Saturday, April 18, 2009

Finding hope in music



11 Apr 2009, Sat: Thanks to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the 92.4 FM call-in contest, I had won myself a pair of tickets to a concert performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Many thanks to one of my good friends who had taken time to accompany me to the concert. I appreciate her company and friendship.

The programme for the evening featured Haydn's Mass in D minor which is not an often performed work in the Singapore context. In addition, for the first time in my life as a listener, I got to listen to the entire Elgar's Enigma Variations, Op. 36 live.

My favourite variations from Elgar's Enigma Variations, Op. 36 were Variation 9 (Nimrod), Variation 12 (B.G.N.) and Variation 14 (E.D.U.). I am a biased listener in some ways. I personally prefer listening to live performances compared to recordings. This is especially so for choral works.

I was particularly looking forward to listen to Hadyn's Mass in D minor for it is a work that would be rarely performed live in the Singapore context. Like the biased listener in me had said early, I state that choral works simply just have to be listened to live. It is usually in a live performance that one can experience the impact of a choral work. I particularly like how Hadyn composed the strings parts to create a sense of tension in the music.

Could mankind find hope through music? Hopefully music evokes the compassionate side of humanity.

With this post, I share with you Nimrod Variation from Elgar's Enigma Variations.

1 comment:

eastcoastlife said...

You are so lucky, you have been winning tickets to concerts.

Thanks for the invite to Emperors and Kins, I'm trying to arrange my schedule and will get back to you asap.