|
 In
a continuing 4-part series we bring you excerpts from Sabah-born
scholar Charmaine Blythe Siagian's dissertation prepared
for her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Oklahoma.
For her research Siagian has chosen to study 7 Malaysian and
Indonesian composers and their piano music. This part looks
at her survey of Malaysian composers Tazul Tajuddin and Tan
Chee Hwa.
< back to part 2
Continuing in Chapter III
of Charmaine B Siagian's dissertation is an exploration of two
more Malaysian composers, one resident in UK and the other in
the US. The represent two different approaches to composition,
from the personal to the pedagoical, one for the mature pianist
and the other for young students.
Selected Solo Piano Works
By Contemporary Malaysian And Indonesian Composers From 1979
to 2007: An Introduction
By Charmaine Blythe Siagian
University Of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma, USA
2007
CHAPTER III
Selected Solo Piano Works from Contemporary Malaysian Composers
Tazul Tajuddin
Torrent of Images (2003-5)
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it is like a
torrent of images that floods one's mind after such an
irrational tragedy
-Tajuddin on his memorial
to the Bali bombing, "Torrent of Images"
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[excerpt] ... When asked about his musical philosophy, Tajuddin
answered, "There are two elements in my composition: structure
(physical), and sound (spiritual). These two elements exist
in Islamic philosophy, and dealing with the question of music
in Islamic terms is important because of my Malay background."
His output includes over thirteen orchestral and ensemble works,
nine choral works with orchestra and over twenty chamber and
solo works. Early in his career he also arranged twentyseven
Malay folk songs for choir and piano on a commission by the
Ministry of Culture in Malaysia. Unsurprisingly, he considers
himself a full-time composer.
Tajuddin recently completed a piano concerto titled Warna
Yang Bernada that was premiered by Malaysian-born pianist
Bobby Chen and the London Sinfonietta on November 14, 2007.
The piece was commissioned by the Malaysian Ministry of Culture
for the country's fiftieth year of independence. Other noteworthy
recently performed works include In Liquid Praise of Sound Refraining,
for narrator, four singers (SATB) and electronic media, using
text written by Alistair Appleton, premiered by members of the
BBC Singers at the Spitalfields Music Festival in London in
2007, as well as Azan (Call to Prayer) for mezzo soprano,
baritone, and three sound sculpture players, premiered in 2007
by the Sculpted Sound Ensemble at the Guildford International
Music Festival with the composer conducting. Although Tajuddin
is busy with commissioned works, at some point in the future
he would like to devote time to composition for stringed instruments,
i.e., string quartets, and pieces for solo guitar.
The composition of this three-movement work illustrates the
supportive nature of many artists between the neighbouring countries
of Malaysia and Indonesia. On October 12, 2002 twenty suicide
bombers targeted the peaceful island of Bali, killing 202 people
from various countries, the deadliest terrorist bombing in the
history of Indonesia. (The day is sometimes referred to as "Australia's
September 11" because of the high number of Australian
tourists that perished.) Pianist and composer Ananda Sukarlan
(featured in Chapter IV) commissioned the first movement for
a special memorial concert for the victims of the Bali bombings,
and the Fenton Arts Trust of Cambridge University commissioned
the second. The third movement, Rational, is in progress as
of this writing. Tajuddin writes in the performance notes that
the title is a metaphor for the tragedy that took place. The
work is written in the mode of the gamelan scale. Despite the
circumstances in which it was conceived, the composer reiterates
that it is not programmatic. Tajuddin encourages the performer
to contact him with questions regarding the performance of the
piece. Both movements may be performed independently. Both are
best suited to a mature performer. Irrational (First movement).
The first movement was completed in London. There is an inscription
(credited to Jacques Derrida) that alludes to the tragedy:
DYING - awaiting (one another at) the "limits
of truth"
MOURIR - s'attendre aux "limites de la vérité"
Ananda Sukarlan specifically requested a piece constructed
from the Balinese pentatonic scale: C,C#,D#,G,G#. The completed
piece builds from this scale and is ultimately "transposed,
permutated, and dislocated-eventually becoming only a shadow
of the original scale." Tajuddin explains that Irrational
consists of twelve small sections (patterns) in which the scale
in various forms is distributed. To add to the complexity, the
composer adds that a veiled structure created around a series
of five numbers is also built into the piece. The resulting
erratic feel and randomness of the piece are all intended to
be associated with the word irrational.
He elaborates further: As the title suggests, metaphorically,
it is like a torrent of images that floods one's mind after
such an irrational tragedy. . . . The piece transforms, almost
unreasonably, from an obvious Balinese pentatonic scale to more
obscure suspended clusters where the scale is played a doubling
shadow and the sustaining pedal. The images sometimes keep coming
back, reflecting the Balinese mode (memories of Bali) until
at the end it becomes more intense and eventually the tension
is released, with a loud chord played in the lower register.
This gesture is complemented by a solemn, repeated octave which
ends the section. The gesture (repeated octaves) is symbolically
(and perhaps metaphorically) intended to be a thoughtful reflection,
a meditative and mourning gesture for the tragedy and lost ones.
The piece is highly dissonant and challenging rhythmically,
at times with complex rhythmic rations between the hands, for
example, 5:4, 6:4, and 7:4. Tajuddin is clear and precise in
his musical directions. Common terms throughout include reflectively,
flowingly, meditatively, and ritualistic. ... [end of excerpt]
Siagan continues to examine the work's
second movement, Mediasi Masa-Raja Satariah Memoriam
with further musical excerpts, and list some of Tajuddin's other
piano works.
The final Malaysian composer in her survey
looks at two volumes of children's pieces written by Tan Chee
Hwa. It underscores her assertion in earlier chapters that students
should be exposed to local composers during the course of their
basic music education. If more Malaysian students played and
studied Malaysian works during their formative years, then surely
the environment for new music would be far healthier today.
Tan Chee-Hwa
A Child's Garden of Verses (1994)
Through the Windowpane (2005)
Tan Chee-Hwa (born 1965) is recognized in North America as
a published composer with the Frederick Harris Music Company,
the foremost educational piano publisher in Canada. Tan spent
her childhood in Johore, Malaysia, and grew up with a family
who supported her musical endeavours. She describes her mother
as "a fine soprano," but adds ruefully that her parents
lacked many of the opportunities that they were able to provide
for her, including good teachers and the experience of hearing
a variety of musical performances at concert halls.
Tan came to the United States as a student, and overcame many
financial hardships in pursuit of a music career. She received
undergraduate degrees in piano performance and English from
Oral Roberts University (1988), and two master's degrees in
piano performance (1990) and piano pedagogy (1992) from Southern
Methodist University.
Tan has served on the piano pedagogy faculties of the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music and Southern Methodist University and
presently conducts workshops throughout the United States and
Canada. She was also an associate editor of the now defunct
Piano Life magazine. She currently resides in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, with her family while balancing an active performing
and teaching career. Tan lists her musical influences as Mozart,
Bartok, Debussy, and Ravel, as well as noted American children's
composer William Gillock: "[He is a] writing genius when
depicting musical miniatures of standard classical forms . .
. . They are accessible technically and emotionally to the young
pianist." She describes her own compositional style as
"lyrical, yet eclectic."
When asked about her teaching philosophy, and how it relates
to the composing process, Tan is enthusiastic:
"I believe in the importance of teaching music literacy
skills to develop music-making for a lifetime of enjoyment.
I love passing on advanced performance skills and developing
those skills from the very beginning. I believe that it is crucial
to provide a pathway for pianistic success for the students
through sequential technical and musical concepts and creative
choices of repertoire. Most of all, I believe that EVERY student
can play musically, and that music study is for nurturing a
lifetime love of music."
Siagan then describes in detail each
work in the two cycles of studies, and contrasts the two volumes
by their differing periods of composition. Here we highlight
just the introductory paragraphs that give valuable background
information to the works:
A Child's Garden of Verses
According to Tan, A Child's Garden came out of "an assignment
by David Karp to compose a collection of teaching pieces"
for a pedagogical composition course. Tan also had a group of
eight-year-old pianists she was teaching, whom she felt needed
music that would help them transition technically and musically
from the late elementary level to the early intermediate level
of playing. All eight pieces in the collection are programmatic
and are written as tone poems. The pieces are pianistic interpretations
of the eight poems by Robert Louis Stevenson56 from his collection
of poems by the same title. Tan elaborates: "Each is conceived
to teach a certain technique or musicianship skill with the
specific goal of inspiring the student to focus on experimenting
with the sounds of the piano to depict the mood of the poem.
Each piece is, in essence, an etude in disguise." Helpful
performance hints are listed in both books, and artist William
Kimber illustrates most of the pieces. ........[end of excerpt]
Through the Windowpane
In 2005 Tan published Through the Windowpane (also with Frederick
Harris). Written as a set of eight pieces, this set is similarly
based on text from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden
of Verses. The pieces in this subsequent collection are also
appealing and pedagogically-friendly tone poems that paint sound
pictures. They are slightly easier than the earlier set. Pieces
that are notable include Shadow March and The Swing, which are
especially effective as tone-paintings........[end of excerpt]
Siagan has therefore laid a solid foundation
for further study on Malaysian composers, and has shown that
such a study can be not only viable but rewarding and illuminating.
Her contribution to Malaysian music scholarship is therefore
immense, for even though her dissertation is by confession only
introductory, it is that all-important first step that will
surely leap to more.
Continued
Next : Part IV - the music of Indoniesian composers
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1 Mar 2008
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