Travelogue (opus 100A)

Programme notes

(Dixit Casteels) The process of music composition is, at times, full of personal surprises. In Travelogue, the subject matter dictated not only the form but also forced me into three decisions I took unwillingly and for the first time in my entire creative life:

1. To avoid any numerological framework or philosophical references!

2. To subordinate sound entirely to the words I wrote!!

3. To compose in C Major!!!

Alamak, have mercy upon my post-Webernian soul. It is purely coincidental that tonight's premiere bears the opus number 100. Travelogue is the imaginary narration of a Singaporean living on Mars, returning home in 2065 for a one-day visit. He wanders and wonders, constantly confused and lost in the Schubertian sense of a Wanderer, musing with bittersweet irony. The narration traverses historical periods -from a distant past, through the present, to a projected future- hence, the subtitle ‘Uchronia’, a cheem (complex) word meaning a fictional period of time.

All toponymic references are strictly verifiable, for which I gratefully acknowledge the research of NUS geographer Victor Savage. I accept that the references and vernacular language can only be fully understood by true-blood Singaporeans, and I seek the listeners' indulgence that only fellow musicians will catch the musical jokes. After all, who is to say that everything needs to be fully understood at the first hearing or viewing of a work of art? It was never expected in the past, so why should it be demanded of living composers? The work is performed initially by a cellist and pianist, who are eventually joined near the end by a soprano and mezzo-soprano. Together they perform a melopoeia through which I invite both performers and listeners to reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature.

Handwritten sketches and drafts

to be found in chapter IV of the white cover, A3 size, 600 pages sketchbook and on page 59 of the red cover, A4 size, 377 pages sketchbook 

Completion of the composition 

2-V-2014

Review 

"A repeat performance is welcome, if anything to laugh at ourselves come SG50 or SG100. As it is, we just don't laugh enough" 

Chang Tou Liang, Singapore