Dr Kelly Tang’s original composition, ‘Two Overtures for Wind Band’, was commissioned for Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging of Concert Bands 2009, and performed by 172 school bands. Tang was the first Singaporean in seventeen years invited to compose for this annual competition.
This interview was originally released in July 2009.
How does it feel like to listen to your work from each of the 172 bands which took part in SYF, as a composer and as an adjudicator? How do you find the different interpretations by the schools for the ‘Two Overtures for Wind Band’?
I particularly enjoyed hearing how each of the bands infused the set pieces with its own musical charm & artistic personality.
How do you find the different interpretations by the schools for the ‘Two Overtures for Wind Band’?
Although many band pieces are cleverly written so they sound consistent from one band to another, ‘Two Overtures for Wind Band’ was designed to provide space for individual interpretation and to let the character of the performing band shine through. Still, it was surprising how delightfully different the overtures could sound through the creativity of the bands, as they brought out uniquely personal dimensions from a common score.
Which piece, in your opinion, is more challenging?
Overture No.2 requires greater technical facility in executing fast and agile lines and keeping them sounding synchronized during contrapuntally syncopated passages. Overture No.1 is designed to have less rhythmic complexity and a more restricted registral range.
In fact, Overture No.1 went through several drastic phases of simplification before final publication to render it playable at the basic level. Despite its apparent simplicity, however, Overture No.1 requires considerable skill to play in a musically competent manner.
When different bands played Overture No.1, it clearly revealed distinctions in quality of phrasing, tone, expression and (especially) intonation, so it still allowed the judges to distinguish between bands of different levels of training.
What are the pieces, Overture No. 1 and No. 2, supposed to convey? Do you have a convention in your compositions? Like structure or progression?
It was revealing that the key question on the minds of most people was, “What images or stories do these set works convey?” Two Overtures for Wind Band’ provides students another way of hearing and playing music.
The set works do not depend on any extra-musical images or narratives for their meaning. Their meaning lies solely in the music. Simply put, all that the two overtures convey are themselves.
What propels both overtures is the contrapuntal interactions between the various lines. Such counterpoint generates harmonic tensions which energize the music and controls its momentum. Supported by the harmony are the melodic materials, interwoven into the harmonic tapestry.
Each of the overtures is based on a handful of main thematic motifs or ideas. Dramatic momentum is generated by the rhythmic, registral, dynamic and textural transformations which these few themes are subjected to. The themes are like characters in a story that undergo personal metamorphoses in response to changing circumstances.
Rather than a patchwork of individually conceived modules, the overtures aim at a totally integrated tapestry in which the function of the tiniest element is integrated organically within the over-arching purpose of the whole work. Each new passage grows out of the previous passage in a natural and logical fashion.
What I hope the two overtures demonstrate is that music can offer exciting meanings in and of itself. Music does not always have to be relegated to an accompanying role as a soundtrack to an image, event or narrative.
How was it like writing your first composition? Did you consider being a composer yourself in the first place? How has the journey been like ever since? How different is your inspiration today different from those from yesteryears?
For me, the motivation to compose has always been based on one thing: A sense of delight in discovering something fresh & interesting, and then yearning to share this joy with others. It comes from a deep desire to be amazed and to amaze. It has always been as simple as that.
Singapore is a great place to be musically eclectic. I’ve written stage musicals, produced rock albums, performed as a Jazz pianist, trained as a South Indian drummer, composed in an electronic music studio, arranged Chinese folk songs and sung in a pop group.
In 2009, I wrote for wind band, harp ensemble and the T’ang Quartet, and then made a transition to composing two Jazz works commissioned for Arts Fest 09, which were premiered by Jazz Legends Jeremy Monteiro , Ernie Watts (saxophone) and Randy Brecker (trumpet).
After that, I completed a violin concerto for the Re:mix string ensemble and then handed up the set work for the 2010 SYF Central Judging of Choirs.
In February 2010, my first piano concerto was premiered by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In August, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Jeremy Monteiro premiered my Jazz piano concerto at its Season Opening Gala.
In July, the SSO premiered my new orchestration of Majulah Singapore at the Victoria Concert Hall closing ceremony. My Chinese Jazz fusion piece “Kallang Roar” was commissioned for a Youth Olympic Games premiere by the Teng Company in September. I am currently completing a new suite for the T’ang Quartet.
Fortunately, I also wrote three new band works in 2010, commissioned by the Philharmonic Winds (Decathlon), the Desford Colliery Band (Ignition) and the Singapore Police Force Band (Blue Horizons).
Therefore, stylistically, you could say I’m all over the place. I enjoy being a musical Karang Guni man of sorts; one who collects a a multitude of fragments from a diversity of sources. You never know when an idea you collect from one style will be just the right solution when applied to a work in another style, to keep the music sounding fresh and alive.
Were there any interesting phase or events that influenced or change your composition direction notably?
One event which made a colossal musical impact upon me was the first time I heard a live band in concert. In 1974, as a secondary one student in ACS, I heard the ACS Military Band perform in the school hall. The image is still vividly imprinted on my mind and I remember the pieces: Landmark Overture & the Carpenters’ Close to You. The music hit me like a tidal wave. Something within me suddenly seemed to melt and come alive.
Although the performance probably would not even have garnered a Silver Award by today’s standards, I was enthralled by the miraculous sound. The boys who played this music seemed like superheroes to me.
Being accepted into ACS Military band was the single most prestigious moment of my life. As we performed our repertoire, I absorbed every single note in every instrumental part. I tried to reproduce this music on the piano as precisely as I could. I knew I could not simply let all these composers have all the fun; I had to compose music myself.
Were there any depressing moments you been through in your composition journey and how did you overcome it? Is there any point you feel like you have run dry and what would you do?
I’ve never had the luxury of feeling depressed or running dry, even though I’ve often felt like it. No matter how you feel, a deadline is a deadline, especially when several of them loom all at once.
Being a professional creative artiste just means you always have to find strength in yourself, once again, to exceed what you were and to say something fresh, new and inspiring.
What do you think are the most important factors in composing and arranging respectively?
An important factor in the task of composing is to understand the psychology of music. How do humans perceive the interaction of timbres, rhythms, textures, dynamics and harmonies in a manner that expresses something beautiful?
Music is not just magic or instinct. There is clearly a science to these matters.
Compositional craft lies in understanding these primeval forces so that you can harness, control and channel them according to your will, to be your voice and to express what you mean.
When I compose for student ensembles, I always do so from an educational approach. As such, you might find that both overtures are richly embedded with a myriad of musical “lessons” demonstrating the various effects of manipulating rhythm, texture, harmony, dynamics, register and melody.
Why not atonal music? Instead of the usually romantic compositions?
I have reservations about the term “atonal” as I’m not certain any system of harmony, no matter how complex, can be totally free of any sense of pitch centre or tonal gravity.
But certainly, some music is more dissonant and tonally unstable than others. I have written many works that might be described as “atonal” and I enjoy expanding my range of expression using more complex pitch relations.
However, my compositions for school ensembles tend to be tonality in differing degrees, because in order to understand more complex and dissonant harmonic systems, a musician must first be very firmly grounded on a thorough understanding of basic and consonant harmonic concepts.
Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, the pioneers of “atonality”, were undisputed masters of the traditional system of harmony. Their deep understanding of intervallic relations and the forces of voice-leading formed the basis of the new “twelve-tone” system of harmony.
There are would-be composers who take the easy path by jumping into writing “atonal” music without mastering traditional harmony and counterpoint.
Without a proper understanding of the forces that govern consonance and dissonance and how to control harmonic tension and resolution, they concoct garbled clumps of dissonance that “sound modern” to the untrained ear. But discriminate musicians can tell immediately that the notes have no congruence or proper direction.
Good twelve-tone music generates as much harmonic power and direction as a Beethoven symphony.
Young musicians need to beware of cunning and deceitful composers who exercise power over people by wielding the incomprehensibility of their art.
If you say that you don’t like their music, they’ll declare that you are too unsophisticated. So you are intimidated into agreeing that their music is great. Either way, these charlatans win and the audience loses.
Thus, they establish themselves in an unassailable position that is beyond criticism or accountability to their audiences.
After receiving so many awards, what do they mean to you?
An award mean nothing if a musician does not have the artistic substance to back it up. I don’t go out of my way to seek accolades, but once in a while it is nice when one happens to come my way.
I always remind myself that prizes are external to the music, and it must always be the music itself that I seek.
Do you have any word of encouragements or advices to all bands who have participated in SYF 2009?
It is crucial at this point for young musicians to step back to see what is happening in the Arts in Singapore and not be wrapped up only in their own school bands. There is a fundamental shift that is starting to occur and if we all put our backs to it, a wonderful new musical spirit will emerge in the hearts of Singaporeans.
We can turn into a true Renaissance City.
In the first two decades of our nation’s history, a solid emphasis on science and technology was essential to consolidate a strong economic foundation.
Today, as Singaporeans enjoy the fruits of those efforts, we are also endeavouring to make a transition to higher levels of cultural and artistic refinement. However, our predominantly technological and pragmatic mindset has become so pervasive that it permeates every aspect of our worldview, even the way we view the Arts.
However, the logic that lies at the heart of Music is far too complex to be understood using a scientific grid based on cut-and-dried classifications and schematics and analyzing an object by breaking it down to its elements.
Playing music with such a reductionist approach grossly over-simplifies its richness and strips it of life. The music would sound as though it were executed by a machine: cold, mechanical, blatant, plain, crude, raw and monotonous.
Having been part of SYF adjudication panels across various ensembles, including Angklung, Harp, String Ensemble, Guitar, Guzheng and Handbells, it is most revealing that our overseas adjudicators consistently observe that our student ensembles are extremely strong in handling technical aspects, but are somewhat less advanced in grasping the finer nuances of Music.
Sometimes, people have decided upon the award their band should receive even before they step on stage simply because they chose a technically complicated score and can execute all the right notes with a minimum number of errors. Unable or unwilling to grasp the measure of true musical artistry, they equate it directly to complexity and technical difficulty.
Their minds are unable to fathom that musical interpretation extends much further beyond a mere literal and superficial reading of the notes. The worst claim they make is that “Music is subjective”. Thus, they neatly excuse themselves of any responsibility to explore further the elusive truths that determine musical beauty.
By restricting themselves safely within such a self-referential and self-serving fortress of complacent ignorance, they reduce music to a binary phenomenon capable only of two outcomes, “winning” or “losing”. Such an insecure, petty and lazy attitude poses the greatest danger to our nation’s chances for artistic excellence.
The true cultivation of musical sensitivity demands two elements that Singaporeans tend to consider too much of a liability: Time and Passion.
We feel compelled to invest our time more efficiently on pragmatic pursuits which yield tangible results, and passion is a luxury we simply cannot afford in a world where practicality rules the day.
However, based on the overwhelming musical passion that our conductors and students demonstrated at SYF 2009, I have full confidence that our nation is well on its way towards a far brighter musical future. I felt truly heartened and inspired by the tremendous energy generated by our band scene.
We Singaporeans love shortcuts and instant recipes. However, there is no quick formula to attaining artistic enlightenment. It requires a great deal of time and effort to listen intently to great performers in order to capture the subtle things they do that shape a phrase so beautifully and create a convincing sense of structure.
It is absolutely essential to expose ourselves to music beyond the wind band, so that our musical understanding will not stagnate and be limited.
Listen attentively to the legendary Jazz musicians, the great classical violinists and the revered masters of traditional Asian music. Try to understand the deeply embedded qualities that make a great performance rise beyond those that are merely academic.[
As our deep engagement with great music transforms us into more discriminating and sensitive listeners, we will naturally begin to perform music in a manner that is more colourful, vibrant, nuanced and dramatic and alive.
It is sensitivity to the microscopic details that builds to an overall picture that bursts with overwhelming artistic purpose and impact.
The best way to attain a Gold with Honours is NOT to desire a Gold with Honours.
Strive only to go beyond yourselves and your mental barriers in pursuing musical truth; nothing else. Humble yourself by realizing each day that Music will always extend beyond what we can imagine. This is why there is inexhaustible joy in pursuing it.
Once you reach a particular level of performance, the recognition will come. By then, you might not even want the award that badly because you’ve realized that the real prize is already within you. The Music has become part of who you are.
Any other form of so-called “musical” pursuit would be a total waste of time. How’s that for Singaporean efficiency?
What do you hope to see in SYF 2011?
We’ve had two years to apply the significant lessons learnt from SYF 2009. I would be delighted to hear conductors and musicians of 2011 performing with a deeper sense of musical understanding than before.
I also hope bands that were successful in 2009 will not simply rely on the safe formulae that secured them a medal, but would keep extending the threshold of their artistic boundaries and to sound fresh.
But substantial musical improvements can only follow on from a fundamental change in outlook amongst school administrators, conductors and students towards placing greater value on Music.
In order to do so, we need to free ourselves from our unhealthy and self-defeating bondage to marks and medals. If high scores and awards are all you yearn for, you may get them, but all you’ve have is some scraps of paper, pieces of metal and a rows of digits.
And, your heart will be devoid of the most valuable reward of all: the Music.
Kelly Tang’s music can be accessed online here