VCHpresents Organ: A Haunted Halloween Hymn

A HAUNTED HALLOWEEN HYMN 28 & 29 Oct 2023 Victoria Concert Hall Sponsored by

28 & 29 OCTOBER 2023 A HAUNTED HALLOWEEN HYMN

PROGRAMME Loraine Muthiah organ Singapore Symphony Chorus Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director

Praeludium and Fugue in C minor, BWV 549

by J.S. BACH

6 mins

Organ solo

Force et agilite des Corps Glorieux from Les Corps Glorieux

by MESSIAEN

4 mins

Organ solo

Immortal Bach

by J.S. BACH/KNUT NYSTEDT

6 mins

Choir

De profundis (Psalm 129) in F minor

by SALIERI

4 mins

Choir and organ

Dies Irae from Requiem in D minor, K. 626

by MOZART

2 mins

Choir and organ

Maestoso from Esquisses Gothiques

by JEAN LANGLAIS

6 mins

Organ solo

Grim Grinning Ghosts 3 mins from Disney's The Haunted Mansion

by BUDDY BAKER (arr. Jordan Olling/Loraine Muthiah)

Organ solo

Prelude from Psycho 3 mins

by HERRMANN (arr. Sarah Palmer/Loraine Muthiah)

Organ solo

Psalm 130: Aus der Tiefe reufe ich, Herr, zu dir

by HEINRICH KAMINSKI

2 mins

Choir

Libera Me from Requiem, Op. 9

by DURUFLÉ

7 mins

Choir and organ

Vanitas Vanitatum from Requiem for the Living

by DAN FORREST

6 mins

Choir and organ

CONCERT DURATION: approximately 1 hour (with no intermission)

Photo by Timothy Teo

LORAINE MUTHIAH organ

Loraine Muthiah serves as organist at St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Barker Road Methodist Church, in addition to her work as a legal counsel. She is also the organist for concerts and assemblies at Dulwich College (Singapore). Having pursued piano accompaniment diplomas at a young age and having a special interest in working with instrumentalists and choirs, Loraine started playing the organ in 2002. At the same time she pursued her legal studies and went on to practise law. After moving to in-house legal work in 2011, she was able to spend more time furthering her organ studies.

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She has since attended various organ masterclasses in Germany, France, Holland and the UK and continues her studies in Singapore under Dr Evelyn Lim. Loraine is a founding member and resident accompanist of the Anglican Chamber Ensemble, Singapore, and is also a regular contributor to the VCHpresents Organ Series and projects with the Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Photo by Michelle Tng Ying

EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director

Eudenice Palaruan studied at the University of the Philippines College of Music, majoring in composition and choral conducting. He took further training in choral conducting at the Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, Germany.

He graduated doctor of musical arts at St. Paul University Manila.

He was a singer, resident composer/ arranger, and assistant choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. In addition, he performed with the Berlin Spandauer Kantorei, the World Youth Choir, and sang countertenor with the Berlin Monteverdichor. In addition, he was the principal conductor of the San Miguel Master Chorale. For years, he has been the resident conductor of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, where he performed and recorded significant selections of Latin-American baroque music. With his active involvement in the choralization of Philippine and other Asian indigenous music, he premiered a substantial volume of new Asian choral works.

In addition, he was often invited to give lectures on non-Western vocal aesthetics.

Eudenice also arranges for the Singapore Symphony Choruses and the Singapore Symphony Chorus community outreach programmes. In addition, the Singapore Symphony Choruses have premiered new choral works written by local composers and arrangers in Singapore under his direction.

He taught composition and choral conducting in institutions such as the University of the Philippines College of Music, the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, and St. Paul University College of Music and the Performing Arts. In addition, he teaches at the Singapore Bible College School of Church Music and directs the SBC Chorale. Eudenice is often invited to adjudicate in international composition competitions and give masterclasses in choral conducting.

Photo by Michelle Tng Ying

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUS Celebrating Choral Excellence For over four decades, the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) has been bringing together passionate and talented choristers from all walks of life to celebrate the best of symphonic music-making, and to create music that moves, transcending language and culture.

More than just a choir, the SSC is a warm and vibrant community for lifelong social connections beyond the stage. Seasoned performers at the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade, the chorus’s committed group of singers come together week after week to hone their artistry and volunteer their time to deliver some of the most challenging choral classics to the highest standards.

sso.org.sg/chorus @sgsymphonychorus

Led by world-class conductors including Okko Kamu, Lan Shui, Lim Yau, Masaaki Suzuki and Sofi Jeannin, the chorus has amassed an impressive repertoire such as Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and Bach’s St John Passion, amongst others, since its founding in 1980.

With their dedication towards presenting outstanding performances, the SSC is the pinnacle of choral excellence in Singapore and a testament to the power of music and how it connects people across cultures and generations.

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUS Performers Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director Shane Thio rehearsal pianist

SOPRANO

ALTO

Karen Aw Laurence Biard Tertois Janice Chee Julie Demange Wodtke Grace Goh Selina Kwek Sarah Santhana Ellissa Sayampanathan* Andrea Yenny Sjah Nelia Soelistia Sarah Tang Patricia Teng Stacey Wang Espera Yeo Mui

Grace Angel Joy Chen Friederike Herrmann Wendy Lim Lin Wei Dorcas Lo Sharon Low Daisy Natalia Ng Beng Choo Natividad Solaguren Ena Su Ratna Sutantio Elsie Tan Tan Seow Yen Wang Jiunwen

TENOR

BASS

Jean-Michel Bardin Jesse Cai Chng Chin Han Chong Wei Sheng Jeroven Marquez David Maund Ronald Ooi Samuel Pažický Ian Tan Ben Wong

Ang Jian Zhong Vincent Chiu Winsen Citra Arthur Davis Paul Ellison Andy Jatmiko Ethan Jerzak Vladas Reikalas Jared Robertson Wong Hin Yan

*Choral Fellow

PROGRAMME NOTES JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750) Praeludium and Fugue in C minor, BWV 549 BWV 549 is an example of Bach’s early music, written when he was less than twenty years old. The prelude is introduced by a three-note shake which leads to an ominous solo pedal passage. The theme then moves to the manuals (keyboards), interspersed with repeated chords, until it reaches its conclusion. The fugue, by contrast, has its subject introduced more quietly in the manuals, where it is developed, before its entry in the pedals. Large chords make a reappearance at this point, before there is a flourish which ends the piece.

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908 – 1992) Force et agilité des Corps Glorieux from Les Corps Glorieux “A weak body is sown, a powerful body is raised” (1 Corinthians 15:43) Messiaen completed his writing of Les Corps Glorieux (“The Glorious Bodies”) a week before World War II was declared in 1939, and premiered it in 1945, towards the end of the war. Comprising seven movements, “Force and Agility of the Glorious Bodies” is the fifth movement and follows “The Battle between Life and Death”. Here, Messiaen combines loud and intense rhythms with his unique musical language to depict the power of the raised body.

KNUT NYSTEDT (1915 – 2014) Immortal Bach (based on Komm süßer Tod by J.S. Bach) Nystedt was one of Norway’s most important, Grammy-nominated contemporary choral composers. Nystedt incorporated different styles such as avant-garde with Romanticism, folk songs and sacred music, as part of his sound palette. Immortal Bach is based on the first line of Bach’s chorale Komm süßer Tod (“Come sweet death”).

The choir sings Nystedt’s four-part setting, and thereafter each voice part holds their note and proceeds at a different tempo. The effect is overlapping, sustained chords surrounding the listener, to create an effect of timelessness and eternity.

Komm, süßer Tod, komm sel’ge Ruh! Komm, führe mich in Friede.

Come, sweet death, come blessed rest!

Come, lead me to peace.

ANTONIO SALIERI (1750 – 1825) De profundis (Psalm 129) in F minor Salieri was a respected composer, conductor and teacher of the classical era, known for his operas. In the years leading to Salieri’s death, rumours spread that he had poisoned Mozart, leading to Mozart’s death, although Salieri continually denied these and they were later deemed to be untrue. De profundis is a call to God from deep sorrow.

Catholics pray with this psalm for the dead, that they might be granted mercy. The piece builds on a single phrase of music, sung in turn to the psalm text by the upper and lower voice parts, while building in intensity up to its conclusion.

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine; Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.

Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in vocem deprecationis meæ

Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it?

Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Lord, hear my voice.

Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in vocem deprecationis meæ

Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it?

Quia apud te propitiatio est; et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus: Speravit anima mea in Domino.

My soul hath relied on his word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem, speret Israël in Domino.

Quia apud Dominum misericordia, et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet Israël ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum.

Amen.

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 – 1791) Dies Irae from Requiem in D minor, K. 626 Mozart began composing his Requiem in the final year of his life, and it remained unfinished even upon his death. Stories later spread that, among others, Mozart believed he was writing the Requiem for his own funeral. Dies irae (“Day of wrath”) is part of the requiem mass or mass for the dead. It describes the day of wrath and doom of souls being summoned for judgment. Mozart’s setting uses repeated chords, syncopated figures and a chromatically rising harmonic progression set against a theme written to create a sense of fear and impending doom.

Dies iræ, dies illa, Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Day of wrath and doom impending!

David's word with Sibyl's blending, Heaven and earth in ashes ending!

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth, When from heaven the Judge descendeth, On whose sentence all dependeth.

(English translation by William Josiah Irons)

JEAN LANGLAIS (1907 – 1991) Maestoso from Esquisses Gothiques Langlais was one of the great French organ music composers of the 20th century.

Trois Esquisses Gothiques (“Three Gothic Sketches”) was a commissioned work by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Although written for two organs, the second organ part is ad libitum and the two organs do not play at the same time, thus the piece can be performed on one organ. Langlais expounds on two themes in turn, one based on a chant and the other on a mass sequence, and then combines them polyphonically to build to the climax of the piece.

BUDDY BAKER (1918 – 2002) Grim Grinning Ghosts from Disney's The Haunted Mansion (arr. Jordan Olling/Loraine Muthiah) Grim Grinning Ghosts is the theme song for the The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney theme parks, and has been used in Disney’s film adaptations. The song opens with the guests entering the foyer where a distant organ can be heard playing the tune as a slow funeral song. After passing through a hall and music parlour, where the song is played with slow chords, the guests proceed to the ballroom, where the tune now takes on a waltz-like character. Thereafter, the guests proceed to the graveyard where they encounter a band of ghosts. The song modulates during this encounter as the ghosts pop up and sing. Towards the end, the guests exit through the crypt, where the song gets softer and fainter. The ghosts encourage departing guests to join them as ghosts themselves.

BERNARD HERRMANN (1911 – 1975) Prelude from Psycho (arr. Sarah Palmer/Loraine Muthiah) The music from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is considered to be one of the most iconic horror scores of all time. “33 per cent of the effect of Psycho was due to the music,” he famously said. The prelude is heard over the opening credits, with the strings playing ambiguous minor-major seventh chords in an ostinato pattern to create tension, suspense and fear in the music. This organ arrangement uses a registration (or combination of organ sounds) that is different to recreate the tension of the original music.

HEINRICH KAMINSKI (1886 – 1946) Psalm 130: Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir German composer Kaminski was born in Tiengen Schwarzwald. He studied piano at the Berlin Stern Conservatoire in 1909. He later taught composition at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. Carl Orff is one of his most significant pupils. Aus der Tiefe is the first of three motets based on Psalm 130 in German. The composition carries a late Romantic character with solid emotionalism. Kaminski depicted the out-of-the-deep moaning by assigning low vocal range in all four voices in unison. The sombre ascending melody developed into an urgent cry for mercy with dissonant chords on the repeated word Herr! Herr! Herr! (“Lord! Lord! Lord!”).

Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir.

Herr, höre meine Stimme, laß deine Ohren merken auf die Stimme meines Flehens!

Out of the depths I call, Lord, to you.

Lord, hear my voice, let your ears take note of the sound of my pleas!

So du willt, Herr, Sünde zurechnen, Herr, wer wird bestehen?

If thus you choose, Lord, to account for sins, Lord, who could remain?

Denn bei dir ist die Vergebung, daß man dich fürchte.

For forgiveness is with you, so that you might be held in awe.

(English translation by Pamela Dellal)

MAURICE DURUFLÉ (1902 – 1986) Libera Me from Requiem, Op. 9 Duruflé’s Requiem was published in memory of his father, who died months after Paris was liberated in World War II. Libera Me is part of the Office of the Dead and also the prayers said beside the coffin, before the burial. The text asks God for mercy upon the deceased at the last judgment, and reflects the turmoil of man faced with his end. In this movement, Duruflé incorporates Gregorian chant themes and rhythms (resulting in changing time signatures, sometimes at every bar), while using harmonies of the lateRomantic and early modern school. The result is a work that is poignant, beautiful and haunting.

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra Dum veneris judicare sæculum per ignem.

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.

Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde Dum veneris judicare sæculum per ignem.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death on that dreadful day, when the heavens and the earth shall be moved when You shall come to judge the world by fire.

I quake with fear and tremble awaiting the day of account and the wrath to come.

That day, the day of anger, of calamity, of misery, that day, the great day, and most bitter.

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpertual light shine upon them.

(English translation by Edward C. Yong)

DAN FORREST (b. 1978) Vanitas Vanitatum from Requiem for the Living Instead of the usual Dies irae in a Requiem mass, Forrest set text about the futility of everything, while speaking of the sorrow and turmoil to face humanity. In art, the genre of Vanitas painting uses symbols such as skulls, burning or extinguished candles, flowers, books, jewellery and music instruments to portray the inevitability of death, transience of life and vanity of earthly pleasures. Forrest invokes the music of the Dies irae with aggressive rhythms, set against sudden character shifts and long, floating musical lines, to dramatically complement the words of Vanitas Vanitatum.

Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas!

Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.

Lacrimosa, et locutus est, pereat dies in qua natus sum.

(from Ecclesiastes) Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!

Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. (from the Dies Irae) Full of tears, (from Job 3:2-3) he said, Let the day perish wherein I was born.

Programme notes by Loraine Muthiah

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUSES Delivering choral excellence since 1980 A premier body for classical choral singing, the Singapore Symphony Choruses comprise the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Singapore Symphony Youth Choir and Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir.

Drawing membership from diverse ages, nationalities and walks of life, our Choruses embody a comprehensive singing ecosystem that nurtures the brilliance of our brightest young talents, inspires youthful passion for the art and celebrates the best of choral excellence!

Scan the QR code and visit our website for more details on audition and training opportunities.

@ sgsymphonychorus @ sgsymphonyyouthchoir @ sgsymphonychildrenschoir

Scan for more information Or visit our website at sso.org.sg/choruses

The VCHpresents series is organised and presented by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

The vision of the Singapore Symphony Group is to be a leading arts organisation that engages, inspires and reflects Singapore through musical excellence. Our mission is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities.

The SSO is a charity and not-for-profit organisation.

You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.

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