SYF is finally over this year and I'm going to enjoy the feeling, till the next one comes along.
This year, only two schools in the Secondary schools category attained gold. One was a girls' school (can't really remember what name but that their costume was pink and gold?) and the other that acheived gold with honours was Siglap Secondary.
For the Junior College category, Millenia Institute swept away the gold award, again.
This is what I've learnt:
- big ensembles win. Its best to have many racks of angklungs and a huge number of kulintangs.
- giving the melody to only the angklung won't get you anywhere. you must have the kulintangs playing something, maybe the bonangs doing something. You get my drift. As long as the angklungs are not playing solely from start to end. Oh and don't forget all the "outside" instruments like the gong, chinese drum, kendang, timpani and vibraphone.
So yeah, even though the category we're all preparing for is the Angklung category, just get the angklungs out there, but make sure you give parts to other instruments.
WTH? I thought we were in the angklung category???
1 comment:
Hello there Blogger
I wish to credit the schools which have attained the Gold Award for the Singapore Youth Festival 2009 Central Judging for Instrumental Ensemble (Angklung and Kulintang).
In the Secondary Schools section, the following schools achieved Gold (in order of appearance):
1) CHIJ St Theresa's Convent, and
2) Raffles Girls' School (Secondary).
In the same section, the following school achieved Gold (with Honours):
1) Siglap Secondary School.
I would also like to take this opportunity to respond to your blog posting. Firstly, to suggest that 'big ensembles win' is not accurate because results are definitely not determined by the size of an ensemble. However, additional number of performers could contribute to the richness of the sound produced by the ensemble, hence providing a more effective display of music.
In addition, the vast scale of anklungs also contributes to the sound quality, allowing to project a dynamic range of notes.
However, this does not necessarily translate into the volume projected by the ensemble. Schools which had lesser number of performers attempted to play their instruments loudly to compensate for their lack of numbers. This was ineffective, and resulted in lower scores.
Also, some schools also allowed the angklungs to solely display their prowess. However, the results were still contrasting, St Anthony Canossion's Silver, and Siglap's Gold (with Honours).
The inclusion of instruments outside angklung and kulintang was employed by ALL schools. Such practice allows a more vibrant musical intepretation by the ensemble, to parallel the contemporary direction of what was traditional Javanese music. However, this also does not determine results, clearly demonstrated by CHIJ St Joseph's.
And finally, as this is not a competition, so 'big ensembles win' is not an ideal statement. Being victorious over other schools do not matter, as this battle is based on the school's performance alone. Unfortunately for other schools which were not comfortable with their results based on the adjudicators' perspective, they need to come to terms with what they have received.
One school achieved the much deserved Gold (with Honours) Award, and that was through sheer aptitude.
Regards
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