Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Correttamente
I think I’m very addicted to coffee, especially black coffee. This morning I woke up and found none in the coffeemaker’s jug. I was decided to make Jasmine Tea or coffee – of course I settled for the latter out of an uncontrollable temptation. Don’t expect me to go through all the trouble to use the coffeemaker – it’s just as troublesome as the manual method because you have to prepare the coffee powder and the sugar. The easiest is a packet of two-in-one coffee – just open the packet, pour the contents into a cup, add water, stir and voila, it’s rather to be drunk.
I patch up on the Cats Medley while enjoying my drink – I can’t believe I finished the whole 300 something bar work in like three days. At the last moment I give it a proper title: “A Night of the Cats: the Cats Medley” rather than “Cats Medley” which sounds obscene. It begins with the majestic ending of the Overture. After a short pause it jumps into “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats”. It ends as abruptly as in the actual song, prior to Asparagus singing: “There’s a man over there”, and suddenly the audience is plunged into the mysterious world of Old Deutronomy. The still mood is broken by a rhapsodic rendition of “Gus the Theatre Cat”. “Gus” is almost a mini-violin concerto, with a solo violin accompanied by the rest of the string ensemble. Next number is “McCavity the Mystery Cat”, with its snazzy jazzy rhythms. The showstopper “Memory” comes next – there’s a lot of high emotion with soaring strings and huge piano chords. Upon the transition “The Journey to the Heavyside Layer” the music winds up with the chorale “Ad-dressing of the Cats”. The whole work lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. Hope it’s going to be played by the Chamber Ensemble for their concert, as they’re doing a Broadway-based concert this year.
When I popped by the MS in the afternoon, I thought, jeez, where did everybody go? All the lights were shut out. I opened the door, then suddenly from the darkness: “Hi Gong…” It was Dvorak, catching forty winks Yuan Ling was resting behind the pianos, at the area of the personalised study desks of the MEPers. It is disheartening to see people in this state, having to improvise sleeping methods to rest their tired souls in school. College hours are extremely long, and I really mean very, very long. Compare to an executive’s office lifestyle, that of a college student is much worse. Office workers arrive at the office at nine and normally leave by five. College students arrive at seven and don’t go home until five-thirty on some days. With PDPs they finish around seven or eight, the latter when there’s some important competition, tournament or concert coming up. In between their free periods they try to catch up on their schoolwork, or study for tests. You could say we’re the tamer versions of the cramp schools in Taiwan and South Korea. No wonder Talking Cock lists, as one of the reasons for Singaporeans not having sex or children: “No one would be a sadist to let the Singapore education system MOULD THE FUTURE of our children”, to quote the slogan of the Ministry of Education.
I didn’t know that there would be a full-dress rehearsal for Mardi Gras this evening. I hadn’t attended the previous briefing because I was much too worried for my orchestra to do anything else. Anyway, heck about the clothes… this is a music performance, not a fashion parade, so why would anybody bother about what I wear? I’d be hiding behind the Clavi anyway.
Miss Chew commented on the “Mo Li Hua” version for string quartet. Only then I realised I had been blindly writing in ordinary, and Oriental, harmonies and melodies – that detracts from the original intentions of the piece. Since there’s time before I meet Si Ying for a run-through, I decide to re-compose the score. I just couldn’t write. I think I shall go for a jog on Thursday to set my mind straight. Remember that composition is still part-inspiration, and a larger part hard work. I need the inspiration now.
The orchestra rehearsal goes smoothly tonight. I’m very happy. We practised at the scope today, where there’s more privacy than at the canteen where everyone seems so distant, even when sitting close together. However, we’ve only finished three songs, but at least the turnout was much better than last week.
Went home and listened to “Girl from Bedok South” again. Suddenly it’s so nice; everyone’s commenting well on it. ¶ 2/25/2004 12:45:00 am
I think I’m very addicted to coffee, especially black coffee. This morning I woke up and found none in the coffeemaker’s jug. I was decided to make Jasmine Tea or coffee – of course I settled for the latter out of an uncontrollable temptation. Don’t expect me to go through all the trouble to use the coffeemaker – it’s just as troublesome as the manual method because you have to prepare the coffee powder and the sugar. The easiest is a packet of two-in-one coffee – just open the packet, pour the contents into a cup, add water, stir and voila, it’s rather to be drunk.
I patch up on the Cats Medley while enjoying my drink – I can’t believe I finished the whole 300 something bar work in like three days. At the last moment I give it a proper title: “A Night of the Cats: the Cats Medley” rather than “Cats Medley” which sounds obscene. It begins with the majestic ending of the Overture. After a short pause it jumps into “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats”. It ends as abruptly as in the actual song, prior to Asparagus singing: “There’s a man over there”, and suddenly the audience is plunged into the mysterious world of Old Deutronomy. The still mood is broken by a rhapsodic rendition of “Gus the Theatre Cat”. “Gus” is almost a mini-violin concerto, with a solo violin accompanied by the rest of the string ensemble. Next number is “McCavity the Mystery Cat”, with its snazzy jazzy rhythms. The showstopper “Memory” comes next – there’s a lot of high emotion with soaring strings and huge piano chords. Upon the transition “The Journey to the Heavyside Layer” the music winds up with the chorale “Ad-dressing of the Cats”. The whole work lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. Hope it’s going to be played by the Chamber Ensemble for their concert, as they’re doing a Broadway-based concert this year.
When I popped by the MS in the afternoon, I thought, jeez, where did everybody go? All the lights were shut out. I opened the door, then suddenly from the darkness: “Hi Gong…” It was Dvorak, catching forty winks Yuan Ling was resting behind the pianos, at the area of the personalised study desks of the MEPers. It is disheartening to see people in this state, having to improvise sleeping methods to rest their tired souls in school. College hours are extremely long, and I really mean very, very long. Compare to an executive’s office lifestyle, that of a college student is much worse. Office workers arrive at the office at nine and normally leave by five. College students arrive at seven and don’t go home until five-thirty on some days. With PDPs they finish around seven or eight, the latter when there’s some important competition, tournament or concert coming up. In between their free periods they try to catch up on their schoolwork, or study for tests. You could say we’re the tamer versions of the cramp schools in Taiwan and South Korea. No wonder Talking Cock lists, as one of the reasons for Singaporeans not having sex or children: “No one would be a sadist to let the Singapore education system MOULD THE FUTURE of our children”, to quote the slogan of the Ministry of Education.
I didn’t know that there would be a full-dress rehearsal for Mardi Gras this evening. I hadn’t attended the previous briefing because I was much too worried for my orchestra to do anything else. Anyway, heck about the clothes… this is a music performance, not a fashion parade, so why would anybody bother about what I wear? I’d be hiding behind the Clavi anyway.
Miss Chew commented on the “Mo Li Hua” version for string quartet. Only then I realised I had been blindly writing in ordinary, and Oriental, harmonies and melodies – that detracts from the original intentions of the piece. Since there’s time before I meet Si Ying for a run-through, I decide to re-compose the score. I just couldn’t write. I think I shall go for a jog on Thursday to set my mind straight. Remember that composition is still part-inspiration, and a larger part hard work. I need the inspiration now.
The orchestra rehearsal goes smoothly tonight. I’m very happy. We practised at the scope today, where there’s more privacy than at the canteen where everyone seems so distant, even when sitting close together. However, we’ve only finished three songs, but at least the turnout was much better than last week.
Went home and listened to “Girl from Bedok South” again. Suddenly it’s so nice; everyone’s commenting well on it. ¶ 2/25/2004 12:45:00 am
