Jubiläum

Jubiläum, or anniversary, celebrates the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Youth Choir and Children's Choir’s legacy of music-making. Tonight’s programme presents choral classics honed over the years, as well as newer pieces that articulate the choirs’ dreams for the future.

The Antiphon by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) rings in the happy occasion, sung fittingly by all three choirs. This is the fifth song of Vaughan Williams’ set of Five Mystical Songs, which he completed in 1911. Through the rumbles of the organ introduction, the chorus declares, “let all the world in every corner sing!” In between these refrains are softer, more flowing verses, tinged with modal and pentatonic colouring. The contrasting refrain, especially in its organ accompaniment, is strongly reminiscent of ringing church bells, lending the piece an emphatic, triumphant quality.

Following this is a short set by the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC), beginning with the Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11 by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). This was first written as a student piece when Fauré was twenty years old, at a classical and religious music institute. Considering its serene charm and skillful melodic writing, it is unsurprising to learn that he was awarded a first prize in composition for the piece. The organ establishes a backdrop of unending triplets, creating an impression of clouds drifting across the open sky. A simple melody is introduced in the basses, inviting the remaining voices to join at a leisurely pace.

This segment of pieces from the classical canon is rounded out with the austere Voka’leise, a choral arrangement by Choral Director Eudenice Palaruan of a wordless song composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff titled Vocalise. This is the final song of Rachmaninoff’s 14 Songs written in 1912. Without any words, Rachmaninoff creates a dark, yearning atmosphere. The melody is stretched across a luxurious seven bars, characterised by long suspended notes pulled into a descending sequence. This theme is broken up and elaborated upon, creating cycles of tension and light release. Towards the end, a fragile climax is crafted with a gentle ascending line that seems to touch the sky, and fall swiftly, softly, to the ground.

The SSC closes their set with an African American spiritual, John Saw duh Numbuh, arranged in 1962 by Alice Parker (1925–2023) and Robert Shaw (1916–1996). The text is based on the Biblical book of Revelations, in which the author John sees innumerable souls in Heaven. The apocalyptic text is given a lighter treatment here, with the basses setting a groove upon which the rest of the song swings. Like in the Fauré, voices are invited one by one to thicken the texture, this time giving the effect of a joyous, increasingly populated Paradise.

The next piece marks the start of a set by the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC). We are first treated to a tuneful setting of the poem, If Music Be The Food of Love. Not to be confused with the Shakespearean text, the poetry is by 17th century colonel Henry Heveningham, who took the opening line from a Twelfth Night monologue and made the rest his own. American composer David Dickau gives it a lush, romantic rendering, making it a moving tribute to love and to music.

Following that is our first commissioned piece of the evening. Two Choral Songs by Kelly Tang (b. 1961) is based on the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson. The first song, Night and Day, features colourful metaphors that paint, in vivid detail, the recurring cycle of Day as it turns into Night, and darkness as it breaks into dawn. In contrast, the second song The Swing explodes with freedom and vitality, evoking the exhilaration of flying up and down on a swing. While they seem to be exact opposites, Two Choral Songs both have cyclic and dynamic dimensions. Night and Day describes a daily cycle and dynamic movement between darkness to light. The Swing pulsates with energy, a pendulum swinging repeatedly from left to right in static cyclical momentum. In this way, Two Choral Songs represent two sides of the same coin. (adapted from composer’s notes)

Sustaining that youthful energy is A Child’s Voice by Lee Chin Sin. The song was originally commissioned for the SSCC’s 10th anniversary in 2016— it is fitting that the choir revisit the piece a further ten years on. The song likens the children’s voices to a rainbow that shines clear with its many colours and dimensions. Lee uses each verse to highlight different facets of these voices: sometimes assertive, at others heartfelt, and often joyful.

Following in the footsteps of the SSC, the children’s choir gives a rousing close to their set. This is Music Down In My Soul by Moses Hogan, based on the African American spiritual, “Over My Head”. The spiritual is first sung with conviction and sincerity. Soon, the piano urges us forward, and the song erupts into jubilant praise with shouts of love and peace everlasting.

Two delicate prayers open the second half of this evening’s programme, performed by the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (SSYC) together with the SSCC. The first is the Ave Maria (Angelus Domini) by Franz Biebl (1907-2001), a setting of the Latin ‘Hail Mary’ Catholic prayer, completed in 1964. Within it, Biebl intersperses lines from the ‘Angelus’ devotional text in the form of chants. The main prayer text is rendered in a gentle, rocking manner, alternating lines between the upper and lower voices. Rising together, the choir builds to a climatic supplication, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners”. A simple ascending scale paves the way to a conclusive, resonant “Amen”.

The second prayerful song is O Salutaris Hostia by the Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds’ (b. 1977), a Eucharistic hymn sung for Holy Communion. A calm, meditative texture is created by sustained notes held by a full chorus. This serenity is never disturbed. Above, angelic solo voices soar, their melodies characterised by weightless octave leaps and delicate turns. The combined effect is heavenly, resembling light filtering through morning fog.

A warm and expressive piano introduction takes us into Flight Song by Kim André Arnesen (b.1980). Arnesen wrote it as a gift to choral conductor Anton Armstrong, with text by Euan Tait. The words speak of the song that exists in every choral member, drawn out and encouraged by the masterful hands of a conductor. As the composer himself wrote about the piece, “it is a song for all who find their voice (and their wings) in the world of singing”.

Abendlied, Op. 69, No. 3 by Josef Rheinberger (1839 - 1901) is a staple of choral repertoire. It is the third song from his choral set, Drei geistliche Gesänge (Three Sacred Songs), composed in 1855. It is an evening song, beginning with a hushed prayer from the upper voices, beckoning, “stay with us”. The middle section takes us into moments of doubt and tension, perhaps conveying exhaustion from the day gone by and anxieties about the day ahead. Layer by layer, this tension builds from the lower to upper voices before quickly surrendering to a calm assurance.

The delightfully titled Coconut Heart is the second of this evening’s commissioned works. In collaboration with writer Toh Hong Jin, composer Kenneth Tay (b.1992) sought to anchor their piece to motifs from everyday Singaporean culture. Toh was drawn to the coconut, a nutrient-rich fruit unique for its method of dispersal across water and multifaceted use as food and building materials. The poem unfolds through interwoven quatrains, similar to the pantoum with roots in the Malay pantun, where lines recur and are subtly recontextualised across successive stanzas. Musically, the piece is shaped by canonic entries and recurrent gestures that follows the poetic circularity. Some features of Singaporean English are intentionally preserved: dental fricatives are rendered as alveolars (e.g. the → də, that → dat, they → dey) to reflect the sounds of everyday speech. (adapted from composer’s notes)

Finally, the choirs reunite to conclude with Jubilate Deo by Zechariah Goh (b. 1970). The piece is Goh’s attempt to compose a sacred work that encompasses non-western elements and aesthetics familiar to Singaporeans. Specifically, the Javanese pelog scale, the Anhemitonic Pentatonic scale and the Indian Carnatic (Tala) rhythmic devices are carefully embedded within this work. The beautiful rattling sounds of the Angklung ensemble and the metallic and percussive idiophones of the Gamelan ensemble are presented in the Marimba and Brass quintet respectively. The pentatonic sounds are reminiscent of Chinese music, and the irregular subdivisions of beats such as 3 beats (Tisra): Ta Ki Ta, 4 beats (Chatusra): Ta Ka Dhi Mi, 5 beats (Khanda): Ta Dhi Gi Na Thom, are mixed into the work. Goh writes: “Jubilate Deo is a celebration of Singapore Symphony Choruses extraordinary journey since its inception in 1976. Happy anniversary and wishing you many glorious years of joyous singing ahead!” (adapted from composer’s notes)