West Winds concert this Saturday will see the Singapore premiere of three wind band works under the baton of resident conductor ME6 Philip Tng Liat Peng.
“The idea of selecting three European works was to contrast the second half of the concert which will feature our guest conductor and composer, Eiji Suzuki, from Japan. Also, this debut of works by lesser known European composers would introduce new repertoire to the scene here,” Philip said.
Opening the concert is Convivium, which in Latin means “party”. This fanfare like work was specially written by the Dutch composer Jan Bosveld as a festive opening piece for the 100th anniversary of Concert Band OLTO from Loenen, Netherlands, which he formerly conducted.
Audiences will then be able to hear the music of German composer Thorsten Wollmann with Sinfonia Antiqua. Presented in 4 movements – Chaconne, Scherzo, Pavane and Rondo, it is a new work with a hint of Bruckner and some modern pop thrown in. (This work is also an Asia premiere.)
“I chanced upon the first two pieces in a sample recording from Star Music Publishing. The wind band music selections were generally different from the mainstream companies.
Convivium, written in ternary form, is a great opener for concerts and I personally think it is a suitable piece for secondary school bands to perform. Sinfonia Antiqua on the other hand, would require much more musical maturity to perform given the style and keys the piece is written in.
This work is also a recommended piece during the repertoire sharing at WASBE 2017 in Utrecht when I attended the conference in July,” he explained his music choices.
Concluding the first half is Menu by Spanish composer Carlos Pellicer, a work related to the development and “tasting” of a good gastronomic menu.
The titles (L’Apéritif, La spécialité du Chef and “American pie”, le grand finale) are related to the content, character and rhythm of each dish prepared for this original menu: a short but intense starter, a main dish with different textures but very consistent, and a good dessert with a lot of flavour and a lot of rhythm.
What is most interesting about this work is how it will be performed, through the composer’s original concept of a “chain premiere” of a band composition. According to Carlos, he hopes to have a continuous debut of his work in each country by a selected band before the work becomes accessible for everyone else.
“This rhythmic work was introduced by the composer himself to West Winds, and we are very honoured to be approached to represent Singapore. I hope the bands in Singapore would consider these alternative pieces for their future concerts!”
West Winds in Concert 2017
30 September (Saturday)
SOTA Concert Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets: $15, $12 (Students, NSFs & Senior Citizens)
Tickets available from SISTIC (Selling Fast!)
A contributing editor at TBP.