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Music: Local Composers

Resources for Music students

Local Compositions

Works by a good mix of wellknown, as well as new and emerging local composers have been collected. These are made accessible to members of NUS Libraries in support of the art of music composition in Singapore. In order to access these materials, you will have to search for the item in the online library catalogue, LINC. The titles are too many to list here, so check them out in LINC.

Source: From the NUS Libraries Music Collection

 

CHEN Zhangyi

The music of Chen Zhangyi has been described by The Straits Times as “a breath of fresh air on our musical landscape.” He has collaborated with ensembles such as London Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Re: mix and Singapore Lyric Opera. His award-winning Ariadne’s Love was dubbed by BBC Radio 3 as “music from a choral voice of the future.”

GOH Toh Chai, Zechariah

As a composer, Zechariah Goh is frequently commissioned to write music for  symphonic bands and choirs. Since the 1990s, his choral works have been  premiered in Singapore as well as many international festivals and  competitions around the world, including Austria, Brazil, Germany, Greece and Wales.

For his artistic excellence in the field of music, Zechariah was conferred the Young Artist Award (Music) in September 2003 by the National Arts Council, Singapore. The award was presented by the President of the Republic of Singapore at Istana.

HO, Chee Kong

Ho, Chee-Kong (b. 1963, Singapore). Singapore composer of orchestral, chamber, choral, piano, and electroacoustic works that have been performed in Asia and elsewhere. In addition, he is Assoc Prof at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

His works have been performed in Canada, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA, including at the Asian Music Festival in Tokyo (2003).

LEONG Yoon Pin

Leong Yoon Pin (b. 5 August 1931, Singapore. d. 13 April 2011 ), composer, conductor and educator, is well known for his choral compositions, many of which have been locally commissioned and performed by both amateur and professional choirs. For his many contributions in music, Leong was honoured with the Cultural Medallion in 1982. He was also awarded the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (BBM) in 2005, and more recently in 2007, the COMPASS Lifetime Achievement Award. 

An obituary article on Leong Yoon Pin was published in The Straits Times on 14 April 2011 (page A12).

  • Scores
  • Aspiration / For a thousand miles

    From: Choral pieces from Singapore (commissioned works)
    [1.] Abiding in Christ / Samuel Ting Chu San -- [2.] Aspiration / Leong Yoon Pin -- [3.] For a thousand miles / Leong Yoon Pin -- [4.] Singapore river, the mother river of Singapore / Lee Yuk Chuan -- [5.] Vignettes 1-6 / Charles Lazaroo.

  • Azure sky

    碧云天
    Principally for chorus (SATB), unacc.
    For a cappella SATB choir; commissioned by The Singapore Youth Choir.

  • Dragon dance

    舞龙
    Principally for chorus (SATB), unacc.

  • Dragon dance

    From: "A cappella" The Philharmonic Chorus.

  • Four poems of Li Bai

    欲上青天揽明月 -- 把酒问月 -- 将进酒 -- 花间 -- 壶酒.

Bernard TAN

Bernard Tan is a Professor in the Department of Physics, National University of Singapore. He is also active in the arts community. He has worked in committees such as the National Arts Council's 'Sing Singapore' committee, Singapore Festival of the Arts, and Singapore Arts Centre Steering Committee. His compositions has been recorded and performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Youth Orchestra, and NUS Concert Orchestra.

  • Sound recordings
  • Allegro

    From: Academic festival overture op.80 Symphony no.1. ; Petrushka.
    1. Academic Festival overture op.80 (10'12) / Johannes Brahms -- 2. Symphony No.1. (23'48") : I. Moderato ; II. Scherzo: Vivace; III.
    Andante ; IV. Allegro. / Bernard Tan -- 3. Petrushka (31'48" ; 1947) : I. The Shrove-tide Fair ; II. Petrushka ; II. The Black Moor, attacca ; IV. The Shrove-tide Fair ; Piano solo: Shane Thio. / Igor Stravinsky.

  • Can do!

    From: Of passion & passages in celebration of Keppel Corporation's 40th Anniversary.
    Ruslan and Ludmilla: overture / Mikhail Glinka -- Piano concerto no. 2 in A major / Franz Liszt -- Of passion & passages / Ho Chee Keong -- West Side story: symphonic dances / Leonard Bernstein -- Can do! / Bernard Tan.

TSAO Chieh

Tsao Chieh (Chinese: 曹节; 1953-1996) was born in Singapore and studied piano under Victor Doggett. He obtained the Licentiate of the Royal School of Music for piano performing when he was 18. In the ensuing years, he lived in the UK and USA to pursue further studies in Engineering under various scholarships, all the time continuing his music education through reading and listening to a wide repertory of music.

In his time at Stanford University, he took up music composition lessons under Leland Smith. One of his many compositions during this creative and productive period was called 'Four Songs from Romantic Poets', which won him first prize at the Paul and Jean Hanna Music Competition in 1984. After his return to Singapore, he continued to pursue his interest in music despite his career in Engineering and later, in a pioneer Internet company in Singapore. Besides writing several works for orchestra, he worked on several pieces employing microtonal tunings for synthesizers and computer. Plans were in place to write an opera based on the legend of Bukit Merah when Tsao Chieh was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in 1996 and is survived by his wife.

Works by Tsao Chieh in NUS Libraries:

1. Two little pieces

2. Variations for chamber ensemble (manuscript)

3. Singapore Artillery centennial march (manuscript)

4. Amidst the sough of winds (manuscript)

5. Prelude

6. Four songs from romantic poets

7. Music manuscripts (various)

Zubir Said

Zubir Said (b. 22 July 1907, Bukittinggi; d.  16 Nov 1987, Singapore) is the composer of Singapore's national anthem Majulah Singapura (Onwards Singapore!), and the beloved Children's Day song Semoga Bahagia (May Ye be Happy). He was a composer and musician of the highest order, with his heart and artistic work firmly rooted in the Malay world. He was awarded the ASEAN Cultural and Communications Award in 1987, the Jawasan Seni (Contributor to Arts) in 1971, the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Service Star) and the Sijit Kemuliaan (Cerificate of Honour) in 1963.