By Lam Ming Huey – IAWM Journal (2001)
Situated in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has attracted traders and settlers from various Asian and European countries, and its rich heritage is derived from several different cultures. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, British influence was strong and Singapore was a British Crown Colony. The Japanese occupation of the country during World War II was followed by the British-controlled Malayan Union (1946) and the Federation of Malaya (1948). Nationalist movements accelerated during that period, and on August 31, 1957, Malaya became an independent state within the British Commonwealth and was admitted to the United Nations. In 1963 the Federation of Malaysia was established.
As Malaysian art music has evolved, along with the diverse Malaysian culture, the question of “what is Malaysian music” has been debated. There is now an accepted view that Malaysian musical style represents a conglomeration of Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western music. Musical elements from the traditional music of these different ethnic groups are often used by Malaysian composers who may write variations on folk melodies or compose programmatic pieces that depict historical events. They use both traditional and Western instruments, sometimes within the same work.
The connection between Western music and traditional forms of Malaysian music is already well established, but it is the combination of traditional and Western instruments that has proven to be most challenging for Malaysian composers. Traditional instruments are rarely consistent with international standards of tuning. Because most are tuned to a pentatonic scale (either pelog or slendor), performance problems are encountered when they are played with equal-tempered instruments such as the piano.
In his article, “Malaysia,” Daud Hamzah describes the development of serious music in the country and lists a number of composers—Tony Fosenka, Alfonso Soliano, Ahmad Jaafar, Johari Salleh and Chan Lok Hung—whose major contributions are given below.1 Tony Fonseka, half Portuguese and half Malay, with a musical background that was mainly Western, devoted himself to the development of choral music and looked to the country’s folk songs for source material. Fosenka is revered as the composer of the new national anthem, presented to a crowd of thousands on August 31, 1957, when Malaysia declared its independence.
Alfonzo Soliano, conductor of the Radio Television Malaysia orchestra from 1957 to 1965, was commissioned to write a work, Asli Abadi, based on local folk dances, for the first symphony orchestra in Malaysia. His work uses Malay folk rhythms called the asli, ronggeng and inang. Ahmad Jaafar, a self-taught composer, influenced by European style, wrote Symphonietta, a programmatic work that tells the legend of the white bird. The piece was choreographed, and a film of the ballet was shown in Europe during the Montreux Festival of television programs in 1973.
Johari Salleh, conductor, composer and arranger for Radio Television Malaysia, has composed a number of large-scale pieces for the orchestra Radio-TV Malaysia. His compositions include music for Malay drama, ethnic music and works for orchestra such as Simfonietta Cempakasari and Symphony ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). In his writings, Salleh adds traditional instruments to the Western orchestra.
In 1975, Chan Lok Hung wrote an indigenous opera, Hang Li Poh, based on the story of a Chinese princess sent to marry a Malay sultan some 500 years ago. Combining Malay and Chinese music, the work represents the two different cultural backgrounds of the story. The opera, however, is presented in Western style.2
As can be seen, the early Malaysian composers were predominantly male. In more recent times, another group of young Malaysian composers has begun to emerge: Tan Su Lian, Razak Abdul Aziz, John Yong Lah Boh, Martha Lee Jin Ai, Minni Ang Kim Huai and Chan Cheong Jan. The list now includes women composers.
Tan Su Lian is currently a faculty member at Middlebury College in United States. Her compositions include Song-Cycle, based on a text by Robert Pack; Three Malaysian Folksongs and Cascades.3 Her works have been performed in the United States and Europe. Razak Abdul Aziz is a faculty member in the music department of Universiti Sains Malaysia. His compositions include Maria Zaitun, a music drama based on a poem by Fatimah Busu, for solo female voice, chorus, Balinese gamelan and chamber orchestra; Do Take Muriel Out for soprano and alto soloists, chorus and orchestra, based on a poem by Stevie Smith; and The Wedding for chorus and orchestra. Razak Aziz draws materials from local sources. The compositions of John Yong Lah Boh are orchestral, choral and ensemble works such as The Journey to the Orient for full orchestra, Dance of Sadness for flute and piano, and His Pair of Hands for choir with piano. Minni Ang Kim Huai has written compositions in various styles ranging from classical, to atonal and serial works, to traditional Malaysian music. Among her compositions are War to End all Wars Overture, Miniature No.1 for Solo Piano and Irama Gamelan Kyai Pranaja. Martha Lee Jin Ai’s compositions include Not So Different, Come, The Mind at 3am, and The Silent Scream. Most of her compositions are written in free style and cross-cultural fusion, with some use of MIDI. Chan Cheong Jan’s compositions include Rentak Ria, Mubarak, Joget Sonata and Suite Melayu. Although most of Chan’s compositions incorporate Malay dance rhythms or folk songs, they are presented in the manner of Western art music.
Of the Malaysian composers who have attempted to combine Malaysian traditional and Western instruments, the most successful is Valerie Ross. By exploiting temperament compatibility, new notational techniques, score design, and microtonal inflection, Ross is able to integrate the similarities and differences between Western and non-Western musical idioms to create music that she subsequently called “cross-cultural fusion.” All of these techniques can be seen in Kamar, Manu, Borne and other compositions. For her unique style, Ross has gained recognition in the West, especially in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Valerie Ross (nee Ooi Sooi Beng) was born on March 24, 1958 in Kuala Lumpur. She began her music training at the age of four by studying the piano. In 1977 Ross continued her piano and composition studies in England at the Dartington School of Music, followed by diploma studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She completed her undergraduate music education at London University and in 1995, her master’s studies in music education at Deakin University, Australia. She operates her own music studio in Kuala Lumpur, where she conducts the external London Music Diploma courses; she composes music during her spare time.
Ross’s compositions have won a series of awards, beginning with the Malaysian Young Composer Award in 1988 at the Asian Composers’ League in Hong Kong, for her composition, Ad Libitum. Her composition for string orchestra was selected for the Asian Music Festival ’90 in Tokyo. The acclaimed Arditti Quartet from London performed Ross’s String Quartet no. 1 in Darmstadt, Germany. She was twice appointed resident composer and lecturer at the Internationales Musikinstitut at Darmstadt, an international center of information on contemporary music. She participated in the Fifth Asian Composers’ Forum in Taipei, Republic of China; The Second International Festival of New Intercultural Music in London; U.S.-China Arts Exchange in Sapporo; and the Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy.
Ross’s breakthrough in composition, which won her international acclaim, was in her works that combine Eastern and Western instruments. Representative compositions include Karma, Manu, Borne, Tatagatha and Serbolline. In these intercultural works, Ross uses different kinds of notation systems: Western, Slendro, graphic, numerical and Indian syllabic, to create a new genre. The number of notational systems employed in each piece depends on the instrumentation. Ross is also renowned for merging Eastern and Western aesthetics by combining the diverse tonal temperaments of the Carnatic ensemble, the gamelan, the Cantonese opera ensemble and the traditional Indian ensemble with the Western orchestra.
Ross has attained success in her multimedia works for dance and theater, often in collaboration with Ramli Ibrahim, a well-known Classical Indian dancer and choreographer. Her works with Ibrahim and the Sutra Dance Company include Karma, Ansioso, Bumi, Crisscross Embattled Garden, Manu and Borne, described below.
Borne is a cross-media or multimedia presentation, which involves music, dance-drama, and film. It is based on three volumes of verses by Caritas, entitled Borne with Thee, Borne to Thee and Borne for Thee, and is like a ritual of life from birth to death. The piece can be divided into five sections, with different instrumental groups that perform simultaneously. These five sections are recorded on tape and are labeled tape A, for French horn, flute and violin; tape B, for Balinese gamelan; tape C, for piano or synthesizer, Indian flute and veena; tape D, for alto saxophone and B-flat clarinet; and tape E, for percussion instruments plus voices.
The performance directions are given by the composer:
Tapes A, B and C are played over and over again throughout the installation period. The speakers are to be positioned far enough from one another so as to experience a gentle, juxtaposed sound texture. Tapes A and C are to be switched off when tape D is in progress, tape B is to be turned to pp, and tape E is performed live in stationary or moving position.
The entire performance of Borne involves dance and verse. The relationship between them and the music can be seen most clearly in tape D. In the first segment, a dancer performs on a bed surrounded by a net representing the womb. Breathing into the saxophone represents life inside the womb. In the second segment the dancer leaves the bed and dances a representation of “born,” while the music becomes increasingly faster. The third segment ends the cycle: the dancer returns to the bed and falls asleep, representing death; the tempo of the music becomes slower and the dynamic level decreases. The drone effect created by the tambura and veena, and the repetitive motives in the gamelan serve as the background of the ritual. During the entire performance, the percussionists are asked to dress like monks and to move in a circle around the dancer.
The Western instruments that Ross employs in Borne—alto saxophone, B-flat clarinet, violin, French horn and flute—are instruments that are capable of creating quarter tones. The choice of instruments, therefore, brings the temperaments of both the Western and traditional instruments closer. The piano plays mostly clusters and acciaccatura exclamations, and is used as a percussion instrument.
The work’s compositional style is perhaps inspired by the rhythmic and melodic cycles found in Indian and African music in which repetitive melodic ostinatos, static harmony and very gradual development are the main characteristics. This can be seen in the performance directions where the tape is to be played over and over again. The gamelan and the percussion sections are made up of short motives that should be repeated throughout the performance.
Tathagata, one of Ross’s most celebrated creations, is an ensemble work for Eastern and Western instruments. Commissioned by the British Commonwealth Foundation, it was premiered at the gala concert honoring the 40th anniversary of H.M. Queen Elizabeth, as Head of Commonwealth, at Lanchester House in London.
As in Borne, Ross uses religious philosophy as inspiration. According to the composer, the word “Tathagata,” derived from the Pali language, means “the Mahayana ideal of the quest for the joy of peace” in Buddhist philosophy. The quotation is taken from a poem in a collection edited by E. A. Burtt. The piece is divided into six sections: Tempos I to IV, Tempo V: “Hesitation” and Tempo VI: “Vehicle.” The work is scored for three vocalists: soprano, tenor and baritone. The traditional instruments include er-hu, tambura, Chinese woodblock, temple bell, and tabla. Three kinds of notational systems are employed: Western, graphic and numerical, with detailed performance directions. Ross also includes directions for lighting to create the appropriate atmosphere. In each section, a central tone is used to link the different instruments. The central tone functions in the same way as the tonal center in tonal music. Most of the time, the different “Tempo” sections are connected by the use of anticipation, suspension tones or suspension of melodic line. With the Western instruments, quarter-tones are used to meld the ensemble together.
The concept of time-space in Tathagata goes beyond the boundaries of metronomic tempo and numerical time components. In the first section, real time (divided into seconds) is used to reach a common rhythmic understanding among all the instruments. The rest of the piece utilizes tala time, from Indian art music, to create a recurring cycle where the motivic ideas of the rest of the instruments are juxtaposed over the rhythmic pattern.
Ross says that she creates musical pieces based on the experiences of her life. She draws her inspiration from natural sounds, colors and moods, as well as different scale systems and the sounds of traditional instruments. To Ross, music has motion. She is fascinated with physical movements of natural objects and the graceful motions in street theaters, such as Chinese Opera and Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet Theater).
Armed with her imagination and fired by the urge to create and express her musical being, Ross hopes to share what she believes to be a natural gift of expression in music. When she writes, she puts her visions down on paper, ultimately communicating these sounds to her audience. She hopes that one day her music will cut across the boundaries of ethnic and linguistic barriers.
1. Daud Hamzah, “Malaysia,” New Music in the Orient: Essay On Composition in Asia Since World War II (The Netherlands: Frits Knuf, 1991): 91-96.
2. Ibid, 95.
3. M. Ang, Musical Malaysia (Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia, 1997).
Lam Ming Huey is a lecturer at the Music Department of Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her research interest is in the area of Malaysian art music composition. She earned degrees from the City College of City University of New York and Universiti Putra Malaysia.