By Qiu Kexin (16A13A) and Chew Cheng Yu (16S06L)
Photos courtesy of Mr Toh Ban Sheng, Keane Chua and Raffles Voices

As the smartly dressed performers took their places centre stage, a hush instantly fell over the audience within the newly refurbished space of Victoria Concert Hall. It was thus that the three starring acts for the night – Raffles Chorale, alumni choir Raffles Singers and their Year 1-4 counterpart Raffles Voices – made a sparkling entrance for their annual arts performance Vocal Exploits 2015, immediately filling the hall with comforting, dulcet sighs of one impressive choir overlooking fully-packed turnout.

Held to raise funds for Nepal in the wake of the devastating earthquakes in April, the theme for this year’s concert was Canticum in Natura (Latin for ‘Songs in Nature’). True to its name, the concert showcased a stunning repertoire variously inspired by the beauty and majesty of our natural environment. The theme took on an even deeper throughout the musical extravaganza, as the many songs recalled the joy of appreciating Nature and her vicarious gifts — perhaps an experience made particularly poignant to an audience accustomed to city life in concrete jungles.

The concert started on a high note, opening with Cantate Domino (‘Sing to the Lord’) by Josu Elberdin, which pervaded the atmosphere with pleasant clarity of voices, as the singers passionately produced rousing chants, united as one ensemble.

Following that, in the concert’s first half, the rest of the songs included various works centering around the celebration of the human spirit. I Carry Your Heart with Me (originally a poem by E. E. Cummings) was a gently euphonious song about enduring love, accompanied by sweet felicitous notes played by violinist Carolyn Au (16S03F).

In contrast, Hentakan Jiwa (‘Beat of My Soul’ in Bahasa Indonesia) by Ken Steven was notable for its stirring Indonesian percussionistic rhythm, which Raffles Voices created through clapping and stomping when they took over the stage — evocative of the strength of a beating human heart. In Beati Quorum Via (from Psalm 119:1, Latin for ‘Blessed Are Those Whose Way’), a religious hymn, the choralists blended voices both high and low as well as booming vocals together into one resounding whole.

Those present were able to hear a sundry of different languages throughout the various pieces, some comprehensible to us, some completely foreign – but they had not detracted from the audience’s enjoyment of the plaintive music and instead, as the music went on, they managed to move the audience in their seats simply through the emotional passion of the performers’ elegant voices, communicating in the wordless yet inspiringly universal tongue of music. In particular, there was Stars I Shall Find by David Dickau. With a mellow touch of piano accompaniment and spirited expression, it stood out for its optimistic message of keeping oneself afloat and finding hope amidst adversity.

After the intermission, the audience saw Raffles Singers, comprising of chorale alumni, taking the stage alongside their juniors for some notable performances. There was a noticeable shift in mood due to the transition, through changes in song choice, to a lighter listening experience – while the atmosphere was still solemn during some pieces, most of the works included were contemporary pieces, which made for a musical style more aurally engaging for younger members of the teeming audience.

The sombre ones – fewer in number this time round – included the notable The Lonesome Road arranged by Simon Carrington, which mixed soulful melodies with contemplative lines about solitude (“Walk down that lonesome road all by yourself / Don’t turn your head back over your shoulder”),  to create a song which was deeply introspective.

In their rendition of Gloria by contemporary South Korean composer Hyo-Won Woo, the performers brought to life the piece’s richly nuanced and unique fusion of Eastern musical influences with a rearranged, but still quintessentially Latin, hymn. Our choir efficaciously recreated the might and regality associated with Latin chorale music – combined with their execution of traditional Korean music tempos which had been incorporated into the song, the performance was nothing short of a rousing crowdpleaser.

La Cucaracha, a Mexican folk song, livened up the whole venue with its light-hearted and jovial tunes. Pervaded by the catchy repetitions of ‘ba dum da’ that compelled one to dance along with the rhythm, it ended with a loud, enthusiastic shout of “Olé!” which cracked up many in the audience.

Pamugun, from one of the Philippines’ most prominent composers Francisco Feliciano, was unfolded to the expectant listeners by Raffles Singers. It was a challenging piece better suited for the more seasoned alumni; the song (which told the story of a desperate hunter chasing a bird) tested the waters of typical concert fare, not just because of its rapid-speed rhythm which demanded much vocal agility, but also for a few surprises throughout the song, such as a loud, unexpected shriek halfway which shocked the audience. In all, it was one of the more outstanding performances, demonstrating the mastery of our alumni choristers and rounding off the concert well with a delightful dose of what was unusual.

The next piece brought in several new instruments, such as a cymbal, a bass drum, handbells, and many more curious musical implements. Cloudburst by Eric Whitacre — about the breathtaking wonders of nature big and small — was an intriguing piece: snapping fingers became raindrops, a thunder sheet with the bass drum became thunder; the song slowly built a storm to its crescendo, before leaving the sounds to ebb away gradually. With a slight dream-like quality with the ringing of handbells, the audience was entranced by the thunderstorm that grew in the hall, into a storm which received thunderous applause at the end – truly well-deserved in our opinion, considering the song had been one of the most challenging of the lot to choralist Adrian Wang (16A13A), since it had been “substantially long” while necessitating the seamless “weaving together of voices and several instruments”.

Last but not least, the chorale groups concluded the concert by singing the Institution Anthem upon requests for an encore, as per Chorale’s tradition. There was an invitation extended to all Rafflesians present to join in with them – which they did, boldly singing together in what was a joyous and stirring rendition of the Anthem.

Looking back on the eventful night, the first thing one could have praised Raffles Chorale would have been, right off the bat, their ability to work with all the chosen songs from dissimilar composers or artists, and yet still present a coherent and unified theme of celebrating our world overall. The result was a smooth show that had been enjoyable for both the viewers as well as the performers. No less impressively, their performance that night showed no signs of sloppiness or disorganisation despite being prepared within just a few months – the chorale members were all deeply engaged in their own performances, swaying along to the music as they sang. The solo performances were similarly impressive; they supplemented character and depth to the song with much enthusiasm. No wonder it had been enjoyable to such a degree for the performers then, as Adrian Wang also revealed that the chorale groups had found “performing in the Victoria Concert Hall for the first time a highly breathtaking experience.”

Having said that, another area that had impressed was definitely the choice of so many — up till then — oft-unheard pieces hailing from a diversity of cultures around the globe. The general consensus was that the repertoire had achieved an enlightening and eye-opening showcase of music which could have largely gone unnoticed by the average music-lover otherwise. The unique and slightly quirky setlist had come about because “Chorale wouldn’t be performing for the Singapore Youth Festival this year,” recalled Mr Toh Ban Sheng, director of Canticum in Natura. “We had more freedom in choosing our repertoire, so [we took] the opportunity to perform long works with various instruments.”

For seasoned music aficionados, the originality of some notable pieces – manifest in the recreation of nature’s sounds in Cloudburst, and the seamless, yet whimsical alternation between fast-paced bars and slow cries of Pamugun – would have delighted. There had been no lack of thrills for the casual listener there either: the songs had taken the audience on an emotional roller-coaster, riding from the high of sprightly jingles, to the sobering melancholy of some sad ballads.

And as for the average student there, there had certainly been some pieces with timbres mostly unfamiliar to them in this day and age (austere works such as Gloria or Beati Quorum via). Still, in the bigger picture, that mattered little because at its core, the whole affair in Victoria Concert Hall had been a sincere performance with the best mix of chosen pieces, marked by the choirs’ emotional conveyance of the human heart and soul through the sheer will of voice alone.

Setlist

• Cantate Domino by Josu Elberdin
• Stars I Shall Find by David Dickau
• The New Moon by Ēriks Ešenvalds
• Sonnet 43 by Kelly Tang
• Hentakan Jiwa (World Premiere) by Ken Steven
• If May I Fall In Love Again (World Premiere) by John Pamintuan
• I Carry Your Heart with Me by Randall Stroope
• Cantico de Celebración by Leo Brouwer
• Beati quorum via by Charles Villiers Stanford
• Gloria by Hyo-won Woo
• That Lonesome Road by James Taylor, arranged by Simon Carrington
• Contrapunto bestiale alla mente by Adriano Banchieri
• La Cucaracha arranged by Robert Sund
• Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain by Claude Debussy
• Pamugun by Francisco Feliciano
• Cloudburst by Eric Whitacre
• Let the River Run arranged by Craig Hella Johnson

By Alex Tan (16S03B) and Qiu Kexin (16A13A)
Photos by Way Ng (15S03A) and Cheng Zimin (16S03B) of Raffles Photographic Society

As the lights dimmed, the performers of Raffles Chamber Ensemble, decked out in their chic tuxedos and dresses, made a dazzling entrance for their annual concert, Intime. Meanwhile, the eager audience prepared themselves for a night with much to enjoy in the way of sophistication.

The first emcees, Farah Wu (16A03A) and Bryan Tay (16S03B), made a quick introduction to the concert theme, through playful dialogue:

“Are we going to start in time?”
“Don’t you mean on time?”
“Intime, it’s French! It means … ‘intimate’.”

The concert promptly commenced with II Andante Cantabile, by renowned Russian composer Tchaikovsky – a solemn piece characterised by underlying melancholic tunes. As dismal as that sounds, on the contrary the bittersweet wistfulness brought out by the orchestra’s passionate playing had made for an engaging listening experience.

Following that, the ensemble progressed with several other classical pieces from the Romantic period, notably four movements from Carl Reinecke’s massive Serenade for Strings in G Minor, Op. 242. One might criticize the inaccessibility and esoteric nature of these songs to the average JC student, but these sufficiently encompassed a spectrum of moods, from introspective to intense, displaying the musicians’ versatility as well as mastery. Among other pieces, Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A Major was enjoyable for its sprightliness; the high-pitched violin soaring above the other string instruments, echoing and engaging in pleasant harmony with the piano.

The best moments of the night, surely, came after the intermission, which marked a transformation in atmosphere. Garbed casually in bright, striking colours that contrasted with the earlier minimalist attire, the orchestra first embarked on Hansel and Gretel, a musical arranged by their very own musician Yee Yang En (16S06B).

A narratorial voiceover and backgrounds on the projector supported the storyline based on the well-known fairytale of the same name (the musical was a sequel, picking up from after Hansel and Gretel found their way out of the witch’s house). Hansel and Gretel, charmingly portrayed by Wong Jia Yi (16S03A) and Yee Yang En, skipped out in tartan outfits, while cellist Heidi Ngo (15S06K), was convincingly decked out as a witch.

A medley narrated the brother-and-sister pair’s growth into wiser adolescents, which consisted of recognisable songs from pop culture and musicals. These included the likes of All I Ask Of You (from The Phantom of the Opera), For Good (from Wicked), Bruno Mars’s Marry You and Maroon 5’s Maps. Though relying on a clichéd trope of romance, it was nonetheless refreshingly light-hearted, a welcome counterpoint to the hitherto sombre mood of the concert.

To the audience’s surprise, the musicians had more tricks up their sleeves afterwards; the full orchestra reemerged in formal wear to conclude the evening with Vivaldi’s Spring. One last surprise was unfurled there and then: Wu Chin Ying (15S03R) “paused” the whole orchestra with a point of a remote control as she walked in from the side – and then revealed that the ensemble was entirely under the influence of her remote control. The audience was thereafter taken through a supremely entertaining and surreal showcase of the remote control’s various functions (Play, Pause, Mute, and Volume Control, among others).

Chin Ying fit into her part as Remote Controller remarkably, delivering her lines with the right amount of panache and hilarious verve. “Just enjoy that clarity of sound!” she exhorted as she clicked on Play. “Now you know why we can’t live life backwards – it sounds terrible,” she said while pressing on Rewind. “Come guys, wallow in self pity!” she urged as the orchestra broke into the main theme of Schindler’s List. This delightful mélange of theatre and chamber music was ended with their very sporting conductor, Ms Marietta Ku, wobbling off stage in a mechanical fashion.

Initially, some of the humour and fun in the production had seemed incongruous with the general tone of the concert. A behind-the-scenes video of bloopers and amusing captions like “very intense swordfighting” (rendered lovingly in Comic Sans) cracked the audience up – but as the concert progressed one realised that the comedy had been part of the plan all along. In fact, the Ensemble had successfully produced a refined yet relatable performance because of it, by marrying contemporary tunes with stereotypically ‘high-brow’ chamber music. Safe to say, it was a school production at heart, and a great one at that.

Bryan Tay, the newly-elected Chairperson, said about the preparation: “It was a really tough journey because we had to frequently meet up on non-CCA days for extra practice. I’m really really thankful for Ms Judy Tay and Ms Marietta Ku’s dedication – coming on these extra days and coaching us till 8 or 9.”

Beyond the final production seen by the public, Farah Wu, incoming Vice-Chairperson, also shared that Intime had been meaningful for the Ensemble: “Intime had brought everyone together as one family – especially through the fun and laughter we shared when we played as one remote-controlled orchestra! The late night rehearsals are memories we’ll cherish forever.” No wonder then, seeing the effort they had put in, that the orchestra had thoroughly impressed us with their fresh performance and shown us another side to classical music! Raffles Press would like to thank Raffles Chamber Ensemble for holding this delightful and well-executed concert.

Concert Setlist

• String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Opus 11 (Andante Cantabile) composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
• Serenade for Strings in G Minor, Opus 242, composed by Carl Reinecke
• Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 (Allegro Vivace), composed by Franz Schubert
• String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Opus 18 (Allegro non Troppo), composed by Johannes Brahms
• Hansel and Gretel, arranged by Yee Yang En (16S06B)
• Concerto No.1 in E Major, “La Primavera”, Opus 8 (Allegro), composed by Antonio Vivaldi