GOH, Vivien
Performing Arts in Singapore (Music),
Accession Number 002939
- Oral History Centre
Source
- 26
Total Reels
- Samuel Sng
Interviewer
- 25:18:59
Total Running Time
- English
Language
Copyright Notice
All rights to the recordings and transcripts on this website, including the rights to copy, publish, broadcast and perform, are reserved. Written permission is required for any use. If you have any queries, please contact nas@nlb.gov.sg
Reel/Disc 1 of 26
Metadata
- 10 May 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:32
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Born in 1948 in Singapore. Entered the Methodist Girls' School (MGS) in 1955. The school building at Mount Sophia. Music lessons under Miss Kwa Geok Lian. Using songbooks by Novello. First conducted a Christmas musical in Primary 6. How Miss Kwa taught singing. Learning new songs. Impressions of Miss Kwa. The music room. How singing contributed to her musical development. Playing with percussion instruments. The eurhythmics class. Learning new songs. Miss Kwa's teaching methods. Only a few of her classmates learned music. Played the piano for chapel services with Jenny Wong. Why very few people learned music.
Enrolling at MGS. Her mother's education background. Other existing girl schools. Travelling to MGS. School hours. Her first day at MGS. Enrolled in other schools before going to MGS. Her first impressions of MGS. The school facilities. Settling down in school. Impressions of her Primary One teacher Miss Ho Lek Cheng. Social background of MGS girls. A typical day at school. The reading lesson. Interaction with classmates. Common interest among girls. Subjects she took in school. The PE lessons and attire. Starching her uniform. School shoes. Making the school uniform. Games played during PE lessons. Indoor games. Arithmetic, English and art lessons.
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Reel/Disc 2 of 26
Metadata
- 24 May 2005
Recording Date
- 00:55:26
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*The Methodist Girls' School (MGS) school tuckshop. Stalls in the tuckshop. Drinking milk during recess. The drink stall. Eating kachang puteh. The noodle stall. Location of tuckshop. Staggered time for recess. Why the noodle stall was popular. The nonya kuay stall. Her favourite snacks. Eating mince pork bread. Drinks sold in the tuckshop. Why the tuckshop does not sell bottled drinks. Helping at the drink stall. The kachang puteh stall. Type of nuts sold. Her favourite nuts. Packaging for kachang puteh. The Indian rojak stall. Why there were hardly Malay girls in MGS. Ingredients for Indian rojak and servings.
The tuckshop benches. Teachers do not eat in the tuckshop. Finding a seat during recess. Parents and servants bringing food for children during recess. She was given one dollar a week for recess. Games played during recess. Playing five stones. Making five stones using saga seeds. Playing hopscotch. Different types of schoolbags. Those made of cane were more expensive and probably imported. Returning to class after recess. Attending weekly chapels at the Music Room. The primary school never used the Blackmore Hall for chapels. There were no chapel for lower primary girls. The youth hymnal.
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Reel/Disc 3 of 26
Metadata
- 31 May 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:21
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Attending weekly chapel at Methodist Girls' School. Order of chapel. How she benefitted from chapel. Impressions of primary school superintendant Miss Foo Sah Moi. Attending chapel at the Blackmore Hall. Played the piano for chapel with Jenny Wong. Guest speakers for chapel. Using the youth hymnals. Format of chapel. Students playing the piano for chapel. Impact of attending chapel on her life. How she became a Christian. Why chapel were modelled like a worship service. Playing for chapel. Seating arrangements.
Description of Blackmore Hall. The Petrof grand piano on stage. How she was approached to play for chapel. Rotating with Jenny Wong to play for chapel. The prelude and postlude. Playing on the Petrof grand piano. Comparing between an upright and grand piano. Musical competency for playing hymns. The chapel messages mostly lasted 10 minutes. Planning messages for chapel. Senior girls chairing chapel. The balcony section inside Blackmore Hall. She became a prefect in Secondary 3. The prefect's tie. Duties for prefects. Using the piano for other school functions.
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Reel/Disc 4 of 26
Metadata
- 12 Jul 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:34
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Secondary school music education at Methodist Girls' School (MGS). Learning part-singing under Miss Wong Hee Hua at the Blackmore Hall. Seating arrangement. Size of combined class. Singing during music lesson. Rotating with Jenny Wong as piano accompanist. Singing from the Youth Hymnal and Novello songbook during the 30-40 minutes lesson. Learning new songs. Why she enjoyed part-singing. Impressions of Miss Wong. How Miss Wong taught music. Students' attitude towards music. Her ability to sight-sing. The combined music lessons. Trainee teacher Miss Katherine Sun assisted in music classes. How students learn new songs.
Comparing music lessons in primary and secondary school. Being brought up in a musical background. Her father's background in Sumatra. Her father came to study at the Anglo Chinese School (ACS). Her father's house at Newton. Her mother's background in Sibu. Her mother came here to study at MGS. Comparing her parents' personalities. Her father learned the violin under Filipino teacher Mr Raquiza. Her parents' courtship and marriage. How her father became acquainted with the Low family. Her father's first violin studio at Oldham Lane. Earliest memories of her Balmoral home. Memories of her younger sister Patricia. Learned music at around six years old. Going for piano lessons.
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Reel/Disc 5 of 26
Metadata
- 19 Jul 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:35
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*The home violin studio. The "Broadwood" upright piano. Her father's Oldham studio existed during the war years. Setting up the home violin studio. Why her father set up the violin studio at home. How her family came to live at Balmoral Road. Starting violin lessons under her father. Practising from the violin book. Why she only started violin lessons at around six. Learning the rudiments of violin playing from her father. Learning music theory. How her first violin lessons were initiated. Why her violin lessons were irregular. Her inclination towards the violin. Her father's expectation of her violin playing. The violin collection at home.
Her father imported Swiss violins for his students. Sizes of violins. Prominent music shops selling violins. Seasons mostly brought in German and Czech violins. Her father's stringent expectations of violin students. Why she continued to play the violin. Ideal environment for learning music. Being immersed in music at home. Observing other violin students. Parents accompanying children to violin lessons. A typical day for her father. Scheduling violin lessons. Adult students from overseas. Her afternoon violin lessons. Why her violin playing later improved. Her father's students were mostly Anglo Chinese School boys. More girls learning the violin.
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Reel/Disc 6 of 26
Metadata
- 26 Jul 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:39
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Demographics of violin students. Prominent violin teachers. Her father was the only conservatory-trained teacher. Pan Hon learned violin at six. Registering for violin lessons. Developing a love for the violin. In the 1950s, her father charged $40-50 a month for an hour a week. Mostly children from middle-class families could afford violin lessons. Free lessons for needy students. Discovering Pan Hon. Her father used exercises by Schradieck. Violin exams were in August. Preparing students for exams. Violin exams moved from Monk's Hill to her home from 1958. Gan Eng Seng was used for theory exams.
Playing host to examiners. Format of exam. Registering with the stewarts. The mark sheet. Assessment and grading. Most students pass with distinction. Planning exam schedule. Playing host to examiners. Pan Hon never took violin exams. Her father used different instructional aids. Overseas music publishers. Teaching different techniques through specific exercises. The Sevcik exercises were common. "Violin Pieces the Whole World Play" were ordered from Eagle Piano. Cost of exam books. Her training in the Suzuki Method at the Eastman School of Music. Benefits of the Suzuki Method. Her father's rapport with students. Harry Khoo taught theory lessons at her place.
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Reel/Disc 7 of 26
Metadata
- 23 Aug 2005
Recording Date
- 00:59:19
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Harry Khoo first learned under her father before teaching music theory from 1955 to 1958. Classes were conducted at a large dining table for eight people. Theory classes were from 9 to 10 am followed by orchestral practice from 10 to 12. Impressions of Harry. As Singapore's first to obtain a violin diploma, Harry played in the Radio Malayan Orchestra and the Palm Court Trio with Pamela Tan. She played in the Goh Soon Tioe String Orchestra (GSTSO) from 1956. English violinist Maurice Clare encouraged her father to start the GSTSO. The 1954 concert featured Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The GSTSO's strings comprised of her father's students while the rest were professionals.
Her father was the Musical Society Orchestra's leader from 1948-53. Maurice Clare's 1955 concert was graced by David Marshall. External musicians in the GSTSO. Muarice Clare performing with the Musical Society. Rehearsals, publicity, ticket prices and press review for the 1954 concert. Impressions of Victoria Memorial Hall. Orchestral rehearsals at home. Rehearsals for the 1954 concert. Saturday rehearsals started from 1955. Attire for musicians. No girls played in the 1954 concert. Pre-concert activities. Distinguished guests. The artiste room. Concerts starts at 8.45 pm. Concert etiquette and programmes.
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Reel/Disc 8 of 26
Metadata
- 2 Sep 2005
Recording Date
- 00:55:00
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Concerts she attended in the 1950s. Her father sponsored many recitals in the 1950s and 1960s. Donald Moore organised concerts by famous artistes. Interacting with soloists her father brought in. Playing host to soloists. Her father mostly brought in soloists to perform recitals. Why the Goh Soon Tioe String Orchestra (GSTSO) had limited repertoire. Engagement fee for soloists. Her father negotiated and organised oversea concerts. Obtaining permits for artistes. Learning to interact with people. Artiste fee. How her father arranged for artistes. Ticket prices for recitals. Piano recitals were most popular.
Printed concert programmes at Teco and later GH Kiat. Photos for artistes. Programmes were in black and white. Coloured brochures were placed at Robinsons and Cold Storage. Putting up posters and banners. About 200 programmes, 1000 brochures and 50-100 posters were printed for most concerts. Selling programmes. Purchasing tickets. Seat allocation for different price categories. Posters and banners used similar templates. Her father wrote programme notes. Content inside programmes. Commentary on works. Programmes were slightly smaller than A4. Rehearsals for the GSTSO. The senior and junior orchestras existed until 1980. Her experience of playing in the junior orchestra. Size, make-up and repertoire of the orchestra.
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Reel/Disc 9 of 26
Metadata
- 4 Oct 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:24
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Orchestral practices at home. Informal competitions for Sevcik Opus 1. Students attended Harry Khoo's theory class before orchestral practice. Chairs and music stands for orchestral practice. Storage and cataloguing music scores. Learning new works. Ordering music scores. Typical concert programme. Selecting pieces. The junior orchestra was started in 1956 to showcase Lee Pan Hon's talent. The 1956 concert at Badminton Hall. The junior orchestra had about 20 players with Pan Hon as leader. Pan Hon was discovered in 1955. Language barrier during Pan Hon's violin lessons. Pan Hon's first visit to her house. Pan Hon's violin and lessons under her father. Pan Hon's personality. Pan Hon had three lessons a week.
Playing in the junior orchestra for the first time. Her father favoured good sound, intonation and bowing. Her father's conducting style. Repertoire for the senior and junior orchestras. Other talented students her father taught. What she learnt in the junior orchestra. Pan Hon tackled more difficult pieces than other students. She restarted violin lessons under her father in 1960. Pan Hon was close to her family. Cycle & Carriage sponsored the 1956 concert. Ticket prices, seating and stage. Attire for musicians during concerts.
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Reel/Disc 10 of 26
Metadata
- 11 Oct 2005
Recording Date
- 00:58:28
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Why the Goh Soon Tioe String Orchestra (GSTSO) concert in 1956 was at the Badminton Hall. Chairs for the audience. Memories of the concert. Lee Pan Hon played the Bach suites and solo pieces. Audience's response to Pan Hon's playing. Distinguished guests include sponsors from Cycle & Carriage. Press reviews focussed on Pan Hon. The GSTSO's 1958 Malaya tour included Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Highlights of the tour. Why her father organised the tour Accommodation during the tour. Why the tour was in April. Travelled by bus. Stopping for police checks. Performing at the Anglo Chinese School in Melaka. Accommodation in Melaka. Performing at the ACS hall. Pieces played during the tour.
Ticket prices and publicity. Travelling up to Melaka. Rehearsing before concert. Performing at Kuala Lumpur's Chin Woo Stadium. Audience response. Staying at the Federal Hotel. Rehearsing before concert. Little time for sight-seeing. Some parents helped to take care of the children. Performing at the Chin Woo Stadium. Travelling to Penang. Accommodation. Performing at the St George's Girls School. Sightseeing in Penang. Press reviews during tour. Returning to Singapore. Performed tour progranme at the Victoria Memorial Hall.
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