduction of F# and C# at bar 74, but the melodic contour still follows that of ‘b’. Thus this is labeled ‘b1’.

Bars 84 – 99 seemed to represent the transition, as there is a return to T2, with the juxtaposition of T0 in the left hand at bar 92.

Bars 100 – 265 seems to represent section B, with tonal center around G (major/ minor). The motivic ideas in this section also draw upon 4-17, which in a sense mirrors that in section A. However, in terms of soundscape, T1 is mainly used section A, while section B employed more of T0, T2, and T3, where T1 is employed to create harmonic contrast.
Motif ‘d’ is introduced from bars 100 – 103. Subsequently, variants of ‘d’ can be observed at bars 123 – 127 (d1), 151 – 158 (d2), and 191 – 192 (d3 in Ab major). This is followed by motif ‘e’ at bars 203 – 204, with tonal centricity around D minor and a short reminiscent of 'd2' (bar 211). It then moved through to D major at bar 223 and G major at bar 234.

In the Largo section, the motif is reminiscent of 'd2' and 'a' (if we think in octave equivalence). Thus, perhaps as 孙凰 suggested, it could represent section A’, although it is in the key of C rather than the home key of D.

The erhu cadenza at bar 266 represents a transition to the Allegro section, with ideas reminiscent of ‘a1’.

The last section (bars 267 - end) could be viewed as a coda because there is a recapitulation of motivic ideas in both section A and B, as well as the use of 4-17. For instance, bar 279 is reminiscent of d3, bar 211 reminds us of d2’, but there are now more extensive variation in this section, culminating in the Presto, which is the essence of a ‘rhapsody’ - that of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation. There is also a return to the original key of D and T2 of the transpositional scale employed.

[1] Chinese repertory into 3 categories. 1) Traditional music refers to pieces which we cannot ascertain who the composers are. 2) Modern music would be communist literature music (1949-1979). 3) Contemporary music

limited compositional mode

2008-10-20T01:00:00.005+08:00

According to 孙凰, the composer formulates this scale based on Olivier Messiaen’s limited compositional scale/ mode. Messiaen was fascinated by scales that only had a few transpositions. For example: the whole tone scale which has 2 transpositions.
Messiaen’s second mode, also called the “octatonic scale”, rises by alternating semitone, tone, semitone, tone etc. Messiaen used this scale a great deal, not just in his tunes but in the chords that he used (i.e. melodically and harmonically).
The third mode rises by a pattern of tone, semitone, semitone. It has four transpositions that gives a different combination of notes.
As seen, Wang Jian Ming’s scale corresponds to the third mode.

The attraction of modes of limited transposition is in the tonal ambiguity which results from their symmetry, as Messiaen points out, a tonality can be emphasized or left unsettled. From this point of view, the greater the symmetry the greater the possibilities. Thus, for modes which are transposable six times held much less interest than those transposable two, three or four times for Messiaen.
The use of such modes allowed Wang Jian Ming to be unconstrained by traditional (pentatonic) scales, injecting harmonic colour different from those of traditional chinese pieces and make the process of modulation more fluid.
Tonal centers are generally achieved through the use of pedal points and emphasis of certain notes more frequently and prominently, such as at structural points.

(extracted from梅西安的“有限移位调式”研究 by 康建东)

T0 (C D Eb E F# G Ab Bb B C)
T1 (Db Eb E F G Ab A B C Db)
T2 (D E F F# G# A A# C C# D)
T3 (Eb F F# G A A# B C# D Eb)

Intro --> T2

Looking at the piece from the perspective of the third mode, the Andante section corresponds to T1 of the 3rd mode in set theoretic terms (or 第二移位, refer to diagram above), however tonal center shifted from A to E and back to A centricity at bar 34 through the use of descending bassline.
It then shifted to T2 from bars 35 – 42 before it goes back to T1 at bar 42 beat 4, with temporarily change to T2 to reharmonise the A pedal at bar 55 and back to T1, leading in to the Adagio section. Again, there is a temporal change in colour with the introduction of D at the 2nd half of phrase 2 (bar 68) and back to T1 at bar 70.

I roughly followed the score to see how Wang utilize this mode for the piece.

Bar 74 --> T3
Bar 84 (Moderato Rubato) --> T2
Bar 92 (Allegretto) --> RH T2, LH T0

Bar 100 (Rubato) --> T0

Bar 119 (Allegro con brio) --> T3
Bar 151 --> T0
Bar 167 --> T1
Bar 174 --> T0
Bar 175 (reharmonise) --> T1
Bar 176 --> T0
Bar 203 --> T2
Bar 211 --> T3
Bar 213 -->T2
Bar 234 --> T0

Bar 238 (Largo) --> T0

Bar 267 (Allegro Assai) --> T0
Bar 291 --> T1
Bar 305 (Presto) --> T2

self-constructed scale stemming from [0, 3, 4, 7]

2008-10-12T21:38:00.008+08:00

I just realised that the self-constructed scale C D Eb E F# G Ab Bb B actually comprise of 3 sets of [0, 3, 4, 7]! Alternatively, according to 陈静 and 陈建华, this nonachord is made up of a tetrachord with the juxtaposition of 1 major 2nd and 2 minor 2nd intervals (i.e. [0, 2, 3, 4] in set notation). From this, we can see 3 sets of [0, 2, 3, 4] in the scale ----> E-F#-G-Ab, Ab-Bb-B-C, C-D-Eb-E But maybe from this perspective, it is more difficult to see how thematic materials are drawn and utilized from the scale.

Intro - Andante scores

2008-10-05T17:41:00.005+08:00

一狂 Set Analysis - Andante section

2008-10-05T17:40:00.003+08:00

Recap ...

Materials found in the introduction:

In the succeeding Andante section, I found some recurrences of these materials at different transpositional intervals and at times, slightly altered by expansion and diminution.

As seen in the scores above, [0, 3, 4, 7] is used frequently, both melodically and harmonically, with subset – superset relation, inversional, transpositional relation.

The largest set {0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9} containing the subsets [0, 3, 4, 7] and [0, 1, 4, 5, 9] is found at the end of the melodic phrase (bars 16-20) and this is further enlarged in bars 21-22 into {0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9}, when the melodic role is passed to the accompaniment.

一狂 Intro Score

2008-09-24T00:21:00.000+08:00

一狂 Set analysis for intro

2008-09-24T00:20:00.014+08:00

Although this is a contemporary piece of Chinese music, it is not written in an avant garde manner that makes it difficult for listeners to appreciate with few listening. It still contains aesthetic aspects which appeal to the masses, preserving folk and traditional elements and building upon them to create music that is new, yet not losing its sense of beauty – a philosophy held strongly by the composer.

1) Set analysis (concerned with unordered collection)

In this 1st erhu rhapsody, the composer draws upon tonal inflections from one of the minority race in Yunnan (or xi nan) to construct a 9-tone scale: C D Eb E F# G Ab Bb B (according to the writer 陈静), as well as various other elements from yunnan folk music instead of being constrained by the pentatonic scale, so as to depict the various musical imagery and a broader scope for expressiveness (i have not finished deducing all 9 notes yet).

The juxtaposition of a major and minor 3rd interval in a tetrachord seemed to be a characteristic of this piece (these four notes were introduced in the first set of notes played by the erhu right at the beginning and subsequently played at different inversions).

Normal form: [2, 5, 6, 9]
Inversional form: [3, 6, 7, 10]

This set of notes corresponds to the prime form [0, 3, 4, 7].
Looking at this prime form, I think we can derive 4 notes in the self-constructed scale, i.e. C, D#, E, G

~

As we can observe, this is a symmetrical set that maps onto itself at the axis between 3 & 4, 8 & 9.

The interval class vector (IcV) corresponding to this set is

So we can deduce that there is a wide palette of harmonic colours to work with, and the sonorities can consists of semitones, tones, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, tritones, which is evident in both the linear and horizontal dimensions in this intro section. It also implies T3 and T4 give the most common tones.

Relationship within set class [0, 3, 4, 7] as it is transposed and altered in the intro section:
(the following collection of notes has been reordered to show the relationship)

~
As seen, materials are drawn from the set [0, 3, 4, 7] related inversionally, transpositionally and in terms of subset. In particular, notes G# and A# from the self-constructed scale is introduced in the 5th system.

There is also a strong sense of tonal center around D major and soon after, there is emphasis on ‘A’, which is the dominant of D, followed by a temporal return to tonic and back to dominant which served as a link to the key of A in the next section. Thus we can still observe functional harmony at work here.
The choice of key (D major) may be due to the nature of the instrument (open strings D, A), thus D major to erhu is similar to C major for the piano. Thus the plucking of strings technique in the 4th system using notes D and A would give more resonance.

I haven’t found a particular group of notes for the pc set in the Andante section, but there is a motive I picked up in bar 4 (beat 6) – bar 5 (beat 1), which is related to a subset of [0, 3, 4, 7] by T9.

Analysis project - 第一二胡狂想曲 (1st Erhu Rhapsody )

2008-09-09T07:51:00.008+08:00

For my analysis project this semester, I would like to look into the 1st erhu Rhapsody by 王建民 (Wang Jian Min).

Brief background:
This piece was composed in 1988 and it is the first professional erhu piece that Prof Wang embarked on. Its creation was sparked off when he was approached to write a piece for an erhu graduating student, Deng Jian Dong from Nanjing Conservatory, and the conditions were that the piece had to be of a certain technical demand and depth. At that time, Wang just graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory not long ago and belonging to the group of younger generation China composer at that time, he felt obliged to delve into music for Chinese instruments and to bring Chinese Classical music to greater heights. Despite this Erhu Rhapsody being one of his earliest composition, it won him the 2nd prize in the 6th China National Chinese Music Composition (no first prize was awarded). The acclamations that followed after this piece was premiered spurred him to write the other two rhapsodies, which was completed in 1998 and 2003 respectively. But in between he wrote other pieces for the erhu and guzheng. Presently, these 3 rhapsodies are well-known in the erhu repertoire and commonly refered to as <一狂>，<二狂>, < 三狂>.

The 1st Erhu Rhapsody was conceived to be pushing the boundaries of traditional Chinese music, such as imbuing more freedom to the formal structure, use of self constructed scale (which I have not yet discovered), the playing with melodic and rhythmic motives, more daring explorations harmonically and greater demands in terms of performance techniques. For my analysis, I would be looking into these areas and hopefully it could help me appreciate how he preserves folk elements on one hand and incorporate western compositional techniques and styles on the other.
Generally, in all his compositions, Prof Wang strives to achieve a blend with both Western contemporary compositional techniques as well as folk elements from traditional Chinese music to create new musical styles and soundscape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In order to help me better appreciate contemporary erhu music, I've read up on 中国现代二胡曲创作概念, and it talks about the various developmental phase in contemporary Chinese erhu music.

Contemporary Erhu music can be largely classified into 3 phases (from 1949 – 1989).

In the early days, Chinese classical music were usually used to accompany Chinese operas, arias and assumes more of an accompanimental role. Many developments in erhu music can be attributed to 刘天华 (Liu Tian Hua) in the 1920s and 30s and it was him that elevated the status of Chinese music from serving entertainment purposes and progressed from ‘peoples music’ towards a more professional and sophisticated status.

Phase 1 (1949 – 1966)

The birth of New China provides the foundation for progress in erhu music, because the government supports folk music/ people’s music, and efforts were made to preserve and develop them. There were about 100+ erhu works being composed during this phase and most of the composers were erhu performers themselves and their works strive towards nationalistic ideals, inclusion of folk elements (e.g. folk tunes, scales, jiangnan sizhu music) so as to cater more to the masses. Composers built upon styles and performance practices broughtforth by pioneers such as 刘天华 and 瞎子阿炳 in the 1920s - 30s. 阿炳 is a well-known 'people's musician' with a unique style of playing 江南丝竹 music and his compositions were injected with jiangnan flavor.

Erhu compositions in this phase were generally described to emote both the hardships people have went through in the past, and the promises, hopes and happiness that the new China holds for them. There were considerable improvements made to the structural, thematic and technical features in those compositions. Composers built on the compositional techniques of Liu Tian Hua and consciously inject folk elements to achieve a blend between musical characteristics from both Western and Chinese musical traditions. I also realize that most Chinese classical music conform to the ABA structure.

Phase 2 (1966 – 1976)

This period coincides with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, thus all previous developments made to erhu music were almost put to a stop, as only simple arrangements of “样板戏”and “革命歌曲”were allowed. Thus there were almost no significant erhu compositions during this time. Music composed or arranged in this period generally served political agendas and pledged the support of the government. Hence, little or no considerations were made regarding the instrumental capabilities, structure, inner workings of the music. But rather, thoughts were put into the content of what is honored in the song, generating feelings of patriotism to the government.

Phase 3 (1976 – 1989)

This is a significant phase in the development of Chinese erhu music and marks the end of the Cultural Revolution. In this period, there is a sudden surge in quantity of erhu compositions, injected with new compositional techniques that comes with influences and contact with Western music and theories, as well as a greater variety of music genres.

Clearly, 王建民’s 1st Erhu Rhapsody belonged to this phase and he plays a pivotal role in opening up new territories for exploration in contemporary erhu music. I'll be looking further into this area in my subsequent post.

tapping away!

2008-05-21T22:01:00.005+08:00

I just bought a pair of flexible tap shoes at Golden Landmark today.. and they're quite exp.! Actually there're quite a number of online lessons on both the basic and more advanced tap dancing techniques like dig, shuffle, stomp, waves, single-time-step etc.. and i'm having fun experimenting with those taps

Maybe the floor for tap dancing has to be very smooth so it's easier to slide and i still havent found this kinda floor to prac yet.. Just now while learning the shuffle technique in front of my com. i had accidently left marks on the floor.. oops and when i noticed that, it was already too late.. haha they're quite significant marks but luckily i could remove some by wiping real hard.. i hope it wont be discovered, else i would be dead

From watching the performance videos, i think tap-dancing is one of the more versatile techniques as they can be incorporated into many other genres of dance like hip-hop, jazz, even ballet

and i just found this guy, Tom Chambers who tap danced with those percussions.. amazing and highly entertaining!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXFiFg2GX6w

yea and the famous Riverdance is just superb!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enq6E6wn1Pc&feature=related

blackie cant stand the scorching heat

2008-05-17T21:10:00.001+08:00

i predict that in the very near future, i wld have to change about 50% of my yq's strings.. cos they keep breaking due to high tension.. Usually my tuning only occurs in one direction, i.e. i always have to tune them higher cos the pitch keeps going down, perhaps due to the heat in my room.. Another of my bass string broke today while i was practicing.. and it's supposed to be one of the more difficult to break ones

And i wonder why on average i've to change the rubber for the sticks every 5 days, even when i'm already using the thickest rubber available. Hmm it's suppose to last at least 2-4 wks, plus i dont practice every hr of the day.. it's just perplexing. Those normal rubbers are even worse, it could only last about 2-3 days for me. Plus I just realized that the cost of these rubbers have doubled when i went to bras basah this afternoon and so i ended up buying none.. gosh it's getting expensive to maintain the inst.!

H.M.D.

2008-05-10T23:56:00.004+08:00

yea! finally finished carving out this pic after nearly 4 hrs. Though i wished it could have looked better.. haha i think the sample still looked more life-liked than my carvings. But I've to be thankful i didnt quite spoil it, i think can still make out they are dolphins not unknown creatures of the sea.. haha! I guess the most challenging part is adjusting to the blinding reflection from the silver foil and trying to make out those pale sketch marks at the same time

right... almost time to leave it at where it shld be.. hee!

Happy mother's day to all!

the long awaited score

2008-04-26T15:16:00.003+08:00

haha.. Guess what..! I finally got the yellow river concerto score transcribed for the yq after so many years!! Actually after looking through it, it's really much simpler than the piano version technically.. yea but of course it's not just about getting the techniques.. Am going to start learning.. woohoo!

Phew.. am so thankful that the hols are finally here. It's a time to learn new pieces, instruments as well as do some serious reading up.. Am still unsure if I shld take part in the comp again this yr as what my teacher wants me to.. cos it dosent sound like a wise choice to me.. maybe i shld just accompany on the piano for competitiors instead. But anyway i guess i shld still learn the Sasarate's piece she wanted me to play for the finals.. coz it's really challenging and looks v complicating to me... whoa had a hard time sight-reading at her place just now, think this is going to take some time to sort out

music-makers

2008-03-18T11:21:00.003+08:00

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World losers and world forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.

~Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy, "We are the music-makers"

amazing building

2008-03-15T17:08:00.004+08:00

one day must go visit this place at huian city!

That violin-like structure is actually the entrance to the main building shaped like a grand piano.. wow.. simply lovely!

the story of spring?

2008-02-08T21:26:00.002+08:00

Went to Sentosa Flowers 2008 today... haha not that i had nothing better to do.. but just wanted some 'fresh air' off the mainland..

i think i just enjoyed running around that place.. in the midst of sweet flower scent..
interest wise.. hmm i think i prefer those at the Hortpark.. coz it's bigger and there are more varieties

ok shouldnt upload too many stuffs here :)

yq lesson

2008-02-02T15:07:00.001+08:00

This morning dunno why my laoshi suddenly say that if i were in china she sure ask me to go study in a conservatory etc.. haha i didnt know how to respond.. thought i actually felt a sigh from her as she said these.. But anyway this coming year shall be a year to remain low in profile i guess.. unless being called upon.. never boast or volunteer.. haha the advice given for rabbits...

today learnt about the importance of rests, which are much more important than those notes in the music.. haha heard of it before actually, just dont know how to apply.. now this 流浪者之歌 has lots of upbeats, rubatos and stuffs.. so it's a time to learn this skill

wonder if it's gd to play a piece with western feel for a chinese music exam.. haha

oh ya lesson was a long one today.. first time she wasnt home when i pressed the doorbell.. haha thought she had already flew back and i wasnt supposed to turn up for lesson.. but luckily i heard the sound of heels a few moment later... wow wear heels to crowded market to eat breakfast. Lucky the next student cancelled her lesson so we had a bit of time to chat.. i saw her younger photos and those newspaper articles.. wa looked so different.. and that sunshine on tashkurgan she played at i think 10 yr old.. so fantastic.. I must remember to remind her again to give me the yq score of the Yellow River Concerto.. she's the only one who has played it in S'pore.. haha my dream piece.. oops..! haha imagine this coming from an amateur's mouth!

watched he2 ni3 zai4 yi4 qi3 again today cos mum wants to watch.. i must say it's a really good movie for music students... coz i learnt a lot from there and i see parts of myself being portrayed in there.. the long journey since i embarked upon yrs ago... so i can connect to those 心酸 .. haha

2008-01-18T23:19:00.000+08:00

guess it was an enlightening discussion this morn... seems like not all mus players have had that 'aesthetic experience'.. initially thought maybe i was weird to hav that kinda indescribable feel, but to actually hear some even had more of these kinda feel is just... haha i m speechless

and finally it was agreed upon that ppl who hav been into mus for long time and hav certain depth in the way they perceive mus or whatever aesthetic things generally hav a higher lvl of sensitivity.. can just feel the really subtle things in life.. i think sometimes this is just such a bad thing... feel too much and sometimes just cant stop it... in the end........ haha ppl like that will know what are the consequences

2008-01-15T09:40:00.000+08:00

woke up this morning and was greeted by:
~

hahaha..

toys also need heliotherapy...

2008-01-05T20:26:00.000+08:00

haha this morning was a crazy one... imagine taking out all those soft toys for sunbathing..! coz store in cupboards for too long not very good also.. got smell and i think they need a breather

hahaha i thought might as well take some photos... so here it is

So long never attend yco practice.. so it felt really wonderful to be making music.. not notes, tempo and rhythm know...

it has been such a long time since i heard that kinda gaohu and dizi playing.. i cant get enough of it... really, different orch has diff cultures

Though this translates to more stress for sight-readers like me.. I'm feeling bleary-eyed now.. haha but luckily the scores still quite ok..

Oh ya.. just discovered yesterday that >>>>

HE is coming to S'pore!

remember the extraordinary yellow river performance i talked about that time.. it's him

But he's rather old already.. heard his performance last year wasnt as powerful as the 80s recording... more emotional but fire wise.. hmm

haha nevertheless i just wanna see him live.. but i wont expect that much

his 3 points about the makings of a performer are quite true... so i've taken them to heart

Coz i want to be like L.L., he's just amazing.. 8 concertos in a concert.. heard it was sensational

and take into account he's only 25... goodness! He really has rich imagination, which i think is really important.. though his facial expressions are a bit too much i feel

Check out his Paraphrase of Don Juan and that accompaniment of 赛马 he played for his dad during his Carnegie Hall performance from the tube webbie.. haha!

off we go.. again

2008-01-03T19:41:00.000+08:00

Went orchard with gang today.. haha seems like our fav makan place is still S.G... After spending like 3 hr plus there, i still dont feel any fullness.. and the food and soup kept getting burnt.. i think one of the reasons is that our 'chef' wasnt around today. It's really unhealthy, so didnt really eat much of these.... (dont look good right.. haha)

We saw a fantastic toy at taka when walking arnd... haha it's a grand piano toy where the keys can depress on its own according to the piece that it's playing.. i've checked.. the correct keys are depressed.. wow... if only the pedals can depress on its own too. The cost for this toy is enough to buy a decently good yq already.. haha $800+ lehz.. so exp.

One of our goals today was to find the wow L.C.R. at tangs... and ya we found it... haha it's really not like the usual C.R. that we often see.. this one still got atmosphere one.. somemore so spacious... for the rich tai tais.. not little kids like us

Anyway, it's essentially a place for the affluent.. where we can just stare wide-eyed and mouth agaped.. and take photos.. haha! imagine purchasing a jacket that cost $6000+?!

Oh ya we also checked out the L.C.R. at taka.. not as fantastic, but also not that typical.. haha this one can toggle lighting mode between night and day.. plus they have a phone in there for u to call for assistance.. but we were wondering.. call who for assistance?

(All above photos are courteousy of Wilf. and his cam.... :)

so awful i cant imagine

2007-12-30T22:46:00.000+08:00

scary... came across worse than i thought... i dont even dare to look at it or hear it again...
since watching that video i've been sighing till now... hope she wont ask to see it.. haiz

x'mas practice

2007-12-25T18:29:00.000+08:00

Am feeling slightly exhilarated after today's orch prac... coz there's finally some element of music! There has been improvements in the 'hunting' section and I just hope they can remember that feel... though i wonder if i made the right choice to request for a tempo increment, so as to stir up the excitement in them, coz it really do sound better at a faster pace... i just hope that i can make those runs and octave leaps safely this sun... i guess i'm just being adventurous.. coz i also attempted a free tempo effect against the strict tempo of the orch at one section... haha! thought it sounds ok actually

What i still worry most are the slow sections, coz the melody is just too lovely that it actually became a considerable challenge to enliven it. I always feel that things that sound nice and easily memorable on first hearing are the ones to get sick of very fast... haha so how to sustain that interest and give it a twist in subsequent recurrence and variations? i'm still thinking... ahh! Plus my 'lun' always so unsecure.. lucky my teacher is overseas, else i think she might just sigh and shake her head... hahaha! Oh i just discovered my name on newspaper last thur.. but am slightly disappointed why they didnt print my teacher's name like they did for the rest.. they must have forgot i think... haha the only one without history also.. actually it's less stress in this sense also, coz if i dont play well, i wont tarnish the reputation of others. Anyway my mentality is to enjoy myself only and treat it as a learning opportunity.. so just take it easy and dont hope for too much

But i wonder what i should do if the melodic instruments that outline the melody i play went off in tempo, resulting in clashes coz the same melody would sound at diff time... should i vary my tempo accordingly even if it means skipping beats? ot shld i continue as if nothing happens and let the conductor handle? hmm.. any ideas?

so many things.. so little time

2007-12-14T21:24:00.000+08:00

haha if only there're 48 hrs a day! Time just flies.. havent even get to finish doing what i want and the day is over. Many times i dont even know which day of the wk it is.. Esp. when I prac., i take really long to work things out.. haha partly coz i'm a slow learner.. one intro can take hrs and still unsatisfactory. There's so many things i wanna learn and life's just getting more exciting.. as this dec marks many of my 'first' experiences! Apart from the yq and p. stuffs to work out, I managed to borrow an e.h. from a special friend.. i think it's one of the harder inst. to learn and even harder to make it sound nice. Am figuring out on my own.. hav no bks or scores and i think i can only play in D+ and G+ for now.. haha but i dunno why, it just feels gd to anyhow play also. With this new inst., i think my plans for learning the drum set can be put aside first

the moment

2007-12-02T19:20:00.000+08:00

Life today revolves around concert halls.. went for rehearsal at 1130am for the high-scorer concert and by the time i finished performing and collecting my results etc., it's already 4.30pm.. Thereafter rushed to vch for CCO concert (free tics :)..

But that's not the main point. Today... today, is one of the happiest day in my life.. not because i was a top scorer, there's nothing spectacular about it.. but more importantly, i had finally, after 6 yrs of hard work and growing up, gained approval by someone who has nurtured me in my younger days.. someone who's taught me, scolded me, hugged me... who's always said my playing is just like plain water.. no taste and i wont go far if i continue.. She's none other than the my piano teacher who has taught me for 5 yrs, and also the person who has taught me the most about music, although that time i think due to my age, i just couldnt figure out the emotional aspect in music and i think that pissed her off

I was utterly surprised when i saw her at rehearsals today.. in a chinese music scene..! (i later found out that she has become the i.c. for this chinese mus exam)... she said she couldnt even recognize me now and i have indeed grown up... i could almost sense the pride in her voice when she chatted with my yq teacher later on (i just found out that they were v gd friends too.. haha)

i could still rem the 2 yrs of absolutely no playing on instruments, though i heard and watched lots of perf then.... initially i thought it was rather relieving.... until at the end of sec 4 i could stand it no longer.... and i think i was in the midst of prep o lvl, and one day when no one was home i opened the lid laid with dust and started playing.. wha i just cant describe it... it was the most magical and wonderful sensation i hav never felt before.. and i began revisiting my past lesson tapes. It's only then that i finally understood what my p. teacher had meant in the past... i began applying those skills on yq too and it was also only then did i start going for a few yq lesson.. out of love than anything else...

I must say the exam result was quite surprising, but it did show one thing... my new method of practicing seemed to be working! Due to the hectic sch life, i could only prac every fri nite.. before my yq lesson... for the rest of the wk, i had just think about those pieces and sometimes i would prac when i'm asleep.. it's possible and it works!.. though it also meant that i m not sleeping well.. haha... it's funny i play better when i spend less time practicing by the inst. and when i'm under lots of stress during semester.. than when i'm relaxed during hols... hmm weird

Just in time for Festive season!

2007-11-30T09:04:00.000+08:00

haha watch this.. so funny.. his songs always cheer me up!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1522104883855814582&q=Dick+Lee&total=580&start=20&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2

my new basketball

2007-11-28T21:25:00.000+08:00

finally gotten a basketball!! haha

since yesterday I have made up my mind to exercise every morning... have realized the importance of keeping fit because performing a piece requires so much energy, those building of climaxes, nuances, expressivity.. it's athletic in nature

I still rem i almost fainted on the early hrs of Mon this wk.. quite a scary experience, though it's not my 1st time already.. plus the daunting idea of not completing seminars in a few hrs time.. wha almost thought i'm never going to make it this time... So now really must make use of this hols to train up!

my aching arms are feeling bit heavy now.. haha must be those push-ups i did yesterday

gonna start playing basketball tmr morn! i'm soo excited.. its made of half rubber and half leather so not as heavy as those basketballs that we often play in sch

here's a pic :D

Calculus is OVER!

2007-11-21T19:39:00.000+08:00

Yeah!! Just finished my Cal II paper.. haha.. it was not too bad, and luckily i made the right choice not to study those proofs of comparison test, ratio test, riemann sums and blah blah... haha the easy ones i read came out!! whoho!! phew... 4 days of intensive Cal., not leaving the tuts and notes even for a sec and it's like one of my first time studying till 2 plus and just surviving on 5hr of sleep.. Next sem gonna be my last sem doing maths if i'm sticking to my choice, feeling really sad. So i tell myself I hav to do as well next sem in math to give it a nice perfect cadence, as it may very well be my last involvement with math exams and studies.. (funny how i sweared in my jc years that i wont want to hav anything to do with math again and now my love for it has been rekindled..)

I am so washed over by fatigue now.. extremely weary but still have to force myself to start preparing for the 2 seminars next tues.. hoping for the best.. *sigh* can't wait for all to be over next wed and i just want to have a nice good deep sleep next wed night and rot at home for the next few days doing nothing.. my brains and eyes need a rest!

and my goal for dec would be gaining another kg.. i can feel my health on the decline this few wks, my pulse tells and my physician is getting quite worried too.. this constant rush of adrenaline is really no fun

1 paper down!

2007-11-16T23:04:00.000+08:00

Just finished Algebra II exam earlier in the evening.. quite a fair paper i would say..

I had really grown to enjoy math in sch more than anything else, not that the subject is easy, it is not.. But the culture surrounding it makes it so enjoyable! My friends there are really helpful and they dont mind discussing their solutions and method of thinking

For the past few days preparing for this paper, I think i spent at least 1/3 of my time discussing math on the phone (think the phone bill this month can kill).. haha.. i think throughout this 3 sems we have sort of built a network and u will have someone to turn to in times of trouble, even when the lecturer cant be reached (coz out of office hr).. it's quite fun to hav math discussions beyond midnight though i'm often brain dead by then.. haha and on the eve of the paper (yesterday), my phone just kept ringing non-stop.. wha discuss until my mouth went dry

Lecturers were easy to relate to as you dont feel there's a gap between their phd status and u as a student.. and consultations are very often, extremely inspiring because u suddenly see the 'light' and everything became so logical u can make connections everywhere.. and u start making those thms and definations as a part of u, as something so common sensical.. when this stage is reached, u are almost there! haha!

Think this is quite unlike in arts subj where it's more of independent work.. and esp history.. ahh i'm having real difficulty making meanings from what i read, much less connections.. partly because my hist knowledge is a bare minimum and i'm all along studying science subjs.. my seminars i dont even know how and where to start, coz they are things i've not heard at all before, plus really no time to invest in the research.. haiz.. sometimes it really makes me wonder if i'm being rational by making the decision i have made last yr.. or should i... do as my cal. lect. hopes?

recording for arrangement

2007-10-25T23:28:00.000+08:00

I just did a recording of my arrangement for Dr Tang's module few hrs ago with my friends.. Wa.. I must say I love them! They did inject feelings into my piece and can see they are very serious about it.. Funny thing is I recorded 3 times.. the 1st time tempo was the best, Allegro is fast enough coz I make them prac that speed before recording.. then subsequently I requested for more expressions which they really did beautifully.. and so my last recording has much more depth but the total recording time increased to nearly a min.! hahaha.. nvm lah given the short time frame, I'm already quite satisfied and touched by their performance. must be 知足常乐! Just nearly 2 hrs and it's done!

It's a pity my recording is so amateurish.. the video recorder didnt capture, i suspect i turned the screw too tightly.. so I'm using my hand-held recording for presentation, which is captured on digital camera, low resolution visually but luckily the audio standard still quite ok.. I'm so sorry to the quintet that I couldnt capture their facial expressions and heart-warming performance on a better device.. haiz

I have been keeping in mind what Dr Tang mentioned in class the other time.. he told us to write something nice, not too difficult that the insts. have to struggle to play it. You want musicians to be excited to play the piece, not forced, and audiences will love to hear it again. So, it does feel gd when musicians enjoy playing ur piece.. Of course not forgetting our harmony lessons last yr esp. on voice leadings and modulations which really served me well this time. hahaha hopefully i can start on another arrangement soon, but i do need to move away from my stereotypical structure of writing and improve on links btw. sections.

My next aim is to use the pop song jointly composed by jean, yif, joyce & me and re-arrange it for a chinese quintet.. see if it works out

It's funny isnt it.. pieces i write are so me.. and i always feel that u can see a person's personality judging by how he/she plays or write music.. my reserved self is so evident it seems, so i guess i have to learn to be more 'thick-skinned'

Workplace for the past 2 wks :D

Our one and only recorder video

2007-10-12T20:16:00.000+08:00

should have recorded more right..haha.. pardon those 'shaky' moments

Interesting photos

2007-10-11T18:34:00.000+08:00

who's the black figure zooming thru the crowd?
and this photo was taken at the month of the year! hee..

Here are some photos of semi-trucks whose trailers are decorated to look like the sides are missing and the products they are hauling are painted on the sides and back

2007-10-07T18:05:00.000+08:00

Finally feeling slightly more relieved visually, after my physician gave me 6 needles.. the electrode ones are the best!

speaking in a math/music language..haha

2007-10-02T19:42:00.000+08:00

This one was told by my math lecturer today:

There is this chinese mathematician who went to buy some tidbits. Apparently it was something unique and he wanted to leave some for his friend. But his friend was not in, so he left a message: Let you try (sq. root 2)

get what he mean?

hint: sq. root 2 is approx. 1.414
so, translating the message into chinese it becomes 让你尝一点试一试

And this one is hot from the oven (by me)

When someone says he wants to remain in D major, what does it mean?

hint: try translating D major into chinese

get it? :D

days marked by deadlines

2007-10-02T01:05:00.000+08:00

sch work are piling up again.. or shld i say climaxing.. sometimes i dont even think i can finish them.. dont even have enough days to fit the work in. I hate to have to drag my tired body and overworked brain everyday to try and complete assignments and tuts, prepare for quizzes, tests and presentations. It's like an endless cycle every wk.. always caught btw. wanting do a better job and the list of other stuffs bugging my mind that calls to be completed by the following wk.. seriously suffering from the lack of sleep, i do like the feeling of sleep-walking to my bed, unbalanced and almost on the verge of falling every night!

final showdown

2007-09-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

Finished our last show today.. it's nice to meet ppl from all walks of (music) life - professionals, freelancers, part-timers, students.. It was quite a sad moment to have to part for now.. not sure when we would have the chance to meet again.. Had actually gotten so used to meeting one another for practices throughout the 2 wks.. SPO would be performing again in nov for some asean conference but don't think i can join due to exams.. haiz.. how i wish my exams could finish earlier! i've seen the concert prog and they look remarkable!.. jazz, pop arrangements on many famous s'pore music.. hopefully this remarkable experience won't mark my first and last opportunity in pop

Just discovered a few days ago that our music director is actually a g.p... wow!! Given his accomplishments in the pop music scene, one would have thought he's full time into music but no... No wonder he has such great personality... haha my role model!

I must say I have grown to like Dick's music.. they are just so amazing in that they're able to evoke emotions so varying and extreme and his ability to compose music of so different genres. They search your soul and you just succumb to them, especially the power that emanate those texts... At least he made me learn to enjoy pop now

and now for the critical part.. I feel that although we have a mixture of instruments, most of the time indian and chinese instruments are of lesser importance compared to those electronic ones. I think we can do without ethnic insts., but not those electronic and brass ones. Last wk Nat. just complained that she has to keep (re)tuning the inst. for just a few gliss.. basically what she do throughout most pieces is that 'signature guzheng' gliss. Yep and that's all i could hear from gz.. haha think i have to be thankful that i'm not given parts like that.. at least i play broken chords and at times important rhythmic figures.. though i wish i could be given some melodic role. As for yq and dizi i heard from some audiences that the sound projection and quality weren't that good due to amplification, i think perhaps yq can't use those contact mikes cos the timbre has changed through the amplification.

Maybe there still need more time before pop orchestrators get to know more about ethnic insts. if they are really serious about venturing further with this unique orchestra combination.. Personally I think this orchestra has the potential of creating an identity which we have often questioned ourselves.. "so what is S'pore music?"

scene before rehearsals

shouldnt upload photos with faces here to protect their identity :D
some photos i took with 'big' ppl are rather shocking, the problem is that they look too nice (too suspicious.. to the eye of a second party.. haha so none shld be shown)

2007-08-25T23:39:00.000+08:00

cantonese pop is really enjoyable.. there's something special about that language that bringforth a kind of feeling i cant quite describe it words. Well, was quite moved by a piece titled "Snow.Wolf.Lake" or otherwise known as "love is forever" sang by Dick today at rehearsal.. the music and harmonies are basically quite repetitive.. but it does feel good with the words.. it's a pity i can't understand cantonese.

This brought back fond memories of jc life where my bio tutor have a habit of singing canto pop music in our tuts., when we were doing our work.. haha once he even wrote down the lyrics on the board and told us how meaningful it was, although i cant quite remember now what he said, it seemed to be something about values..

The actors were fabulous..! and I absolutely love Forbidden City - the grandeur, expressive melodies and especially the part with wushu performance.. it's just beyond description

Some music are just so wonderful, coupled with an orchestra that has many good musicians, it makes u feel great to be part of the music making process, the emotions that emanate from ppl around u.. it sounds in the music, it's rousing. U could almost feel a warmth spreading from ur heart to the rest of ur body.. it's simply lovely

weary

2007-08-21T23:08:00.000+08:00

Hectic schedule at a glance.!
2 weeks of 'hell'

Today: lessons 1230-6.30pm, then rehearsals 7-10pm
Thurs: rehearsals 7-10pm
Sat: 12-8pm
Sun: 12-6pm
Next Mon: Algebra II quiz
Tue: AED 201 presentation
Wed: rehearsals 2-11pm
Thur: rehearsals 4-11pm
Fri & Sat: Concert

Absolutely no time to do and revise sch work.. I seriously hope i can survive this 2 most taxing wk.. haizz :(

singapore pop orchestra

2007-08-19T21:29:00.000+08:00

Today we just had our first orchestral rehearsal, in prep for singaPOPera performance in 2 wks time. It was indeed an experience to be making music with the indian, malay, western and the usual pop instruments like electric guitars, electric double bass, synthesizers etc.... We have pieces encompassing various ethnic as well as pop and jazz musical elements, for instance we have pieces with the kind of old Shanghai feel, pieces showcasing our indian culture so we play indian rhythms and rag.. but of course these are not the traditional kind of music, they are furnished with pop elements. There're also many other kinds of songs that are very upbeat and funky.. I think these music will appeal to the masses, as compared to you know.. our classical music, because it's easy listening. Audiences would be able to find the feel and groove with the music on first hearing, unlike some classical pieces you need many hearings to understand and finally enjoy what's portrayed.

Hopefully I could get hold of some of the orchestral scores and study the orchestration and music writings behind it

It's a wonderful experience to be working with our music director/conductor, Dr Sydney Tan. I like the way he conducts, it's nothing conventional like the way we are used to. Perhaps it's because he's into this kind of music. He dances, sings and expresses all the grooves in his body movement.. i think it really rubs the feel onto us as musicians.

I play a rather minor role in the orchestra, mainly adding to the harmonic fabric and at times little snippets of exciting rhythms.. There're some rather complicating parts and at times it isnt playing friendly, not the kind of thing that yq is suitable for, and it's not like a cadenza but rather small accompanimental role that i think would be overpowered by insts. with more resonance .. that's the weird part about e arrangement

but generally there's still things to learn playing pop culture music - the grooves, feelings that has to be gotten use to...

2007-08-15T22:51:00.001+08:00

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
or as a chinese saying goes "言语终止的地方是音乐".

Some things are just so difficult to be put across verbally to another, due to numerous factors that can be complex or accompanied by conflicting emotions/ uncertainties... well personally i do experience this kind of internal struggle and a subtle way to reveal them is through music playing or writting i think. There was once when i felt i had so many things to say, the stress, frustration, poignance .. that's just diff to be expressed verbally.. and i was having inst. lesson.. so when i played the piece i thought of nothing, except in connecting my feelings with the music. At one part i felt tears welling up in my eyes, ya was trying hard not to show it extrinsically. That was one of my best rendition of the piece and i could tell my teacher was moved from her compliments.. no criticisms :) So i think music playing is where i find solace.. although i am not usually emo rich.. such build up are quite rare
recently, i seemed to have liked things i usually hated doing (i dont know why) and sometimes sense things at a deeper level. Light-hearted pieces are now a past... used to also like playing technical pieces (notice i avoided virtuosic), but right now what i enjoy most are slow and expressive pieces though my playing's still not very cantabile at times, i'm slowly getting better!

i've finally.. after months managed to gain 1kg! yeah that's something to feel great about. who says it's tough to slim down?
gaining weight can be relatively even tougher.. for ppl like me

no more probation plate!

2007-06-22T13:45:00.000+08:00

It has been slightly more than a year since i got my license. Now i can finally choose to remove the probation plate... i could still remember my first day driving dad's car (the day after i got my license), i couldn't do vertical parking without those marking poles.. after a few unsuccessful navigations, a line of vehicles began gathering at the carpark entrance, all waiting for me.. whoa it was a scary sight.. i began to sweat.. i had no choice but to let my dad take over.. aiyo so malu

Although i dont drive v frequently, only during wkends.. it has since became one of my favourite pastime. I think it is fantastic enjoyment and satisfaction to go out for a spin and listening to those great music

"凤点头" assessment

2007-06-19T18:30:00.000+08:00

Qn1) If we work on the assumption that a collection of notes can played as a melody (and permuted) as well as partially or wholly verticalized as chords, can you see how the opening RH and LH materials are explicitly used to generate the music in the first 12 bars? Discuss.

The collection of notes includes E, F#, A, B (for the right hand) and F, G, C, D (for the left hand).
One prominent feature that emerged from these materials which are exploited in the melodic as well as verticalized as chords is the interval of a major 2nd. As seen in bar 1 (left hand), the first four notes can be grouped in pairs (as shown in Fig. 1), where the melodic interval between the 2 notes within each pair is a major 2nd. This exact 4 note figuration is then revealed again in bar 5 left hand, except it is now at a semitone lower from the original form. This major 2nd as melodic interval is predominant in both hands throughout bars 1-12, for instance bar 9 (right hand), between notes C & D, G & A and F & G.
This major 2nd interval is also exploited in the chords that pervade the twelve bars. For instance in bar 5, the 4 – note clusters found in both hands are made up of 2 pairs of major 2nd interval. Other instances of chords made up of this 4 – note clusters also contained this characteristic interval.

Another prominent intervallic feature is the perfect 4th, which is first shown in bar 1 right hand chords (e.g. ‘F#’ & ‘B’), and also in the linear sense in the left hand between notes ‘G’ & ‘C’. This is also explicitly utilized to generate the music. It is very interesting to discover that at bar 5 first beat, the composer again juxtapose these exact 2 groups of notes between both hands, only now ‘F#’ & ‘B’ is played as part of the melody in the left hand while ‘G’ & ‘C’ as part of the chord in the right hand (verticalized). This two groups of notes later ‘swapped hands’ and became embellished as chords in the 2nd beat.
Ever more prominently, this perfect 4th interval is not only used to create the left hand chords at bar 9 but also a leaping perfect 4th between the top note of the first 2 chords and guess what.. it is a leap from ‘F#’ – ‘B’! (Fig. 2)

Qn 2) What do you notice about the intervals used at bs. 15-19? Do they also originate from the opening bar?

The intervals used are that of a minor 2nd or major 7th and that of a 5th.
I think they sort of originate from the opening bar where the minor 2nd is first introduced in the verticalized form between the left hand ‘F’ and right hand ‘F#’, while the major 7th can first be seen between the left hand ‘C’ and right hand ‘B’. However in bar 15, this minor 2nd and major 7th interval happened simultaneously between C# - D or D – C#.
The interval of a 5th between ‘B’ and ‘F’ (yangqin part) in bar 16 may also be derived from bar 1. Only that in bar 16, it is a diminished 5th, or perhaps it can be viewed as an augmented 4th since ‘F’ is enharmonically related to ‘E#’. This augmented 4th is first revealed in bar 1 between ‘F’ (left hand) and ‘B’ (right hand). This looks interesting because it seems like the composer is essentially using the same two notes but flipping it on its reappearance.

Qn 3) Discuss the series of melodic and rhythmic transformations of the opening ideas at bs. 20-43.

One motivic idea I picked up is the melodic movement of a perfect 4th (either leaping downwards or upwards), that is very predominant from bars 20-43, especially in the yangqin parts (an instance can be seen in Fig. 3). This was first introduced in the opening bar, left hand (shown in red in Fig. 1). This time, it is further explored rhythmically, melodically, coupled with changes in time signatures. It looks like the composer could generate excitement in the music just by playing with this leaping interval.

Next, he also draws upon how he places the accents in the opening ideas (bar 1 and 5) to create the regular as well as syncopated feel at bars 20-43. He also controlled the relative stress and the rhythmic interest by varying the positions of accents every few bars. For instance placing accents on the strong beats (e.g. bar 20), and then at off beats in bar 22 (syncopation), followed by having accents on both strong and weak beats in bar 24. Another instance where this is brought to a higher level can be observed at bar 33 where apart from the conflict in metrical organization between the hands, he upsets the pulse even more by coupling accents with a change in register.

Another rhythmic figure I discovered is the four-semiquaver figuration introduced at bar 5 left hand (piano part) that is further explored and extended into a series of runs at bars 37-42 (yangqin part). Although its melodic contour and intervallic nature has been altered, the rhythmic character is still retained.

Qn 4) Compare also the LH chords at bs. 67 ff & 89 ff.

The left hand chords basically have the same structure, the four-note cluster. But on closer observation, the chords in bar 67 can be seen as being made up of 2 pairs of notes each major 2nd apart while in bar 89, they are a minor 2nd apart (see labeled in blue and black in Fig. 4). Or we can see that between the 2 pairs, it is a perfect 5th apart in bar 67 and a diminished 5th apart in bar 89. I think this sort of mirrors the intervallic variation between 2nds and 5ths that is already introduced in the opening ideas.

Qn 5) Turning back to b.15, notice that the octaves are ‘coloured’ by a maj 7th/min 2nd, where do you think this colour element originates? What is its purpose in relation to the harmonies at bs. 20 ff?

I think this colour element originates from the opening bar which I have described in question (2).
I think its purpose is to prepare the listeners since this colour element is again found in bar 20, particularly in the chords of the piano part (between notes D & Eb, A & Ab) and also in the yangqin part (where D and C# is again revealed in the 3rd beat).
Perhaps harmonically, this minor 2nd interval (or semitonal idea) could also be linearly connected in terms of voice leading, for instance the descending minor 2nd from Eb – D – C# (in the piano part from bs. 20-22 and also in the 2nd voice of the yangqin part at bar 20 if seen as a compound melody). Another set is Ab – G – F# in the upper voice of the yangqin part in bar 20.

agony

2007-06-18T20:39:00.000+08:00

Havent been feeling well lately.. my eyes hurt so much that they are causing me headache that last the whole day, so nothing constructive has been done these days. have been doing eye massages, drinking chinese remedy and putting chrysanthaman over my eyes.. all sorts of possible cure.. Ah! hope it's nothing serious :..(

pleasant experience

2007-06-16T21:12:00.000+08:00

Just came home from shopping at Gain City and it was a wonderful experience. Great prices and services.. they had a lot of MANpower who are v helpful and patient, plus just now when we were there i think there were more salesman then customer there..haha! Our sole target was initially to check out the prices for the air-con cos our house is only equipped with fans and nowadays the weather is so hot, just perspire non-stop at home. Then there is this salesman who approached us and patiently explained the workings of the various air-cons to us and answer our persistent questioning. Parents were hesitant to purchase the air-con not because of the price (it's much cheaper compared to other places) but because our residence might undergo en-bloc soon.. yes the infamous Neptune Court

[]

The best is yet to come.. when we stepped out of the showroom, we were greeted by an even greater sale outside. My pa immediately spotted a mini combo by Sharp.. it's equipped with cassette, CD player plus most importantly a USB port so I can just plug in my mp3 and listen straight away.. and there is a recording function too.. all these for a price at only $69 (original price $169)!!! I had long wanted to buy a mini-combo since the old one had spoilt years ago.. since it's so cheap we just bought without a second thought.. haha later the salesman told us this offer is valid only for today! wow such luck! After making payment I carried the precious box and we headed out.. and guess what.. a salesman ran up to me and ask if I had trouble carrying that since it's quite bulky with the box.. and i haven't even answered him, he immediately said he would tie it up with a raffia string for me.. and oh my goodness he is so professional! he did it up so marvellously.. not only is it sturdy, it also made carrying more effortless..

2007-06-15T19:53:00.000+08:00

You Are From Neptune

You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability.
You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea.
Your soul is filled with possibilities, and your heart overflows with compassion.
You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone.
If you don't get carried away with one idea, your spiritual nature will see you through anything.

What Planet Are You From?

watch the FUN!

2007-06-14T19:48:00.000+08:00

haha I really enjoy this kind of performances... there is a fun element there as the performers play and at the same time injected humor by 'acting' out the music in a comedic manner. It reminds me the piano duet by Albert Tiu and Thomas Hecht I watched last year, where they also did this during the encore on a piece entitled "Children's March".. it was so funny!

Watch top notch pianists - 4 of Cliburn's Gold medallist, José Feghali (1985), Stanislav Ioudenitch (2001), Olga Kern (2001), and Jon Nakamatsu (1997) on two pianos, playing Waltz from Faust and Stars and Stripes Forever... have a hearty laugh!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjJ3_n60d18

gasps

2007-06-02T17:18:00.001+08:00

time is running out! there're so many pieces i wish to learn, opportunities that await to be grasp, prac schedules and promises to be fulfilled... yet so little time.. only 3 more yrs to go, before reality sets in. If only i had joined more orchs and go for inst lessons before uni days, things need not be so rushed now.. nevertheless i guess it's better to be exposed late than never

it's always gd to be young, few more years down the road it will be about the next generation.. as the saying goes, "长江后浪推前浪，一代新人换旧人"

farewell.. 龙儿

2007-05-27T13:34:00.000+08:00

若不是你的缺陷美让我有缘借到你，我这几个月的演奏道路也不会那么精彩。

如今你将离我而去，唉。。。
“相思无用，唯别而已。
别期若有定，千般不舍又何如？
只叹何时再重逢？”

blue skies

2007-05-26T14:05:00.000+08:00

haha.. Berlin-Tatum's Blue Skies is so fun! I cant remember the title for it's original composition though, but i like this arrangement.. it sounds soo jazzy and definately pleasurable for both the audiences and the pianist.. no wonder Michael played it as the concluding piece

CLiburN mAnia.. catch it LIVE

2007-05-25T11:37:00.000+08:00

The fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs™ will be held from 28 May - 3 June. Not sure if they gonna put it on live webcast like the Cliburn competition for professionals in 2005.

Interested people can register free online to catch a live webcast concert on Friday, May 25, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. CT featuring Michael Hawley, co-first-prize winner of the 2002 International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. (in singapore time i think is tomorrow afternoon..)
http://www.cliburn.org/index.php?page=webcast_concert

Concert Menu (haha as u can see it is arranged in the way we dine)
Appetizer
Rameau-Godowsky: Sarabande in E major
Lully-Godowsky: Sarabande in E minor
Bach-Hawley: Fugue in G major “Gigue”
Bach-Hawley: Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor
Entree
Chopin:Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60
Etude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5
Godowsky: Study No. 34 (based on Chopin's Etude, Op. 25, No. 5)
New Etude in A-flat major, No. 3
Godowsky: Study No. 45 (based on Chopin's New Etude No. 3)
Dessert
Moszkowski-Volodos-Hawley: Etincelles, Op. 36, No. 6
Saint-Saëns/Godowsky: The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals)
Dohnanyi: Capriccio in F minor, Op. 28, No. 6
Berlin-Tatum: Blue Skies

Musique pour TouJours

2007-05-19T23:00:00.000+08:00

Tonight's concert went rather well considering we only spent about 5 days preparing for it... especially our septet, "Deep in the dense forest" which had been quite a challenge in terms of coordination and we only had like 2 practice sessions before the actual performance... thank goodness it went smoothly!

The finale was of course the piece which have won them the G.W.Hons. award at this yr's syf.. it's entitled 'A Glimpse of Taklamakan, Op. 38', 2nd movt- Mirage. It has that kind of arabic feel, with the ever changing time signature esp that part with 5/8, definately not an easy piece.. It was a thrill for us alumnis to sightread at concert speed.. haha! After all these years, I can say I'm proud to be part of tjco.. there is the passion and musical element there that made the practices and performances very enjoyable, especially the week before concert.. whoa I can just feel myself floating and touched in our music

The pno. concerto was rather disappointing though, considering where she studied the inst., shant elaborate any more here

finite maths... where n0thing is finite

2007-05-02T14:38:00.000+08:00

Finally! after submerging myself into the sea of number theory and finite math problems for weeks.. everything is now over!! one thing with finite math is you can never be sure if your method and ans. is right, unlike number theory where you can jusr subst. in and check... and one little mistake may just cost almost all the marks
Think the all-math weeks really changed how my brain works.. sleep halfway also suddenly have math probs surfacing and formulas flashing... even simple probs from everyday life i see myself applying pigeonhole principle.. hope it's not a sign of me going bonkers

Yellow River

2007-04-25T15:29:00.000+08:00

Here comes another dose of expressive stimulant… to ‘charge up’ – according to our ‘batteries’ theory.. haha!

The Yellow River concerto has always been one of my favourite piece, but it is hard to find performers that can actually bring out its underlying significance and majesty

A little background…
It was adapted from Xian Xinghai’s “Yellow River Cantata” in 1940… The Yellow River is seen as a persistent musical theme and also a metaphor for China – praising the glorious history of the Chinese nationality (zhonghua minzhu) and the persistent struggling spirit of the Chinese citizens; it bitterly criticizes the cruelties of the oppressors and the torment suffered by the Chinese people. Hoping to nourish a sense of belonging and concern, nationalists pulled on the nation’s musical heartstrings. According to Ellen Judd, in China’s cultural redefinition in the 1940s, the performing arts offered the peasantry a “persuasive presentation of a new conception of the world” (Judd 1986, 31). Think the period when this cantata was composed coincides with Mao Zedong’s 1942 Yan’sn Talks on Literature and Art stating the central principle that art should be based on, reflect, and serve “the people”.

I finally found a video of this Yellow River concerto performed in the 70s in China.. I thought the pianist did wonderfully in portraying the underlying musical significance…the historical, political and economical significance. He really has the fire when he plays.. must watch k.. hope you guys will be inspired too!!

The weird thing is this is suppose to be a western orchestra how come there is one pipa player inside

1st movt.: Yellow River Boatman’s Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uopB0QCgEqw

2nd movt.: Ode to the Yellow River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfdOyOb0Lr8&mode=related&search=

3rd movt.: Wrath of the Yellow River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gau1pYEhfz8&mode=related&search=

4th movt.: Defend the Yellow River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK2PyFKh2Ao&mode=related&search=

Anyone knows who is that guy on the portrait at the background can let me know? he dosent look like Mao.. this portrait was captured in the performance of the 4th movt.

Rach's 3rd

2007-04-12T00:08:00.000+08:00

I watched the video of Olga Kern performing the 3rd piano concerto by Rachmaninov at the Eleventh International Van Cliburn piano competition and it was really brilliant! virtuosic fingerworks and the passionate artistry aside... what makes it even more admirable is that she played it with minimal pedalling.. which actually makes it even more challenging to produce the shades of colour, considering that there are very chordal passages and relying mostly on hand pedaling to build up the climax and emotions really require remarkable skills

I heard Rachmaninov and he himself played it without (or with very subtle) pedal, as can be discerned by that 'dryness' in his recording... but i wonder why? with pedal the effect could be better and achieved with much less effort... perhaps he desired for that clarity? or maybe the presence of orchestral accompaniment (esp the winds and brass inst.) to a certain extent helped mask that dryness so it is ok it dosent sound so connected between the massive chords?

Oh and Van Cliburn's rendition of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12 was awesome!! It must have been a sensation for those watching him live.. Am sooo excited after watching this that I dont think I will fall asleep anytime soon... haha.. Great performances are always a pleasure to one's senses... Anyone interested can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqA2E5D0lI

'Phoenix' Concerto - Structural Influences

2007-03-31T22:18:00.000+08:00

As we know, the use of ternary form (compound ternary in this case) is one of the most frequently used structures in music compositions, especially as a means to create contrast (i.e. in terms of tempo, character, or motivic ideas…).

However in this piece, it seemed to have achieved a combination of artistic effect from both the Western and Chinese tradition. Cos I read in some Chinese music text, they have this very conventional structural feature which they termed as “鱼咬尾”, which is found in this piece as well, as far as I can see. For illustrations, see bar 43, which signals the closing of section ‘a’ but the beginning of section ‘b’; bar 67 which is indicates the end of b section but also the beginning of a1. This continues at many junctions where one section leads in to another，thus in a sense contributing to the fluidity and link throughout the piece.

Interestingly we see from here how the composer draws upon features from chinese musical tradition and infuse it within the western formal structure.

short-range voice connections

2007-03-31T16:13:00.000+08:00

Hmm.. I see some short-ranged voice leading connections... not sure if there are longer
connections

'Phoenix' Concerto - Motivic “Paradidle”

2007-03-19T20:19:00.000+08:00

It’s amazing how the main theme of section B is only based on the ordering of 4 note motif - ‘B’, 2 ‘E’s of different registers and ‘A’. Hence in a sense, it's like ‘paradidle’ in percussion since it essentially uses the various permutation of the 4 notes to actually spun a melody. (Note: I termed it 'paradidle' is because of the piece’s percussive nature and how such motivic ordering may be associated to the paradidle, but of course it is not to be taken literally). Sometimes the introduction of B flat and E flat might possibility be to create surprise or to create some voice leading tendency, to propel the music forward…
See how B flat leads to A in the diagram below:

This melody is always set over a submediant pedal, quite uncommon eh since we often encounter tonic or dominant pedal.. but submediant!

'Phoenix' Concerto - Harmony

2007-03-18T23:48:00.001+08:00

This piece contained many dissonances brought about by note clusters, especially in accompaniments or between solo and accompanimental parts. Throughout the piece, the tonal centre is also blurred by the false-relations that exist between different voice parts. So I’m not sure if it makes sense to analyze the chordal progressions in this piece, because it felt like the composer is more concerned with the soundscape produced, rather than using any specific chord progression or the tonality. I think the presence of false relations were due to the linear as opposed to vertical thinking in the harmonic parameter. Throughout section A, the characteristic interval of a major 2nd and minor 7th are the two very predominant intervals used – contributing to the distinctive clashes. For instance in bar 1 – R.H. F# is set against F natural in the L.H. But it seems like there are a couple of underlying reasons for having that F#:

Contribute to the more pentatonic nature of the work – creating a perfect 4th (a very characteristic interval found in Chinese classical music) instead of a tritone with ‘B’

Due to the anhemitonic scale used, to avoid creating a semitone with note ‘E’ (linear thinking). Because it seems that throughout section A, the composer consciously avoids consecutive semitonal movement within the same voice.

F# increases the note tendency to go to a G, which finally came at bar 5.

As mentioned above, the composer seemed to avoid successive semitonal movement within the same voice in section A. When chromatic movement is used, there are also notes in between to separate it. (see below for the chromatic voice leading)

I notice that there is abundance of open 5ths and octaves (e.g. bs. 9, 43) apart from 4ths, which would have caused the piece to sound very bare, like The Sunken Cathedral by Debussy. Although both pieces are pentatonic in nature and filled with such open intervals, the atmosphere created is quite different – This concerto (esp. section A) do not sound as hollow as that felt in The Sunken Cathedral and it is interesting that we as listeners do not feel the awkwardness such bareness in this piece. Perhaps it is how the composer managed to ‘mask’ the bare sounding chords through the choice of registers..? Notice how the spacing between L.H. and R.H. were very close together (e.g. b. 117, 338 – R.H. octave is like an ‘echo’ of the L.H.).

Sometimes even though the instruments are playing octaves in unison, for instance at bar 274 – 284, with range that spanned 3 octaves, the texture created is dense, not thin and empty. The spacing of chords, fortissimo and the quick tempo might be some contributing factors.

'Phoenix' Concerto - Of Rhythmic and Pulse Interest

2007-02-17T20:47:00.000+08:00

I felt it was fascinating how the composer managed to infuse so much rhythmic interest into what looks to be very regular rhythms on the surface (e.g. semiquavers, quavers, crotchets, and sometimes long held notes). Perhaps it was the way he combines these rhythms with staggered entrances, coupled with the persistent use of accents on weak and off beats (syncopations) that upsets the regularity of the pulse, injecting in the music a sense of rhythmic interest. But because there are many little recurring fragments of melodic ideas subjected to syncopated treatment throughout, that gave it the feel of regularity within irregularity and vice versa. I feel that this unique mood portrayed can be relieving in some extent.

Of course, the use of syncopations in Chinese music is not uncommon, especially for accompaniment but it is actually quite rare to actually find such extensive use of syncopations for the melody. Instances can be heard at 0’20 – 0’30; 0’43 – 0’51 etc. (see diagrams for illustrations)

Another very prominent aspect is the frequent change in time signature.
Right from the beginning (0’00 – 0’15), the subtle change in time signature from 6/8 passing through 2/4 before going to 3/4 made the transition in meter smooth. (i.e. 6/8 and 2/4 both can be sub-classified into 2 groups, except that 6/8 consists of groups of 3 quavers while 2/4 consists of groups of 2 quavers. Leading in to 3/4 from here would not upset the metrical feel too much).

It was also interesting how he creates a little tension in the piano part before ushering in the yangqin (main character, if speaking from the operatic point of view) by inserting an extra crotchet beat to build up a little climax. Note the change from 4/4 to 5/4 in that little 2 bar link from 0’15 – 0’20. Once the yangqin enters, the meter went back to 4/4 again.

During the last time where this 2 bar link is featured, the composer surprises us with a 4/4 to 3/4 change instead of a 5/4 change which we have been conditioned to expect, from the many previous appearances. (heard from 13’07 – 13’10)

Sometimes, even though the time signature remains unchanged, the displacement of regular metrical pulse is actually created by the playing of registers, for instance at 0’51 – 0’59, 4’20 – 4’36.

The registral change also aids in creating the impression of rhythmic complexity as heard from 13’53 – 14’19, where the texture slowly climaxes towards the end of the piece.

I also found instances where the perceived meter is not what was stated in the score, due to the rate of harmonic change and phrase structure that conflicts with the actual time signature. One example would be the middle section, 6’02 – 6’54 or a more decorated version from 7’48 – 8’40.

The main accompanimental figuration was also ingeniously ‘tampered’ with so that its recurrence is not always exactly the same. Although it was only altered from 6/8 to 5/8, but I feel that such little variation actually added variety to the already interesting music. (Compare between 0’59 – 1’05 and 1’28 – 1’33)

There is an instance at 11’45 – 11’54 where the feeling of antecedent and consequent phrase (period) relation could be subtly felt. This is brought about by the addition of just one quaver note which allows the consequent phrase to have the last note rooted in the dominant or tonic, giving it a slight sense of closure. Or maybe it’s also due to the more even time signature of 10/8 in the consequent phrase as compared to 9/8 of the antecedent phrase.

'Phoenix' Concerto - Rhythmic Influences from Opera

2007-02-17T20:40:00.000+08:00

Since the term “凤点头” refers to the drumming pattern of Chinese opera, this piece must be infused or embellished with such rhythms.
So, I’ve spent some time delving into this aspect which is not very familiar to me and managed to identify a few main patterns. It was an eye-opener for me as I have seldom come across such specific percussive rhythmic patterns being infused in a melodic instrument; much less provide a rhythmic structure for the music.

Ø Bars 9 - 12 (0’11 – 0’15) resembles the rhythm “ 3/4 [乙才] [乙台] 匡” ([yi cai] [yi tai] kuang) also termed as “马腿儿” (ma tui er) rhythm unique to opera music.
N.B. [ ] represents quaver because this blog dosent support e underline format

Ø Bars 77 – 84 (1’41 – 1’55) piano accompanimental rhythm uses the characteristic interval of minor 2nd (see R.H.) and major 7th (see L.H.) to create a timbre that is similar to that of the Chinese big drum. The rhythm [XX] [0X] [0X] [0X] is also distinctive to the drumming patterns of this Chinese drum.

Ø Another very distinctive operatic element could be heard from 4’36 – 5’05.

It is quite amazing how the composer uses this element as a link to connect section A to section B. This is often found in Chinese opera music, especially the part just before the main character is put into the limelight.

We can also extrapolate this essence into the concerto, since the upcoming section after this string of characteristic rhythmic figurations pose a sharp contrast to section A in terms of mood, texture and soundscape, it's like another ‘character’ being introduced on stage.
Thus in a sense, the competitive atmosphere brought from the previous A section between the yangqin and piano could be viewed as an ‘overture’ for the main theme of section B.

'Phoenix' Concerto - Structure, Melodic element

2007-02-16T23:20:00.000+08:00

This piece is in ternary form and to be precise, I think it is a compound ternary.
Section A: Bars 1 – 213 (0’00 – 5’06)
Section B: Bars 214 – 343 (5’07 – 12’56)
Section A’: Bars 344 – 417 (12’57 – )

Under each of the 3 sections, it can further be classified into smaller segments according to the various melodic ideas as shown below:
(Timings are shown below the melodic fragments)

It is deeply contrasting between section A and section B especially in terms of its mood, tempo and also the thematic material. They sort of represent two extreme atmospheres, the percussive and bold section A with the mysterious sounding or sort of ‘nocturnal’ section B. Section B encompasses 2 emotions: from lyrical/ gentle to fiery and passionate.
Here, the theme is introduced by the piano for the first 8 bars, followed by a repetition of the exact same theme by the yangqin. It is actually quite difficult for yangqin to produce such expressive sounds since it’s often considered a percussive instrument, but it is remarkable how the composer uses the rare 9 single stroke roll technique to give listeners an illusion of ‘a line connected by dots’.

Within each section, the various little melodic fragments unique to that section are constantly brought back, sometimes with modifications and sometimes without. I suppose it is because the melodic fragments in this concerto are neither singable nor could easily be remembered, given its characteristic clashes and dissonant leaps all over especially in the first section. So there is a need to constantly reiterate these ‘points’. Or perhaps it is also something to do with Chinese opera influences? – where each melodic fragment represents a character in the plot..

But generally, I notice that the extent of exploration or development of the melodic fragments is quite little. Most of the time, it is repeated in its original form, which in a sense makes it easy to recognize… Perhaps that’s why the piece is full of rhythmic excitement, and many different melodic ideas to make up for the lack of thematic development.

2007-02-01T11:30:00.000+08:00

"...technique is something that can be mastered by anyone overtime, what distinguish the best musicians are their musicality and sensitivity, which can be taught by no one, except yourself.. by your heart..." - qls

凤点头 (The ‘Phoenix’ Concerto)

2007-01-25T23:13:00.000+08:00

Some background info…

This concerto was composed in 2003 by Prof. Xu Chang Jun (徐昌俊) from Central Conservatory of Music in China. It was written for the yangqin, accompanied by the string ensemble with 6 violin I, 4 violin II, 3 viola, 3 cello and 2 bass. But what I have is the reduced score accompanied by the piano.

It was after I had gone for yq lessons for this piece did I realize that it was actually infused with lots of elements found in Chinese opera music, especially in terms of its character. Chinese opera can generally be divided into "civil" pieces characterized by singing, and "martial" ones featuring acrobatics and stunts. This concerto belonged to the latter, hence explaining its percussive and virtuosic nature. 凤点头 was actually the name of a particular type of drumming pattern often found in opera music, therefore if we were to listen carefully, we could actually pick out these patterns that were embellished inside the music.
I’ll be examining in my following postings, certain aspects of this piece that differentiates it from the usual Chinese classical piece that we often hear.

At first listening, this piece does not sound exactly Chinese; this was probably due to some 20th Century Western compositional techniques/ elements that were incorporated together with Chinese elements, especially in terms of harmony and rhythms. This concerto has often been acclaimed as a mix of the East and West from what I have heard which I hope to examine why is it so and also the contributing factors that bind the piece together.

The element of contrast is also quite prominent in this piece, hence I would also be delving into this area.

I have uploaded a very low resolution video clip for this concerto (performed by me during a practice session before the finals.. haha), it may take quite some time to load. The sound quality is also not very good. If any of you prefers a clearer version pls let me know so I can lend the vcd to you :D
This clip can be accessed via http://sg.geocities.com/yickjr/

will i survive?

2007-01-12T12:59:00.000+08:00

Ahh...... It's just jan. and i'm already fully booked till dec... Have at least 8 concerts and a major exam to prepare this year... i'm becoming like a part-time performer now... haha oh gosh!!

Hail to 2007!

2007-01-01T15:42:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to all!

This is going to be another busy year for us.. Ah!! school is reopening in 6 days time and we shall be subjected to more stress and hours of mugging soooon..
haha so lets savour our last wk of holiday and take a deep breath before we start our 'endless' race of meeting deadlines

Big Day

2006-12-16T23:48:00.000+08:00

Set off for SCH in the morning to attend rehearsal for tonight's PPC..

Met old and new yq frens and had a great time catching up on each other's life as well as exchanging ideas on yq matters.. haha fun, fun!

The prize winners' concert was ok, I particularly liked qing lun's dizi and also dedric's suona performance, marvellous expressions and techniques mann.. got a great deal to learn

Had a chat with liu lao shi after the whole thing, encouraged me and told me to pick a few pieces that i really like and feel it inside out.. so that it would become my 'signature piece'.. haha hmm sounds logical.. shall start some indepth analysis to certain pieces soon

us with qu lao shi and liu lao shi in the middle

Inspiration

2006-12-15T18:45:00.000+08:00

Attended yangqin masterclass today at SCH by Prof Liu Han Li from Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Learnt a great deal about music analysis and how to go about performing it.. It was quite brain stimulating and really opens up my dimension about music performance. Oh ya and he gave each of us a book which contained his yq compositions plus some of his thoughts about yq performing, techniques of playing and it's history.. Flipped through and some of those are really chim man.. haha guess i would understand these big theories overtime

Gotta start practicing new pieces for Diploma exam next year.. still contemplating whether to take nafa or nus one.. Oh and Qu lao shi said she hopes to hold a concert next year (if she can find sponsors) featuring all her students.. Wow great! another performance platform gained

2006 National Chinese Music Competition

2006-12-15T11:25:00.000+08:00

Just finished my finals in the yangqin open category yesterday... Came in 2nd!

Phew... Finally can enjoy my vacation!!! It has really been a busy semester for me

YEAH

2006-12-10T13:50:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 6am today to have breakfast and do some warm up prep runs for my preliminary round.. felt really excited and to a certain extent.. anxious

(yea, i'm the only female competitior)

Left home early following the advice of my teacher.. and guess wad.. i reached esplanade @ 8.00am. Not a soul in sight at the reporting place.. had another 30 mins b4 the actual reporting time, so i just get changed and waited for qu lao shi...

At backstage, i did more warm-ups and settled down to wait for my turn.. (i'm competitor no. 2)

During my performance, i felt i did quite ok (although not my best), except for a few missed notes during the fast section of my set piece.. but teacher was quite happy with my performance

Ahh was so nervous when the results were annouced, especially when jj said that only 2 competitors got into the finals.. wouldnt forget that moment when my no. was announced, i felt euphoric!

Outside, my payco supporters were wild.. fortunately i didn't disappoint them..

and thanks jean for coming down so early in the morning to support me

In Dreams - Harmonic, melodic analysis

2006-11-10T22:47:00.000+08:00

Continuity and unity achieve through harmonic, melodic and phrase treatment

An interesting point I observed is that most cadences in this piece occur from the strong to weak beat instead of the usual weak to strong beat, such as seen in bar 10 (plagal cadence), bar 12 (imperfect cadence) etc. This actually reduced the effect of cadential punctuation, injecting in the music a sense of continuous flow.

I also observed how the composer juxtaposes contrasting feelings in the same phrase.
In the main theme (see bars 9-12), the melodic idea felt calm and lyrical. Judging by the balanced and symmetrical melodic contour, a sense of closure is somehow felt. But the subtle usage of imperfect cadence (bar 12) injects a sense of incompleteness to this closure, spurring the music on as the tension for resolution is heightened.

Sometimes the embedded harmonic progressions also underline a certain melodic idea. For example in bar 17, the harmonic progression vi(6)–V(6/4)–vi(6/4) of D major [where its base notes are also D – E – F sharp] actually underlines or echoes the motif D – E – F sharp from the theme with rhythmic augmentation.

Another interesting aspect in bar 18-19, as seen in the bass progression, D–E–F sharp–E, underlying vi6-V(6/4)-vi(6/4)-V progression, the note ‘E’ has the tendency to resolve onto ‘D’ (chord I), but the composer proceed to a ‘G’ (chord IV) instead. Probably by prolonging this resolution to tonic, the music is equipped with some harmonic tension to portray the mood - that of restlessness above tranquility in the piece. It is also rare for chord V to precede chord IV, well at least not in the usual Classical music that we hear.

Fluidity in texture also contributed in giving the music a sense of continuous flow. This fluidity is in some way achieved by how one phrase relates to another. For instance in bar 25, phase overlapping occurs – where the closure of the first subject phrase is overlapped by the introduction of an agitated second subject.

Functional harmony

The harmonic functions as observed in this piece generally adhere to our Classical definitions. As seen in the first subject bars 9 – 10, the functional harmonic analysis is T. (b. 9 to 10), P.D. (b. 11 beat 1-2), D. (b.11 beat 3-4), T. (b. 12). In the second subject phrase, the functional harmony is T. (b. 25 to 26), P.D. (b. 27 -31 beat 2), D. (b.31 beat 3-4).

Scores:

Prelude to “The Breaking of the Fellowship”

2006-10-23T17:46:00.000+08:00

I'll be analyzing some of the tracks featured in “The Breaking of the Fellowship” from The Lord of the Rings. One of which would be “In Dreams”.

The Fellowship of the Ring, or Company of the Ring, as described in the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, is a union of 9 representatives from each of the free peoples (Dwarf, Elf, Hobbits, Men, Maia/Istar) in Middle-earth, the number chosen to match the 9 Ringwraiths.

The Fellowship is entrusted with the task of assisting and protecting Frodo Baggins as he bears the One Ring to the land of Mordor where he can destroy it by throwing it into Mount Doom. The 9 set out on their quest at the beginning of winter on December 25, 3018 T.A. after their Fellowship was formed at the Council of Elrond.

The fellowship is led at first by Gandalf, but after his fall in the mines of Moria, Aragorn leads them until Boromir's seduction by the ring coupled with the attack of the Orcs effects the breaking of the Fellowship.

ABOUT THE MUSIC (MACRO–VIEW)

Composer: Howard Shore

The music in general is lyrical and rich in ethnic and vocal fantasy.
I feel that Shores compositional approach to bring forth the action-packed scenes were more subdued and deep, unlike what one would usually find or hear in James Bond movies (which contains lots of percussion). Shores action music is deeply woven into a choral fabric with interweaving textures that provides the magical feel required in the storyline of ‘The Lord of the Rings', without the need to use prominent percussion writings to inject that excitement.

Orchestration, Texture and Contrast

To heighten the sense of importance and urgency in the music, Shore basically makes use of orchestration–such as large orchestral and choral ensembles, to achieve that dense and broad texture.

Sometimes the massive and gothic choral passages, so deeply dominated by the male singers, provide cues that are genuinely frightening, both religiously and otherwise. The dark and suspenseful music illustrate the temptation of the ring and the dangers lurking within the land of Middle–Earth, and the paranoia that are working in the hearts of some members of the Fellowship.

Bombastic and heroic choirs and music such as those found in “Treason of Isengard” reflect the sacrifices of brave men and the bravery of the members of the Fellowship despite being outnumbered by the forces of evil.

Lighter moments, through the use of staccatos found in the "Concerning Hobbits" cue, offer a break from the awe, thus providing stark contrasts within the music.

Of Motivic Idea

The main musical theme in any film plays a vital role in captivating audiences and listeners. In LOTR, the main theme is generally lyrical and heroic, aimed at the brass, but restrained by a unified and realized string section. In fact, after listening to the tracks from the trilogy, I discovered that the most effective and tender moments of this theme are performed by the weaving violins, cellos, and basses while the brass offer a soft accompaniment. Woodwinds are sometimes employed to inject the ethnic feel of a particular location into the music.

This melodic idea sometimes undergoes fragmentation and rhythmic alteration as well as being played in different keys (such as C major in 'Many Meetings', D major and E major found in 'In Dreams' and 'Return of the King' ) to portray different expressions and moods by using the same motives.

Audio Tracks are Up

2006-10-17T12:42:00.001+08:00

Phew.. I have finaly found a way to upload the audio files.

To listen to them, please go to:
http://sg.geocities.com/yickjr/

For better quality listening, please save the files before playing them as the file size are quite large.

Albert Tiu and Thomas Hecht Duet Recital

2006-10-04T21:12:00.000+08:00

Haha.. I know I’m digressing from what I’m supposed to post in this blog, but this is related to music right? I’ll try to keep this as short as possible =D

As you might have guessed, I attended this concert yesterday and it was a truly wonderful experience. This was held in the new YST Concert Hall. For those who haven’t been there yet, it looks like a smaller version of the esplanade concert hall.

Ok, one thing I was really impressed on was the kaleidoscope of tonal shades/ colours surrounding me throughout their concert. I finally understood what it really means to have depth in one’s playing. The expressive range and sound scope produced was so huge, it was almost comparable to that of an orchestra.

Wow! It has been a long time since I had felt so alive with the sound of music. I feel so inspired, am going to practice piano as soon as I get home.

Oh before I forget, Mr Albert Tiu improvised the birthday song for his wife during the encore. I noticed he basically make use of non-harmonic tones such as chromatic passing notes & neighbour notes to play with our expectation - i.e. the tendency to resolve was heightened by the usage of this chromatic p.n., but he keeps delaying the arrival of such resolution, thus creating the feel of musical suspense as well as musical joke in a sense.

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Harmonic Overview

2006-10-01T22:56:00.000+08:00

Generally this piece is very modulatory with quite a number of non-harmonic tones used. These non-harmonic/ chromatic embellishments in a sense obscure the tonality as well as chord progression.

I found that a very prominent feature in one of its motivic idea is this semitonal movement (e.g. bar 9). This upper chromatic note may sometimes be treated as a neighbour note or part of the chord progression.

I felt that this piece of music can be largely classified as strophic form, but for easy reference I have labeled it according to the change in melodic / harmonic pattern and feel of music.

The outline of tonality is as follows:

Introduction: G minor

Section A: Db major → C minor → B minor (I just realized that these keys modulate in a chromatically descending manner!)

Transitory passage: seems to be in C major with lots of chromatically altered chords (although I can't quite notate it)

Section B: Bb major → G minor →Bb major

Transitory passage: C major (again with many chromatic embellishments)

Section C: E major (chord progression brought about by ascending whole tones, F #, G#, A#) → Bb major

Section B’: Bb major → G minor →Bb major

Transitory passage: C major

Section C’: G minor

Section D: A major → C major

Transitory passage: C major → Bb major

Section A’: G minor

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Meter, Pulse Analysis II

2006-09-17T12:17:00.000+08:00

Generally, although frequent changes in time signature occurs, listeners would still be able to feel the pulse/ beats of the music since regular rhythms such as semiquavers and quavers are used in abundance.

For instance, starting from bar 42, just by listening to the music without looking at the scores, listeners may first be deceived into thinking that the music has changed from 2/4 into 6/8 time due to the introduction of distinct dance/ waltz – like feel in the melodic and accompaniment pattern. However as one listens on, one senses the unevenness in pulse of the music (i.e. some bars have a beat more or less than 6/8).

Actual sequence of meter employed:
Starting from bar 42, the music passes through 7/8 (b.42-44), 5/8 (b.45), 6/8 (b.46-47), 7/8 (b.48), 6/8 (b.49-54) and then alternating each bar with 3/8 and 6/8 meter from bars 55-59.
As seen, the central time signature is 6/8, but the composer plays with our expectation by ingeniously adding or removing a quaver beat every few bars.

There are also instances, especially in linking passages where the sense of pulse becomes obscured to the listener. Such as in bars 89 – 90 (Fig c) and bars 116 beat 4 – 122 (Fig d) where the music seems to be suspended in time. This is achieved by rubato and the usage of longer valued notes coupled by changes in tempo.

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Rhythm & Pulse Analysis

2006-09-06T00:15:00.000+08:00

This piece first began in a simple time signature of 2/4 and is characterized by the use of quavers which gave the music a regular metrical pattern. However the 1st sign of uncertainty in the time signature can be felt from bars 9-11 (see Fig a), due to the interesting harmonic phrasing of the accompaniment where the 6 crotchets are grouped in threes instead of two.

Fig a

From bar 29 (or 0’43) onwards, the music seemed to intensify a little as a result of punctuation in the bass. From here onwards, the rhythmic pattern (shown in Fig b) which can be detected throughout the piece is first presented.

Fig b

The semiquavers in the 2nd beat seemed to propel the music forward. This rhythmic pattern is also a unifying feature which helps bind the entire work together.

From bar 42 onwards, the sense of beat/ pulse is not as clear as before because there are frequent changes in the time signature to irregular meters such as 7/8, 5/8, 3/8. This coupled with the use of more irregular rhythms such as seen in (bar 60, 126), changes in tempo and usage of firmata, gives the music a sense of unpredictability and unevenness which well matches the musical effect of eeriness and eccentricity portrayed by the animation.

Bars 42-48

Bars 49- 63 (LHS) and Bars 86-105 (RHS)

About 'Jack and Sally Montage'

2006-09-05T21:52:00.000+08:00

This piece of music is taken from the motion picture "The Nightmare before Christmas".
Composer: Danny Elfman

Synopsis:

The story revolved around Jack Skellington, who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween town.
One day, Jack discovers Christmas town - a land where everything is happy; nothing's dead. It seems to fascinate him and he decided to create Christmas for the world.

However, things just don't turn out right.
He had the Oggie Bboogie's Trick-or-Treaters go and get "Santa Claws" and now he is with the Oogie Boogie!
Jack trys to be the best Santa he can but it goes wrong and he gets shot down while making his present-giving rounds by the recipients of his version of Christmas.

Jack soon realizes that he is the Pumpkin King and has to save Santa before it is to late for Christmas to be fixed.

Sneak Preview

2006-09-03T19:18:00.000+08:00

I have spent the past few days trying to source out some possible music for my analysis. There are so many enthralling music which I would love to have a closer look at, but a pity I couldn't find the scores.

So here are some of my choices (subject to changes due to availability of scores):

'Jack and Sally Montage' from "The Nightmare Before Christmas",
'One Jump Ahead' from Disney's Aladdin,
One of the soundtracks from 'The Lord of the Rings',
Maybe another soundtrack from 'Harry Potter' ,
Or 'Hero' by Tan Dun

Anyone who knows where I can get the scores for the above film music please feel free to let me know, so that I would be able to do a detailed analysis on them.

Thanks!

2006-08-18T22:18:00.000+08:00

WELCOME to the world of ‘Fresh Earthly Music’!

Since this blog was set up for my music blogging project, it would generally be used as a platform for me to share my musical thoughts and reflections with all of you. In return, I also hope to receive valuable comments from you guys so that I can be enlightened to a different listening perspective.

In this project, we have to analyze 3 songs/ pieces from pop music, musicals or film music – hmm... genres that I'm not too familiar with... Hahaha… Nevertheless I'm still looking forward to embarking on this whole new learning journey and the discovery of various‘Earthly music’.