SNYO: Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet / Brahms’ Symphony 1

Sat, 22 Jun 2024, 7.30pm

Esplanade Concert Hall

Photo by Bryan van der Beek

Sat, 22 Jun 2024

Esplanade Concert Hall

Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet/ Brahms’ Symphony 1

Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Joshua Tan Principal Conductor

BRAHMS

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 45 mins

Intermission 20 mins

PROKOFIEV

Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet 42 mins

Concert duration: approximately 2 hrs with a 20 minutes intermission

Singapore National Youth Orchestra

The Singapore National Youth Orchestra showcases the extraordinary capability of our youth. It inspires them towards artistic excellence, nurtures them to reach beyond their potential and develops them through rigorous training within a vibrant, supportive, and diverse environment. Established formally in 1980, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO) has welcomed generations of youths into the transformative world of orchestral music, performing locally and representing Singapore on prestigious international stages.

The SNYO family consists of a main orchestra and a junior orchestra, with over 180 members aged 10 to 21 from more than 60 schools across Singapore, guided by professional musicians in rehearsals, sectionals, and masterclasses. Recognised by the Ministry of Education as a National Project of Excellence, members of the SNYO have their participation in the orchestra recognised as a Co-Curricular Activity.

Joshua Tan was appointed as the Principal Conductor of the SNYO in 2018, and Seow Yibin has held the position of Associate Conductor since 2022.

Over the years, the SNYO has performed in concert venues and music festivals across Australia, Austria, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Other musical endeavours include collaborations with the Singapore Ballet, TwoSetViolin and side-by-side concerts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

The SNYO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Choruses, as well as the SSO Chamber and Organ Series, the Singapore International Piano Festival, and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition.

Joshua Tan

Principal Conductor

2nd Prize winner of the 2008 Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition, Singaporean conductor Joshua Kangming Tan’s rise to prominence on the international scene has been marked by successful debuts in Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie Berlin, Mariinsky Hall and Bunkamura.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music (High Distinction), he is an awardee of numerous scholarships and awards, such as the Young Artist Award, Singapore (2011), Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award, NAC-Shell Scholarship, and the SSO/MOE Scholarship.

Joshua has conducted orchestras all around the world. These orchestras include the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Beethoven Bonn Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Urals Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Okayama Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra amongst others. He has studied with various eminent conductors—James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman and Kurt Masur—and worked with many others, such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Ingo Metzmacher and George Manahan.

Known as a versatile conductor, Joshua is at home with symphonic, operatic and ballet works. His substantial repertoire for opera includes La Traviata, Rigoletto, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, Turandot, among others. He has also served as cover conductor for Christoph Eschenbach and Lorin Maazel. He is also equally adept with music for ballet, film and multimedia. For the latter, his extensive work include Disney’s Fantasia and Pixar, all of BBC’s Blue Planet Series, West Side Story, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, James Bond and more. The Singapore premiere of Bernstein’s Mass, conducted by Joshua, was voted the best classical concert of the year 2018 by The Straits Times. For an unprecedented second year, his performance of the opera Don Pasquale was also voted the best classical concert of the year 2019 by The Straits Times

Joshua is presently Principal Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and Director of the Asia Virtuosi. He has served successful stints as Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the National Center for the Performing Arts (China) Orchestra, and as Principal Conductor of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of this season include debuts with the Melbourne, New Zealand and Manila Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bretagne, a new opera premiere in Hong Kong, return engagements to Hong Kong Philharmonic, Evergreen Symphony, the operas Das Rheingold, Die Fledermaus, Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, and with the Singapore Ballet, The Nutcracker and Cinderella

Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Joshua Tan PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Seow Yibin ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

Peter Stark PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

Lim Meng Keh PERCUSSION TUTOR

FIRST VIOLIN

Keith Ong CONCERTMASTER - BRAHMS

Regan Ho CONCERTMASTER - PROKOFIEV

Chloe Chee

Ethan Gu

Khloe Gui

Aidan Kwek

Lim Jing Rui

Joshua Lim

Yuto Lim

Ng Zu Ni

Jesper Tai

SECOND VIOLIN

Jacob Cheng PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Goh Shi Eun PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Amanda Ang

Maximus Chia

Hannah Chung

Galen Gay

Lee Seohyun

Zanna Phua

Raphael Teng

Yeo See Kang

Liam Young

VIOLA

Skyler Goh PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Elliott Chan PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Chang Zi Yi

Kuah Ying Ching

Jayden Kwan

Vernell Lim

Suah Zen Rong

Calista Tan

Samuel Tan

Wang Qian Hui

Alumni of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Performing in Prokofiev’s

Romeo and Juliet (Excerpts)

CELLO

Shavaun Toh PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Timothy Chua PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Aidan Khoo

Zachary Lau

Sean Park

Alexa Tan

Ephraim Tan

Narella Widjaja

Christoph Yang

Aidan Yeong

DOUBLE BASS

Li Jiaying PRINCIPAL

Hoo Rei Hon

Lee Yan Yu

Lim Rui Yi

Gideon Yen

FLUTE

Justin Damhaut PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Chan Xingwei PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Christie Chong

PICCOLO

Justin Damhaut

OBOE

Kayden Yap PRINCIPAL

Lucas Chan

COR ANGLAIS

Matthew Chen

FIRST VIOLIN

Ashley Hsu

Seah Huan Yuh

Monica Toh

SECOND VIOLIN

Chan Yun Kai

CELLO

Chan Wei Shing

Tay Hong Yap Malcolm

CLARINET

Qian Wanni PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Claudia Toh PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Ng Zhi Jian

Amelie Peh

Darren Sim

BASS CLARINET

Low Xin

TENOR SAXOPHONE

Michellina Chan*

BASSOON

Li Ruidan PRINCIPAL

Dana Cervantes

CONTRABASSOON

Wang Xintong

HORN

Andrew Lee PRINCIPAL

Joshua Goutama

Keak Jing Yi

Gabriel Miguel

Amira Qistina

Caden Rafiuly

TRUMPET

Domi Chen PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Koh Mi Yo PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

Sara Han

Quentin Heng

Joshua Tan

Tobias Tan

OBOE

Quek Jun Rui

Pang Siu Yuin

CLARINET

Andrew Chia

Ralph E. Lim

BASSOON

Shi Jia Ao

TROMBONE

Calista Lee PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Reema Chatterjee PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

BASS TROMBONE

Benjamin Lim

TUBA

Tan Yao Cong*

TIMPANI

Isaac Ng PRINCIPAL - BRAHMS

Putra Syahril PRINCIPAL - PROKOFIEV

PERCUSSION

Chen Wenyi

Chloe Miranda

Kilian Muliady

Isaac Ng

Vareck Ng

Christian Tan

HARP

Jerielle Kok

PIANO

Isaac Ng

Christian Tan

CELESTA

Isaac Ng

* Guest musician

HORN

Rayney Poon

TROMBONE

Nicholas Huang

Lucas Lim

BASS TROMBONE

Mirza Alkhairid

Programme Notes

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro

II. Andante sostenuto

III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso

IV. Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio

Just as Clara Schumann had been the catalyst for her husband Robert Schumann to start composing in a symphonic idiom in 1840, the two in turn were instrumental in prodding a young Johannes Brahms to take the same step. A 21-year-old Brahms had heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the first time in 1854, and vowed to write one in the same key, yet his first efforts ended up as rich material in other works. Robert Schumann, in the same year, strongly encouraged Brahms to continue and persevere and to look to Beethoven as a model. While Schumann himself was to die in an asylum two years later, his advice took root –even if it took 14 years to produce fruit.

Why so long? Brahms had the most intense respect for Beethoven, and it was precisely this which made Brahms feel inferior and unworthy. “I shall never write a symphony,” Brahms said, “You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him behind us.” So it was not until 1876, when Brahms was 43, that his First Symphony in C minor was premiered in Karlsruhe.

The symphony opens with Sturm und Drang aplenty – dramatic tension in the strings, insistent winds and brass, with timpani hammering repeatedly away. A sighing motif appears, followed by an arpeggiated motif, then the opening theme returns in a reorchestrated form. Motifs are reworked and developed until suddenly, amidst the calm, a jerky three-note motif is introduced by violas. This is taken up by violins as they add a fourth note, giving us a short-short-shortlong rhythm – a reference to the famous ‘Fate’ theme from Beethoven’s Fifth. An extended development follows where Brahms takes apart and tweaks the motifs, recombining them in dizzying combinations constantly interrupted by the violas and their three-note motif. The music is driven to the recapitulation, stable enough until violas bring the motif back, upsetting the order and making everything boil over in climax. Surprisingly, the result is a release of tension and we find ourselves in C major.

The two middle movements are much more classic Brahms. The Andante second movement is radiantly lyrical, glowing with early autumn evening sunshine, featuring a searingly ecstatic violin line that prefigures those of his Violin Concerto, before ending calmly. The third movement begins Allegretto with a gentle clarinet theme that seems to soar like a bird above the gently rolling hills and landscape provided by strings and lower woodwinds. Varying in its intensity but never quite stopping, the music flows like the autumn wind into a trio, then the Allegretto returns, before ending delicately.

The final movement brings us back to the drama of the first. After the initial crashes like lightning and thunder on a mountain, mysterious pizzicatos build tension, prolonged by long notes in the strings. This deathly atmosphere is broken by a melody on horns Brahms had heard played on alpine horns on the Swiss Alps. From this moment, the mood changes: flutes take over the horn call, then trombones and brass give us a chorale-like theme – the hills are alive with the sound of music! The Allegro follows, with a theme intentionally reminiscent of

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, but this is quickly scattered as various themes from earlier make their appearance. Development and recapitulation melt into each other, increasingly complex, chromatic, and syncopated, until the alpine horn melody restores an uneasy calm. The second theme receives attention until the coda, where the chorale gets belted forth by the whole orchestra, and C major prevails again.

SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)

Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet

I. The Montagues and the Capulets

2. Morning Serenade (Aubade)

3. Juliet – The Young Girl

4. Scene

5. Morning Dance

6. Masks

7. Dance

8. The Death of Tybalt

9. Romeo and Juliet before Parting

10. Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

11. The Death of Juliet

In 1918, shortly after the Russian Revolution, 27-year-old Sergei Prokofiev received permission to travel abroad to the USA, believing that in a time of turmoil Russia had no need of music. He spent the next decade making a name for himself all over Western Europe, with constant invitations from the Soviet government to return. After four years flitting between Paris and Moscow, he settled back in Russia for good in 1936, just in time for Stalin’s Great Purge.

To be an artist in the Soviet Union in the time of Joseph Stalin was to live in constant fear of running afoul of censors. Works on current themes praising the leadership were sure-fire successes for the short term, but changes of leadership and party line were frequent and could end up with the artist being purged for past works now deemed unacceptable. On the other hand, works on remoter themes from history and mythology were no safer — the artist could stand accused of reactionary counter-revolutionary sympathies or criticising the government by proxy and get a bullet in the head. Even Prokofiev’s 1937 Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, telling the story of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the development of the Soviet Union through to Stalin’s new constitution of 1936, using texts written by Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, was blocked by Kerzhentsev, Chairman of the State Committee on the Arts, for ‘taking texts belonging to the people and setting them to such incomprehensible music ’.

So when Adrian Piotrovsky, artistic director of the Leningrad Film Studio, suggested the subject of Romeo & Juliet in 1934, Prokofiev knew he had to tread carefully. Prokofiev drew up a draft treatment in 1935, but Piotrovsky was denounced in 1936 as a ‘degenerate modernist’ for his libretto for a ballet by Shostakovich and shot in 1937, and his association with the unperformed work tainted it for some years. Prokofiev, seeing no point in wasting material he had written, made from it three Orchestral Suites (1936) which were well received. This evening’s set is a selection drawn from all three suites. The Montagues and the Capulets comes from the ballet’s opening, where at a masked ball hosted by the Capulets, tensions between them and the Montagues simmer. Morning Serenade: Aubade depicts a crisp morning with a dancing

butterfly-like violin solo before the brass herald the rising sun. Juliet: The Young Girl gives us the excited young Juliet preparing herself for the evening’s ball, finally seeing herself as a young lady in the mirror. The Street Awakens is a scene of a morning on the streets of Verona. Morning Dance continues the morning scene, giving a bridge from quiet to bustling activity. Masks has Romeo and his boisterous friends arrive with youthful antics (the tambourine is a reference to Romeo’s clown mask) outside the Capulet residence before the ball. The Dance accompanies five couples at the ball.

Romeo and Juliet are married secretly in private, but on that afternoon a sword duel (frantic violins!) in the street between Romeo’s friends and the Capulets results in The Death of Tybalt, with Tybalt’s body taken away to a dirge-like brass theme. Romeo and Juliet before Parting depicts the celebrated balcony scene, and Prokofiev specifies a viola da amore (usually now taken by viola) in his scoring, in addition to harp and muted violins, with the strings taking Romeo’s voice and the delicate flute representing Juliet. Romeo at Juliet’s Grave plumbs the depths of sorrow, as Romeo, not realising Juliet is not truly dead, kills himself at her grave. The Death of Juliet has Juliet awake from her drug-induced false death only to find Romeo dead, and kills herself with his dagger, as the music from Juliet: The Young Girl returns, only to fade away with Juliet’s death.

Programme notes by Edward C. Yong

Schools represented in the Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Anderson Secondary School

Anderson Serangoon Junior College

Ang Mo Kio Secondary School

Anglican High School

Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)

Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (Junior College)

Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (Secondary)

Anglo-Chinese School (International)

Bukit Panjang Government High School

Bukit Timah Primary School

Catholic High School (Secondary)

CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School (Secondary)

Chung Cheng High School (Main)

Chung Cheng High School (Yishun)

Clementi Town Secondary School

Crescent Girls' School

Damai Primary School

Dover Court International School

Dulwich College (Singapore)

Dunman High School (Junior College)

Dunman High School (Secondary)

Edgefield Secondary School

Eunoia Junior College

Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary)

Gan Eng Seng School

Hai Sing Catholic School

Hwa Chong Institution (Junior College)

Hwa Chong International School

Jurong Pioneer Junior College

Mayflower Secondary School

Methodist Girls' School (Secondary)

Nan Hua High School

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Nanyang Girls' High School

Nanyang Junior College

Nanyang Primary School

Nanyang Technological University

National Junior College

National Junior College (Secondary)

National University of Singapore

Ngee Ann Secondary School

NUS High School of Mathematics and Science

Pasir Ris Secondary School

Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary)

Raffles Girls' Primary School

Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)

Raffles Institution (Junior College)

Raffles Institution (Secondary)

River Valley High School (Secondary)

School of the Arts, Singapore

Singapore American School

Singapore Chinese Girls' School

Singapore Management University

Singapore Polytechnic

Springfield Secondary School

St. Gabriel's Secondary School

St. Joseph's Institution (Junior College)

St. Joseph's Institution (Secondary)

St. Joseph's Institution Junior

St. Margaret's School (Secondary)

St. Patrick's School

Tanglin Trust School

Tanjong Katong Girls' School

Tanjong Katong Secondary School

Tao Nan School

Temasek Junior College

Temasek Junior College (Secondary)

Temasek Polytechnic

Victoria School

Woodgrove Primary School

Singapore Symphony Group Administration

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Acknowledgements

SNYO COMMITTEE

Ms Liew Wei Li (Chair)

Prof Qin Li-Wei

Mr Benjamin Goh

Ms Vivien Goh

Dr Kee Kirk Chin

Mrs Clara Lim-Tan

WITH SUPPORT FROM MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, ARTS EDUCATION BRANCH

Mrs Clara Lim-Tan Director, Arts Education

Mr Low Ying Ning Deputy Director, Music & Drama

Ms Chek Yui Hong Assistant Director, Visual and Performing Arts CCA & Singapore Youth Festival

Mr Gerald Teo Arts Education Officer, Music

THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA WISHES TO THANK

National Arts Council

Tutors of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Parents of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra members

Principals of the participating schools

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