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Synopsis :

This National Day feature sponsored by Hotel Meridien looks at how musical sensibilities were awakened in Singapore in the early years of the 20th century and at some of the milestones that have contributed to the development of Western classical music here. In the first three decades of the 20th century, musical activity revolved around churches and hotels patronised by Europeans. Paul Abisheganaden, Director of the Centre for Musical Activities at the National University of Singapore recalls the arrival of musicians from Goa and the Philippines who performed in leading hotels and in front of church masses. One of them was Gerry Soliano, a Filipino musician who looks back at how he came to Singapore via Penang and Medan and launched his musical career here. The 1920s saw the flourishing of Peranakan music like the dondang sayang and kronchong. Hawaiian music was also popular. In 1921, the first Singapore Youth Orchestra was formed and it gave many performances. A music school opened in 1928 and it teamed up with the Trinity College of Music in London to organise violin and piano lessons. By the 1930s, music was made available to the masses through the radio. 78 rpm records found their way into homes and school choirs were formed. During the Second World War, the Japanese used music for propaganda purposes. In 1948 a small group of 200 students sat for examinations conducted by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Victor Doggett, a music teacher notes that this number has increased to 18,000 candidates in 1990. The 1950s were often considered one of the golden ages of music in Singapore. The Teachers' Training College started a music department and all trainee teachers had to learn music. Groups like the Singapore Chamber Ensemble and the Goh Soon Tioe Orchestra were established. Foreign celebrities came and played before packed audiences. When violinist Isaac Stern performed in Singapore, there was a long queue for tickets. Musician Sylvia Goh Luse speaks of how her father, the impresario Goh Soon Tioe invited the Julliard Quartet to their home to hear performances by the best students. Teachers like Goh Soon Tioe and Victor Doggett nurtured many young talents like violinist Lee Pan Hon, conductor Choo Hoey and pianist Seow Yit Kin. While the violin and the piano were popular in the 1960s, wind instruments were not as widely played until the advent of the school band in 1964. School band competitions began in 1968 and music was introduced as a subject in primary schools. The 1970s saw a lot of activity on the amateur music scene. Conductor Vivien Goh speaks of the challenges of training a youth orchestra while conductor of the Singapore Youth Choir David Lim recalls how the Choir won the first prize in the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in Wales in 1974. By the late 1970s, there was a strong feeling that Singapore needed a professional orchestra and in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was formed. SSO's conductor Choo Hoey speaks about the challenges of building an orchestra from scratch while leader Pavel Prantl touches on the tremendous progress made by the orchestra between 1979 and 1990. The orchestra opened up doors for composers like Leong Yoon Pin who reminisces about the joys of organising sounds to get various effects in his music. Another composer Major Tsao Chieh wrote an eclectic and highly contemporary work 'Singapore, A Symphonic Suite for Large Orchestra' that was premiered by the SSO for the Arts Festival in 1990. All this contributed to a vibrant music scene involving children, youth, adults and concert goers. The future of music in Singapore looked bright with bigger and better things to come.