Organ Music in a Different Light! Programme Booklet
SSO Organ Series
Organ Music in a Different Light!
26 Jan 2025, 4pm, Victoria Concert Hall
Isaac Koh
Holly Yang
Max Zuo
Melina Leong
Raeanne Wong
Dr Margaret Chen Artistic Advisor organ organ organ soprano soprano
PROGRAMME
David German Festive Trumpet Tune
John Rutter
Toccata in Seven Holly Yang organ
Holly Yang organ
Sponsored by
PROGRAMME
Mozart
Alleluia from Exsultate, Jubilate K. 165
Raeanne Wong soprano
Holly Yang organ
Phoon Yu
Straits in Sepia –
a duet for 4 hands and feet
I: Dayung Sampan
II: Rasa Sayang (SSO Commission)
Holly Yang organ
Max Zuo organ
J.S. Bach
Prelude in E minor, BWV 533
Max Zuo organ
Dudley Buck Scherzo
Max Zuo organ
Mozart
Laudate Dominum from Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K. 339
Melina Leong soprano
Isaac Koh organ
PROGRAMME
VIVALDI
Laudamus Te from Gloria, RV 589
Raeanne Wong soprano
Melina Leong soprano
Isaac Koh organ
Kenneth Tay
Perpaduan (SSO Commission)
Isaac Koh organ
J.S. Bach
Concerto in A minor, BMV 593, 1st movement
Isaac Koh organ
Mendelssohn
Allegro Assai Vivace from Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 65
Isaac Koh organ
CONCERT DURATION: 45 mins (no intermission)
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SSO Organ Series: Organ Music in a Different Light!
MEET THE MUSICIANS!
A 3rd year Pharmacy undergraduate in the National University of Singapore, Isaac Koh began organ studies with Dr Evelyn Lim in December 2020. He has participated in organ festivals in Haarlem (2022) and Alkmaar (2023) where he studied under Wolfgang Zerer, Vincent Thevenaz, Bernhard Haas, Frank van Wijk and Pieter van Dijk. He has also attended masterclasses with Daniel Moult (2022, 2023) at the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH), Singapore. Apart from participating in events organized by the Singapore American Guild of Organists and us churches, he is a regular organ VCH. Apart from playing the organ, he and tends to a modest collection of a member of the Orchid Society of and a student judge.
Music has always been an integral part of Holly Yang’s life. Growing up, she was influenced by her mother, a church choir conductor, and developed a deep passion for music. She began learning the piano at the age of 4 and started to accompany for choir at 7. She became interested in the organ at the age of 8 after attending an organ concert with her mother. Holly later got the opportunity to study the organ in Singapore under Dr. Evelyn Lim and performed at masterclasses of renowned organists Daniel Moult and Richard Brasier. She has performed for both Kampong Kapor Methodist Church and Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. In May 2024, she was an organist for the SSO Open House concert “Get to Know the King of Instruments”.
MEET THE MUSICIANS!
Max Zuo, age 10, is a passionate and accomplished young musician with a deep love for music. As a Year 6 student at Dulwich College Singapore, he has already achieved remarkable milestones, including passing the ABRSM Grade 8 exams with distinction in both violin and piano. Max’s enthusiasm for music extends beyond the classroom, as he actively participates in various school performances, piano accompaniments and string orchestras. In addition to his musical pursuits, Max loves reading and travelling, always eager to explore new places and cultures. He also enjoys spending time with friends, especially playing Minecraft as a team. Max is an Organ Scholar at Dulwich college. He studies the organ with Dr Evelyn Lim.
Melina Leong began her musical journey with piano lessons at age 4, later joining the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) at 10, sparking a passion for singing. A soprano, she sings actively in the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir and her school choir. Melina made her soloist debut at age 11 with the Anglican Chamber Ensemble and has also performed as a soloist for the SSCC on multiple occasions, most recently in Gloria! by the SSO under the baton of world-renowned conductor Stephen Layton, where she was the soloist in the Singapore premiere of Lapsimessu by Rautavaara. Lapsimessu
MEET THE MUSICIANS!
A soprano with a deep love for music, Raeanne Wong made her solo debut in Prague’s St Martin in the Wall Church at age 14. She is a chorister with the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir, and competes internationally as a soloist She won top prizes and was most recently invited to sing in Carnegie Hall. Raeanne finds most meaning in using her voice to bring hope to those in need, and has sung for worthy causes such as the national fundraiser ChildAid and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In 2019, she sang the opening solo for Singapore’s Bicentennial Christmas Concert with then Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in attendance. A firm believer in the healing power of music, Raeanne is grateful for the opportunity to meld her interests in music and health as she studies medicine on a Performing and Visual Arts scholarship at NUS. She’s also involved in research at the Centre for Music and Health at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Taking advantage of the organ’s wide range of registration options, American composer and organist David German (b. 1954) wrote Festive Trumpet Tune for use at his own wedding. Here, the trumpet stop provides a brilliant contrast with the deeper pipes, while the coda shifts cleverly up a semitone from F major, giving the ending an additional sparkle in F-sharp major. Since its use at the inauguration concert of the Calvary Grand Organ in 1990, this piece has gone on to be one of the most popular at wedding ceremonies (brides-to-be, take note!) and other festive occasions.
Festive Trumpet Tune
Toccata in Seven
While the English composer John Rutter (b. 1945) is most associated with pretty choral music, his Toccata in Seven (1974) gives us a glimpse into another side of his output, one that is much more in line with the classic cathedral chapel organist’s repertoire. The designation “in seven” clues us in on how Rutter plays around with the various combinations possible in a “seven” metre, shifting between 2-2-3 and 3-2-2. A jubilant opening goes into a sustained and meditative, if somewhat unsettled, middle, before the opening spirit returns and the piece ends, leaving us energised.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) wrote Exsultate, jubilate as an all-purpose motet, with a text usable for any festive holiday, and while originally for soprano castrato and strings, it is often performed with organ accompaniment. Exsultate, jubilate
At the time of its composition, Mozart was the toast of the opera world, and we can hear his unabashed happiness in the childlike rollicking joy of the music.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Straits in Sepia
The very title of Straits in Sepia serves as a nostalgic reminder on twofronts. The word 'Straits' (water bodies connecting two seas) references the Strait Settlements, a group of historical British colonial territories which included Singapore, as well the multiple straits in theregion, such as the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Johor. The word 'Sepia' references the toning treatmentused in black-and-white photography; monochromatic photographs being the norm until the mid-20th century. Taken together, both words evoke a throwback to Singapore's past, to a very different world unknown by most Singaporeans today.
Dayung Sampan sampan
Dayung Sampan, the first piece in the collection, depicts a journey of the eponymous boat, which would have been small and designed to navigate primarily coastal waters and rivers. A constant flow of semiquavers represents the placid waters, with the melody intoned in long notes above and below the deluge. A faster, louder, and more aggressive middle section depicts a spot of tempestuous weather that the sampan runs into; however, the storm eventually abates and the piece returns to its calmer beginnings.
Rasa Sayang PROGRAMME NOTES
In contrast,Rasa Sayang is a livelier piece. Framed as a couple of variations, the differences between the chorus and the verse sections are as night and day. Detached notes, rhythmic patterns, and an energetic tempo in the chorus sections are pitted against sustained notes, drawn-out phrases, and a more sedate tempo in the verse sections. Of note are the particular verses represented: the first verse section speaks of mortal bodies decomposing while their legacy remains (hence the descending pedal line towards the end of the section) while the second verse section speaks of bananas being carried on a sailing trip (hence the undulating sextuplets, which find a similar parallel to the serene patterns in Dayung Sampan). A final burst of energy concludes the piece, with the music accelerating towards its conclusion.
Dayung Sampan
PROGRAMME NOTES
No overview of organ music is complete without Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), and his Prelude in E minor, BWV 533, is a great example of free composition, perhaps giving us an idea of what his improvisation at the organ might have sounded like. Solemn and sober, it builds an intense atmosphere of reverence, with increasing chromaticism above sustained pedals in the bass before a conversation ensues between treble and bass, leading us step by step up the aisle before leaving us on our knees in sheer awe.
Prelude in E minor, BMV 533
Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner Scherzo
Dudley Buck (1839–1909) was an American composer, organist, and writer on music, who trained in Leipzig, Dresden, and Paris, ensuring his musical education was solidly in the tradition of the great European organists. His output includes operas, cantatas, anthems, sacred songs, and choral works, but he is probably best known for his organ Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner. This Scherzo is taken from his Grand Sonata in E-flat, Op. 22, the first major organ sonata composed in America, exemplifies his style, seamlessly blending the strict formalist spirit of German Romanticism with the rather more sentimental Victorian parlour music popular then in America. Grand Sonata in E-flat, Op. 22
PROGRAMME NOTES
Mozart was a master of writing memorable tunes for voice, and one of his most famous sacred solo pieces for treble voice, Laudate Dominum is a setting of Psalm 116 (Septuagint numbering). Here Mozart writes one of his most gorgeously lyrical melodies for the soprano, atop a gently arpeggiating accompaniment.
Venetian composer Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678–1741) wrote his Gloria for an orphanage’s choir and orchestra comprised exclusively of teenaged girls, the same performers who premiered most of his violin concerti, a testament to their technical abilities. In Laudamus te, the two sopranos chase each other in their coloratura runs, Gloria Laudamus te andwecanalmostseethe enthusiasticteenagedsingers eggingeachotheron,grinning astheycompletetheirrunsand resolvetheharmonies.
Founded because illegitimate babies were being murdered, the Ospedale della Pietà took in these unwanted girls and schooled them, training them to perform on instruments usually played by men, allowing them to earn their keep. It is hard not to feel some emotion when realising the voices that first sang this were originally destined to be drowned in the Venetian canals, for just as Vivaldi’s music sustained life for them, it continues to bring solace to us now.
Ospedale della Pietà
PROGRAMME NOTES
Perpaduan
Perpaduan is built upon a foundation of five notes, evoking the melodic qualities of the selisir mode from Balinese gamelan. Traditionally part of an ancient tuning system, these pitches are reinterpreted through the unique temperament and resonance of the organ, blending Southeast Asian musical heritage with Western timbral nuances.
selisir kompang
melalu, menyelang, mengocok, and menganak kompang
The rhythmic structures in the piece draw inspiration from kompang frame drumming. The rhythmic interplay of melalu, menyelang, mengocok, and menganak patterns create a dynamic and celebratory pulse. Often associated with the fanfare of communal gatherings such as weddings, the kompang rhythms convey an uplifting spirit of unity and festivity, driving the piece forward with energetic momentum.
Beyond a reflection on a specific moment in time, I hope to honour Singapore’s 60 years of progress while celebrating the collective journey forward. Through its rhythmic flow and melodic gestures, the composition embraces both introspection and optimism for the future.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Organ Concerto in A minor, BWV 593
Vivaldi’s music also fascinated Johann Sebastian Bach, and of the five Organ Concerti BWV 592 to 596, three are arrangements of violin concerti by Vivaldi. Bach’s Organ Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 is a transcription and reworking of Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor for Two Violins, RV 522, but Bach does more than simply transcribing he he fills in the continuo line, adding a 16’ pedal line, and often utilises the possibilities of registration to give colour, contrasting the tutti and solo sections, effectively playing an orchestral work as a oneman-band. The brisk Allegro is the final movement of this concerti, and Bach flexes his organ-playing muscles, giving us a brilliant final product.
Allegro
PROGRAMME NOTES
The Finale from Sonata No. 1 in minor, OP. 65
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) is rather better known today as a composer for piano, orchestra, voices and as the reviver of Bach’s Passions, and it is rarely remembered that in terms of organ music he was the 19th century heir to the Lutheran tradition represented by Bach and did much to restore the position of the organ which had lost its dominant status particularly in Germany over the course of the previous century. As a boy and young man, he travelled extensively in order to play the finest instruments of his day. The Finale from Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 65 harks back to Mendelssohn’s obsession with Bach,
as the latter composed this in sheer exhilaration.
Notes by Edward C. Yong, Phoon Yu, composer of Straits in Sepia and Kenneth Tay, composer of Perpaduan
Adam Brakel’s Night on a Bald Mountain
Sat, 29 Mar 2025, 7.30pm
Victoria Concert Hall
Adam Brakel
Anne Maria Lim and the Magic Organ
Sun, 8 Jun 2025, 5pm
Victoria Concert Hall
Anne Maria Lim organ organ
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