Organic Hand

My new home

2006-09-07T10:59:00.000+08:00

Back again after a few weeks. Hope all of you are well.

In the few weeks that I've disappeared from posting, I've been moving into my new place and sprucing it up. The place is a secure apartment in Potts Point, near King's Cross station. It's rather central, and I usually walk everywhere - 25 minutes to the conservatorium, 15 minutes to the city centre. I'm sharing with another guy also called Adrian and from Singapore too. (More on him later.) So now, I've taken a few pictures for you guys to see.

This is what you see as you walk in the door. The kitchen and rooms are to the left, and the living room is right in front. Yes, the walls are yellow.

Here's a closer picture of the living room. The furniture belong to my flatmate.

We have a nice little kitchen, with several useful appliances fitted in.

And here's my bedroom. Looks like a hotel room, eh? ;-) The furniture in here were all from Ikea, apart from the photo frames. Could you see yourselves in those photos? The orange wall wasn't my idea - it was already there when I moved in- but it does give the room a nice glow.

Here's another view of my bedroom. Being a poor student, all the furniture were taken from the cheapest of the range. Putting it all in costed me under $400. Of course, cheap doesn't have to look cheap - you just need to dress it up a little.

I also have a walk-in wardrobe leading into the bathroom.

Finally, a photo of my desk/study. Desk $39 from Ikea, chair $0.99 from eBay. Very functional. Now, could you guess the name of the flowers hanging in the corner? 10 points to everyone who guesses correctly. :-)

Now that you all have seen my place, when are you coming to visit?

Hasta la vista,
Ace

Sydney Day 04

2006-07-20T21:58:00.000+08:00

G'day mates!

I made lots of phone calls today, mostly to real estate agents. It must be costing a bomb now. Oh well...

Anyway, today I went to see a property at Wollstonecroft, in North Sydney which is supposed to be quite a nice area. I thought given that, the place would be quite decent. Oh no.... Never in my wildest dreams did I come to see what I saw. For starters, the place was as insecure as anything. The front door was unlocked. And the door was like paper thin... If you watch detective TV shows like CSI, Missing, or NYPD Blue, this place would be featured in the part where the police kick the door open and flash their guns into the house. It was t h a t bad. The floors are creaky too. Do a few jumping jacks and I'll probably crash through the floorboards. O-bla-di o-bla-da... won't go back there again, that's for sure.

After that saga, I went to Town Hall to attend the choral evensong at St Andrew's Cathedral. Mark, my host, is playing there this evening. There was a special programme on too, as a visiting choir was singing together with the boys of St Andrew's Cathedral Choir. The visitors were members of the Crypt Choir of Kings School in Canterbury, UK. It went pretty well, I thought.

Tonight, being late night shopping night, the shops were open until 9pm. (They normally shut about 6pm.) The big departmental store Myer was open until 10pm, and they were having a magnificent sale there - up to 70% off! Still didn't buy anything from there though. They weren't what I wanted, or they simply didn't have my size. Too bad. However, I did get a Lonsdale shoulder bag from another shop. How interesting is that? Hahah...

Anyway, time for bed.

Chat soon,
Ace

Sydney Day 03

2006-07-19T23:41:00.000+08:00

Today was a boring day - house hunting day. I made a few phone calls to see a few places, and managed to get two viewings. Some of the rest I called were already taken up.

Anyway, the first one I saw today was at Surry Hills, which is not too bad actually. It's a nice little flat, rather cozy, with a yard and security. The room is on the small side, but can fit most things in. The only setback is that it is about ten minutes from the train station, and getting there was an uphill task - literally! At one point, the hill was actually quite steep. (Just imagine San Francisco.)

The other one was at Enfield/Strathfield, and you would need to take a bus from the train station to get there. The place is rather interesting, lots of character. I thought that it might be slightly inaccessible at night, especially if I'm having late rehearsals, or attending an opera at the Opera House.

Tomorrow, I shall be looking at a few more places, and then make up my mind.

Peace,
Ace

Sydney Day 02

2006-07-18T23:05:00.000+08:00

Still very tired, and recovering from the cold.

I was able to access my student portal today, so found out part of my timetable. About 18 hours a week so far. I think it'll increase when I begin to take on the conducting assistant assignments given by Imre.

I also found out that I did not bring a single pair of jeans over. The afternoon was thus spent looking for a pair in Westfield Shopping Town in Burwood. I managed to find a cheapish pair there for A$39. That'll make dressing much more flexible.

Then just tonight, Mark and I went for a concert in the Sydney Opera House. Frederick Swann, a prominent American organist (ex-president of the American Guild of Organists), was performing along with an orchestra and a 320-strong choir. This was the programme:

L.v. Beethoven - Egmont Overture
A. Guilmant - Symphony Op.42 No.1
All Creatures of our Lord and King (arr. Canadian Brass)
A. Bruckner - Ave Maria
J.S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in G major
M. Durufle - Requiem Op.9
C.H.H. Parry - I Was Glad

A very nice way to end the night here.

Bonne nuit,
Ace

Sydney Day 01

2006-07-17T21:36:00.000+08:00

Yawn! Damn tired... That's the problem with middle-ranged flights. You take off, get a drink, then the first food service after an hour, try to sleep, and before you know it, it's time for breakfast, and then land in a foreign country. I didn't get enough sleep as I had planned for on the plane.

For this trip, I did not manage to get a direct flight into Sydney. Instead, I had to do a transit in Brisbane before going onto Sydney. Apparently, this was so to avoid to closure of Sydney Airport due to excessive fogging in the winter mornings.

Anyway, at least the flight Qantas QF52 to Brisbane didn't have any problems. It was a pretty smooth 6.5 hours onboard the Airbus 330, with a bit of turbulence halfway. The food was ok, the service was above average. I had to clear customs in Brisbane too, and they were a lot faster compared to Sydney. This meant having to claim my luggage their too, and rechecking them in for the domestic flight to Sydney.

Going to Sydney on QF513 was in a Boeing 767, a long and thin aircraft that looks hardly elegant. It was rather cramped inside! Since I only had to endure about an hour plus inside, I didn't complain. I had a window seat, and the view outside kept me occupied, along with stealing a few winks now and then.

Mark Quarmby met me at the airport, and he drove us back to his apartment in Strathfield. We then had a little lunch, and then I was out again to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where I study. Today was Enrolment Day, so I got myself enrolled for the courses of study, and then did some exploring of the place before I met up with Imre Pallo, my tutor.

I feel a cold coming. So it's bedtime for me, I think.

Night,
Ace

Going to Sydney (again...)

2006-07-16T15:12:00.000+08:00

Gosh, I'm leaving for Sydney tonight. There's so much to prepare - all the packing is half done yet - and I'm having breakfast with the kids of the Family Choir. Well, no longer kids really because they're mostly teenagers and young adults. They really are a good bunch. In the past months, I have been teaching some of them the rudiments of music theory and conducting. It was during this time that I got to know them better too, and I shall miss them dearly when I depart.

Just yesterday, we were playing tennis at Farrer Court. Joe, Teresa, Hannah, Miriam, Kevin and myself were there, all arriving at slightly different times. Kevin, a sorta pro tennis player, was kind enough to coach me on my tennis playing. Cheers, bro! Both of us had a nice lunch in Holland Village after that.

This morning after their mass in St Ignatius, the kids decided to go to Al-Azhar for prata. I took a quick drive over and joined them. We had a nice little breakfast and get-together, chatting about various things.

After sending them back to church for choir practice, I headed to deliver some photos to a friend of mine, and then into Funan Centre to get a new hand-drawn luggage to keep my music and organ shoes in. I settled for a Swiss Polo 20-inch case, with wheels that allows the case to move in any directions (apparently). It wasn't too expensive, which was fantastic.

Oh well, time to carry on packing and bid all of you in Singapore adieu for now. Will update you all soon!

Au revoir,
Ace

Parties

2006-07-12T21:15:00.000+08:00

Here are some photos of parties in the past.

This first one is of my eighth birthday. The date printed on the photo is wrong - those were the days when digital functions were being introduced into consumer cameras. It should read 84 11 6 (6th November 1984). Smurfs were in too! Haha!

I can't remember the year this was taken, but it must've been at my cousin Desiree's place celebrating her second birthday. It was a long time ago anyhow. From left is my cousin John, me, cousin Jeannie, and my sister Magdalene. We all enjoy satay. Smurfs are still popular then!

This photo was taken at the airport. My aunt was going for a holiday, so we all went to the airport to see her off. From left is my cousin Desiree, Nigel, myself, and granddad.

Last one for this series. The occasion was my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. Pictured here are myself, granddad and dad. I remember running round the shopping centres scouring for invitation cards for this event - I don't suppose many couples celebrate their golden anniversary, or able to sustain for that long to begin with...

Here endeth the second lesson.

Hong Kong, 1980

2006-07-11T00:09:00.000+08:00

Onwards to Hong Kong. While travelling, my sister celebrated her third birthday on the plane. What fun!
Hong Kong wasn't as memorable as the other places. In fact, I don't remember it at all, despite this photo on the ferry. I think I should pay it a visit again someday.
Here endeth the first part of this mini-series.

Disneyland LA, 1980

2006-07-10T23:27:00.000+08:00

Ah how nostalgic! The spires of Cinderella's castle that spells Disneyland to all the kids in the world. Impressive as it looks outside, I remember distinctively that I wasn't very much moved by the inside. The castle's insides were an exhibition of dolls depicting various fairy tales. Yah... boring... I'm sure the exhibits were beautiful - there might have even been diamonds on those dolls - but what does a four year-old care for beauty?

Look, I even had a photo with Pinocchio! Who's the redhead holding my hand?!

Then we tok a ride on these cable cars through some mountain. Was this the Magic Mountains? I've heard conflicting identities. Someone enlighten me!

Still more to come...

America! America!

2006-07-10T15:31:00.000+08:00

This trip back in 1980 was the first time I've been overseas, I believe. My family and I were at three destinations - LA, Hawaii and Hong Kong. I don't remember much from that holiday; I was only four!

In the morning, we took this picture by the pool. Note the American flag in the background. The decor of the place was the chicest of the 70's.

This was us in our hotel room, relaxing after a day of walking around. Dad was behind the camera.

More to come...

I'm still here

2006-07-10T15:04:00.000+08:00

Hello again,

In case you're wondering if I've disappeared off the face of the earth, well no, I'm still here. I have been rather busy lately, what with the preparation for the move to Sydney, Australia. My flight is scheduled for this coming Sunday the 16th of July.

Recently, I've looked at some old photos of mine. I'll be posting some of them for your enjoyment.

Cheers,
Ace

Goodbye Aunty Fudge

2006-04-06T08:47:00.000+08:00

"The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away."

I just received news that one of my best friends Frances Ng has just passed away. Frances, or Fudge as she is know to us, left us whilst in labour in Mt Alvernia Hospital this morning due to complications during the delivery.

Frances was a true musician in every sense of the word, and has been a cornerstone of the music ministry in St Ignatius Church. I just spoke to her over the phone last night, and she sounded very happy and expectant indeed to have the baby soon. She would be sorely missed.

Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Love,
Ace

Send Me To Sydney!

2006-03-26T00:45:00.000+08:00

Hello all again!

As some of you might already know, I have been accepted into the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to do a postgraduate degree in conducting. This would be a fantastic journey for me, as it would enable me to improve my musical passion to a higher degree.

For the course, I shall be under the tutelage of maestro Imre Pallo. The course covers orchestral conducting, ensemble work, high school workshops, and opera. It sounds rather rigorous from the brochure, and I'm sure I'll get a thorough workout.

The course itself is for two years, and I'm estimating that it'll set me back by about US$20,000 at least. So if you're a kind soul who wishes to help me out, or have some spare cash, or rather see your money go to a good cause than going to the tax man, hit the "Donate" button now! I could promise you that the money would be handled far better than TT Durai and the old NKF. ;o) (All major cards accepted, including Switch and Solo.)

Many thanks for your support!
Ace

My photos

2006-03-02T13:49:00.000+08:00

I have posted some of my photos I've taken while on the photography course. The link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianchong.

Be sure to leave some comments!

Best,
Ace

Ever had days like that?

2006-02-27T03:22:00.000+08:00

Hello again, everyone! It's certainly been a long time. Yes, it had been a rather busy period. Firstly, there was the OHTA conference in Australia, followed by the concert in ORPC, then came Christmas and the New Year, and then Chinese New Year. No doubt, everyone in Singapore was busy having some fun over the festivities.

In that period of time, my folks got me a new wardrobe from Ikea. It's a three-door oak wardrobe with an impressive height of 236cm, reaching almost all the way to the ceiling. That led to a cleaning frenzy, which I admit wasn't all that successful. There are still piles of books and files all over my room floor. I should really take some time to tidy up things, instead of sitting here writing about it!

I also took up photography as a hobby, and attended courses at the Photographic Society of Singapore. The courses were rather enriching and entertaining, and I felt I learnt to get the best out of my new camera - a Nikon D200! This picture was shot by the Singapore River, and this lamp is for real. Nothing has been edited. It was really broken like that. Makes an interesting subject though, doesn't it? We also had many excursions - to the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, Chinatown, Little India and so on. It opened my eyes to more ways of seeing things.

When I was in Sydney for the second time celebrating my birthday, I also had the opportunity to have an audition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for postgraduate studies in conducting. Well, what do you know? For something arranged at such short notice, I was very surprised when they offered me a place to study! Cool, hey?!

So, life brings us back to now. I'm still teaching at the same place for the past month and a half now. The week that just past was the students' study week, so I had a good week's break. Sadly, it all ended too soon. Back to life and reality, I suppose.

Hopefully, I would have some time to continue writing the blog, and to focus more on the organ too! (Yes, I feel I've neglected the organ for a while now.)

See you all soon,
Ace

Organ Recital ORPC 10th Nov 2005

2005-11-16T13:05:00.000+08:00

The Last Night of the Proms in Singapore... at least that's what it sounded like when I played Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 on the organ in Orchard Road Presbyterian Church last Thursday.

That was the last recital of the Pipeworks series organised by the Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. We had three players - Christina Suresh, Nicholas Leow and myself. There was some good playing throughout the evening, and the audience was rather appreciative. The programme was:

Christina Suresh
Théodore Salomé - Grand Chœur
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Hyfrydol (Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes)
Félix Alexandre Guilmant - Marche sur un theme de Handel, op.15 no.2

Nicholas Leow
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 545
Frank Bridge - Adagio in E Major
James Pethel - Prelude on 'Engelberg' (When in Our Music God is Glorified)

Adrian Chong
Jehan Alain - Litanies
Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D-minor, BWV 565
Édouard Batiste - Andante in G “The Pilgrim's Song of Hope”
Edward Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 (arr. William McVicker)

Now that it's over, I can rest properly!

Salut,
Ace

Ace is free!

2005-11-13T04:19:00.000+08:00

Finally, there's some space to breathe.

As you all know (if you have been following the previous posts), right after the OHTA conference, I had to give exams to my students at the university. Five classes of them. Which meant I had to mark them too... all in there were about 200 scripts. I don't want to sound negative here, but sometimes it does really make you wonder if the students do actually have any musical sense in them... Anyway, so that happened, and my room is in a complete mess with all these extra question papers lying all around the table and floor. My piano keyboard has become a buffet table.

And then came the Halloween concert organised by the Singapore Lyric Opera. A week's worth of rehearsals went into that. The concert was held in the Victoria Concert Hall, which has a two-manual mechanical Klais organ. It doesn't have any stop capture system, which could be quite a pain, but much could be done with just the preset toe pistons. I played Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 while dressed in a long black hooded evil mage robe.

And then I was back in Sydney again to celebrate my birthday! Ahh those Aussies.... they just can't get enough of me hahaha...

Which led to me flying back to Singapore just two days before the AGO concert in Orchard Road Presbyterian Church on the 10th of November. More on that in a separate post.

So yes, that leads to now. Finally, some time to breathe again. I could finally put my feet up and clip my toenails. And hopefully clean up my room too. Gee... I need some house elves. Where could I get those?

Answers on a postcard,
Ace

Sydney - The Other Days

2005-11-13T03:54:00.000+08:00

Ahem... Yes, I know I promised to keep a daily diary of the events in Sydney, but unfortunately each day was too eventful. That got me absolutely shattered by the end of each day, and I was too tired to write anything sensible. So here's a quick summary of what happened:

1. The OHTA Conference in Sydney, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley

During the whole conference, we visited about 30 organs in 26 venues. Coming from a country that has a modest collection of eleven organs, seeing all the thirty organs during the conference was a real treat. The tour was very well-organised, and the booklet that accompanied it was informative and comprehensive.

In the Hunter Valley, I played on the organ in the church of All Saints, Singleton. Strangely enough, there was a reporter around who took my picture at the organ and wrote an article for the local paper. I was also asked to speak at a panel discussion in Morpeth on one of the days. I mentioned that it was rather heartening to learn that many people take the trouble to conserve the integrity of historical instruments, and to find a new home for instruments made redundant. It was also good to know that there is still a strong interest in the organ and organ music.

The issue of young people in the organ community was brought up rather strongly too, and I found several parallels with Singapore and Sydney here. Recently, the Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists organised a Pipe Organ Encounter Plus geared towards young adults. We had about 35 participants in the four-day long event, but at the moment only about five persons from the cohort are taking proper lessons in the organ. From all the stories I heard from various people during the conference, I came to the conclusion that it is very easy to initiate an interest in young people but more difficult so in sustaining the interest in them. Perhaps we ought to find a more fulfilling role for our young people, and let them take ownership of a few things. Having said that, there were many promising young talents who came forward to play on the organs, and I sincerely wish them all a bright future ahead.

I have made many friends during the conference, and hope to keep in touch with many of them.

2. Days after the OHTA conference

Holidaying time. I took this opportunity to do most of the tourist things - going up the AMP tower, visiting the aquarium, snapping pictures of every darn thing etc. I think I took about more than a thousand photos. Hooray for digital cameras! The highlight of the trip would be Manly. Situated about seven miles off central Sydney, it has a most gorgeous beach. You need to take a ferry from Circular Quay to get there, and it takes about half an hour to get there. And I was there when the sun was glorious - fabulous conditions indeed! If I ever moved to Sydney, I would definitely consider staying in Manly.

Sadly, all the fun times passed too quickly. After the numerous enjoyable breakfasts, lunches, dinners, recitals and 5kg later, it was alas time to get back home to Singapore, where five classes of students were awaiting my arrival to give them their exams... bleah...

Sob,
Ace

Sydney Day 01

2005-10-01T11:43:00.000+08:00

Crikey... got so little sleep, still must wake up so early. The bed in Mark's lounge is very comfortable too. But it's all in the name of fun. For me.

Mark and I got out of his apartment by 8:15am. Got the train from Stratfield Station just outside. The trains here are all double-level, like the ones in Barcelona. Got off at Town Hall Station and walked to our first stop: St Mary's Cathedral.

St Mary's Cathedral Crypt
This was where the registration and welcome took place. At the side is a smallish two-manual Laukhuff organ of about 6 ranks, very much like the one in the lecture theatre of Singapore Bible College. The stops were not operated by tabs nor drawstops, but horizontal levers.

St Mary's Cathedral
There are three organs used in the main building. One is at the east chapel, where there is a small electronic console controlling the pipes. The pipes here are well hidden just under the ceiling of the chapel. You can't see them from the nave.

Then there is a gigantic moveable console which was placed under the north gallery. The console is about the size of two little jumbos, and has four manuals. It controls the north gallery organ as well as the west gallery organ. Such extravagance!

Anyway, the north gallery organ is the newest of them all, and bears a modern award-winning case. Too modern for some, as it doesn't match with the rest of the gothic architecture. It makes a nice sound though.

Sydney Grammar School
This school is comparable to our elite schools in Singapore. The organ is rather newly installed by Mander. And surprises of all surprises, Mr John Mander himself just happened to be around today to touch up the organ. The organ sounds like the other works of Mander - rather English. The swell was rather nice.

Sydney Town Hall
This instrument is enormous! Once you enter, you are greeted by the full-size 32' Principal pipes. And it also has full-length 64' Contra Trombones. It looks a lot bigger than the organ in the Royal Albert Hall, London. (Compare the size of the pipes with the people in there.) It has a wide case, which made me wonder if the sound of the organ would be too dispersed. It sounded good to me though, although I felt it was a little on the soft side for such a big instrument. There was little rumble.

We visited two more organs: Pitt Street Uniting Church and St Aloysius Catholic College. Both instruments are great in their own right.

There were some good photo opportunities throughout the day. I'm sure there will be more of them in the days to come.

Stay tuned!
Ace

Off To Sydney

2005-09-30T22:43:00.000+08:00

Yay! A little holiday!

I left Singapore this morning for Sydney. Such excitment, since it was my first trip to this city. Checked in at our Singapore Changi Airport fairly quickly. Got assigned a middle seat. In the middle of a window seat and an aisle seat. I hate middle seats. They always make you feel trapped for some reason. Oh well, they keep you well-fed during the flight. Two meals for a 7-hour flight isn't so bad.

Anyway, I arrived at Kingsford Airport at about 6.45pm local time. It was already dark by the time we landed. Went through the fussy Australian customs, great. Mark Quarmby, my organist friend in Sydney, came to pick me up in his car. After putting the luggage in his boot, we promptly drove to another friend's party.

Goodness! Never done such a thing before. Land and go to a party straightaway. Strange, did not feel that tired yet. Tim and his flatmates prepared such a lovely dinner. A full three-course dinner party. I was completely stuffed. The Australians are going to make me FAT! And oh, so much to drink too... seven different bottles of wine, shared between nine people. And did I mention the champagne for pre-dinner cocktails, and port after? Och! Aye!

To cut the chase, Mark and I got back at about 1.30am. Showered, slept. Tired.

zzzzzz,
Ace

A Bimbo Quiz

2005-09-21T01:58:00.000+08:00

Spot the elephant?

Keep comments coming in!

2005-09-16T20:36:00.000+08:00

Dear Readers,

Do leave your comments at the end of each post. I love hearing from all of you!

Gracias,
Ace

Thoughts on Liturgical Music (Part 1)

2005-09-16T20:25:00.000+08:00

"Bad church music to be outlawed - document is bad news for Catholic 'happy-clappies'" -- The Catholic Herald

So what constitutes good liturgical music? What kind of guidelines do you follow? Are you a 'happy-clappy' Catholic? Why is good music in liturgy associated with performance?

If you are in a position where you are planning the music for the liturgy, then these questions must have popped up in your head at least once. Or if not, then maybe you should start thinking about them.

Anyway, to get this discussion going, let's ask ourselves a more fundamental question: Why do we go to church for mass in the first place?

Yes, different people will tell you different things. But I think the only acceptable answer is "Because we want to worship God." The want to worship should be our primary motivation to go to church. A privilege of us human beings is that we have free will. Even the angels don't have that. When we go to church for mass, it should be out of our own conscious choice. It should not be because our parents say so, or because we are obligated to do so. It is because we believe. We believe; and we ask God to grant our petitions (and not the other way around). We believe; and are thankful. (Is it so difficult to be thankful these days? Or are we simply taking too many things for granted?)

How should we worship? In true worship, we should diminish and Christ increase. Christ is present in church in the eucharist. As we place ourselves before Christ, we willingly submit ourselves to him. Already, there should be an aspect of self-denial. And therefore when we worship, we do not worship on our own terms but on God's terms. This is especially necessarily so for the mass where we gather as a community, as one people, as God's people.

Consider the saga of the golden calf described in Exodus 32:

1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods [a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."

2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, [b] O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. [c] Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

-- NIV

Bear in mind that the people back then had good intentions in their hearts. However, good intentions could not justify the severity of their actions. Their apostasy lies in the notion that the saving power of the one true God can be properly represented by a golden calf. In his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote: “The people cannot cope with the invisible, remote, and mysterious God... They want to bring him down into their own world, into what they can see and understand”. Here, the worship of the golden calf “is no longer going up to God, but drawing God down into one’s own world. He must be there when he is needed, and he must be the kind of God that is needed... The dance around the golden calf is... self-seeking worship. It is a kind of banal self-gratification. Ultimately, it is no longer concerned with God but giving oneself a nice little alternative world, manufactured from one’s own resources”.

Since worship should be the only focus of the mass, other things that are present or happening during that period of time should not detract from this. Art (eg. floral arrangements) should be used as decoration and not be made to overwhelm. Music used during the mass should never draw attention to itself, and musicians should never abuse the mass as an outlet for self-expression, for 'banal self-gratification'. (More on this in the next installment.) In the same vein, "liturgical" dance is also discouraged, for what is there to do with a dance other than to watch it?

Also, the music should not be used to entice people to come to church. Just as people don't come to mass to see the floral arrangements, people should not come to mass just to listen to the music. It rather saddens me that some churches (including Protestant churches) use their music to lure people into their congregation - are we there to worship or to attend a rock concert??

I end this installment with a stanza from a hymn which just about sums up the attitude we should adopt in using music in liturgy:

"When in our music God is glorified,
and adoration leaves no room for pride,
it is as though the whole creation cried
Alleluia!"

-- Fred Pratt Green

In the next issue: What is good liturgical music, the sacred/secular divide, old versus new...

Till next time,
Ace

Quick Question and Answer

2005-09-12T01:09:00.000+08:00

Q: What's worse than a Male Chauvinist Pig?
A: A woman who won't do as she's told.

(Seen in a public toilet.)

What happens when a bulb blows in church?

2005-09-06T04:10:00.000+08:00

This is a joke shared at a dinner party over the weekend.

What happens when a bulb blows in church?
Depending on who runs the church, you'll get different results.

The Franciscans would write a canticle to Sister Darkness.

The Domincans would start a debate on what the darkness signifies.

The Jesuits would scoff at the poor electrical supply.

The diocesan parish priest would take a new bulb from the drawer and change the bulb.

Cheers, ye merry men!
Ace

The Ends of Shoelaces

2005-09-06T03:27:00.000+08:00

Here's a useful/useless piece of information for you.

Most of us would have used shoelaces at some point of our lives. And you know at either ends of the shoelaces, there's this bit of plastic or metal to keep the twine from unravelling, right? Well, there's a technical name for them. They're called aglets.

'An aglet or aiglet is the little plastic or metal cladding on the end of shoelaces that keeps the twine from unraveling. The word comes from the latin word acus which means needle. In times past, aglets were usually made of metal though some were glass or stone. Many were highly ornamental, and made of precious metals such as silver. Before the invention of buttons, they were used on the ends of ribbons to fasten clothing together. Sometimes they would be formed into small figures. Shakespeare calls this type of figure an "aglet baby" in The Taming of the Shrew. Purely decorative metal ornaments called aigullette are sometimes features of modern military dress uniforms.'

- Taken from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Dumb Joke

2005-09-03T14:14:00.000+08:00

Girl: Does this dress make me look fat?
Guy: No. It's your fat that makes you look fat.

Boom boom.

Fun with my new iPod

2005-09-03T03:56:00.000+08:00

I bought me an iPod, my iPod pleased me. I fed my iPod with songs from my iBook. My iPod sings Bruckner.

Yup, following all current trends, I got myself a new 20GB iPod Photo. Colour screen and all. Its high capacity (compared to an iPod mini) means that I could bring all my music to class without carrying a ton of CDs around.

You could download music from the web too, and transfer it into the iPod. That's rather useful. More interesting too are broadcasts called Podcasts. These are prerecorded radio shows made available everywhere on the web, done by professionals and amateurs alike. Some are quite good. I particularly like Iain Lee's podcasts found at http://podcast.chrysalis.com/bestofiain.aspx. (Iain Lee's a presenter on UK television and radio.)

There are lots of accessories too. I got a snowskin cover for the machine, and screen protectors. Also, from Belkin, there's an FM transmitter which fits into the usual earphone socket - useful when travelling in a car. I got a microphone adaptor as well, such that I could use the iPod as a recorder. Rather nifty.

Happy listening,
Ace

Sir, have you marked my homework?

2005-09-03T03:30:00.000+08:00

Good grief... the marking never ends. Just as you get through one pile, another comes in. And the students keep coming with questions too. Which is not a bad thing. Shows that they are thinking about what they are learning. And exams are round the corner, which means I have to set the exam papers, and mark them after that. Stress for the students, stress for the lecturers too.

So yes, that explains why I've not been posting for the past two weeks.

Upcoming posts:
1. Fun wih my new iPod
2. Thoughts on liturgical music (in 2 parts)

See you then,
Ace

New instrument?

2005-08-14T21:49:00.000+08:00

There's a new instrument in town called the Merlion38. Um... trust a Singaporean to include numbers in a name. Also, the inventor of this instrument - Mr Simon Ng - must be rather clueless about music history. This invention of his is nothing more than a stylised ocarina (globular flute), which Giuseppe Donati had invented in the 19th century. Duh! It could be made out of clay, porcelain or even a sweet potato.

Anyway, dear Simon went on to make the Merlion38 available in 38 different colours, representing "Good Singapore Values". Where does 'Clueless', 'Conceited', 'Copycat', 'Ostentatious' and 'Pretentious' fit in?

The phrase "foot-in-mouth" comes to mind.

http://www.merlion38.com

Your friendly neighbourhood musicologist,
Ace

I'm Albus Dumbledore

2005-08-14T21:30:00.000+08:00

Not too surprising, is it? Hehe!

You scored as Albus Dumbledore. Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering.

Albus Dumbledore

85%

Hermione Granger

75%

Remus Lupin

75%

Harry Potter

70%

Sirius Black

70%

Severus Snape

70%

Ron Weasley

60%

Ginny Weasley

60%

Draco Malfoy

55%

Lord Voldemort

35%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

Clive Driskill-Smith in Singapore

2005-08-14T04:11:00.000+08:00

In the week that just past, I had the great pleasure of meeting a young organist who came here to perform. Clive Driskill-Smith hails from Oxford where he is the Sub-organist at Christ Church Cathedral. He's two years younger than me, and is so much more accomplished.

He arrived in Singapore on our National Day itself. His plane had the misfortune of getting stuck on the taxiway for about an hour because of some obstructing debris. On first impressions he seemed a little serious, but he lightened up quickly along the way and got into a friendly chat over dinner.

During the concert in the Orchard Road Presbyterian Church, Clive performed marvellously, and explored the whole plethora of tone colours afforded by the organ. Very entertaining was his encore piece - Hornpipe Humouresque by Noel Rawsthorne.

Young organists like Clive, my good friend Felix Hell, and others in this country, continue to be a source of inspiration for me to keep going on the organ. There's some future for the organ yet!

Here's to you young people,
Ace

What happened last week...

2005-08-01T04:08:00.000+08:00

As my hair dries from the recent shower, let me fill you in on what happened last week (as promised)...

This Saturday that just past, we had our church feastday together with the ordinations of two priests and a deacon in the same celebration. The mass was about two hours long, and - needless to say - we had to put in a lot of music. (According to my contents page, there were 26 musical events.) Hence, the majority of the week was busy preparing for this big occasion.

Let's backtrack for a bit.

Monday: Choir practice. Zero tolerance day. Corrected a lot of bad habits with the choir. But I was surprised that they managed to sing Saint-Saëns' Panis Angelicus without stopping. It was almost note-perfect! Desmet's Tu Es Sacerdos wasn't that good though. I scolded them a lot to get it fixed. Simon Cowell style.

Tuesday: Meeting with secondary school. Tried to catch a movie with Alf. Failed. Bought a lot of music books. Organ practice at home.

Wednesday: Teaching at home. Tried again to catch a movie. Failed again. Went home, started photocopying extra scores for Saturday. Started marking students' homework: two huge piles of harmony, and two of intervals and time signatures.

Thursday: Lunch with old classmate. More marking. Headache. Choir practice in the evening. Good! The choir's quite ready to sing for Saturday. I had nothing major to complain about. Only some misbehaviour in pronunciation, which was easily corrected.

Friday: Teaching in college. Long day, but ended very nicely with a little concert from the pop music department. I'm beginning to take pleasure in teaching this bunch of students. Out goes the pile of marked homework, in comes another. Got Saturday's things ready.

And finally, SATURDAY!!

Big thunderstorm in the afternoon. Had a haircut appointment in Holland Village at noon. Have to look good for tonight! ;)

As I walked into the church, I can't help but notice the huge live video camera setup laid around the floor. There were four huge cameras, two on stands. The images were transmitted live throughout the mass. Wow! Mom, I'm on the telly! I got a horrible fright when I saw myself on the big projector screen - they really zoomed it in. But it was good to capture all the action in front of the altar, so that those sitting behind could see what was going on.

The choir came in at about 3pm in the official colours of red, gold and white. They looked really nice. We had a run-through of everything.

The mass was PERFECT! I couldn't have asked for a better paced mass. We had anticipated having to extend the entrance and offertory processions, but they were just perfect. They finished just as the last words of the songs were sung. It was rather unbelievable.

The congregation coped rather well with the big load of things they had to respond to. The Latin setting of the Lourdes mass propers was rather well-received; I could hear the whole church singing.

The organ crashed in majestically with the big opening chords of Tu Es Sacerdos just as the newly ordained priests were vested in their new robes of gold. The choir sang their hearts out. Many in the congregation had not heard an anthem done in our church (in the context of a liturgy) as such, and found it pleasantly surprising and refreshing. It was so apt and fitting for the moment - almost like a coronation!

Communion finished in good time too. We had just about enough to sing for the whole communion rite; I had only to fill up a little time with some improvisations at the organ.

Then finally came the recessional song which everyone sang, since they all know the
Lourdes Hymn hymntune. After that, Kevin played Rutter's Toccata in Seven as postlude very nicely.

I felt satisfied, satiated at the end of the mass. We nailed it. I knew we had done a proper, decent, apposite job. Many people came up to me after mass and told me that the music was very dignified, had substance, not only in the actual singing but also in the choice of repertoire. Above all, it wasn't mere entertainment. Thank you all for your very kind words!

We had a good dinner in an airconditioned marquee in the carpark. I thought it was a very nice touch. The organising committee did very well. And all for a very reasonable, if not cheap, price too.

Well, end of adventures for last week. More to come soon.

Peace,
Ace

Humility

2005-07-31T17:33:00.000+08:00

Apologies for missing a week's worth of posting. Will explain later.

First, just a quick thought about humility:

"To be humble, you must first be good at something to be humble about."

Agree? Disagree?

Cheers,
Ace

Missing post?

2005-07-24T22:44:00.000+08:00

Was there a missing post yesterday?

Well, no. I didn't post anything yesterday. Why? Because yesterday was the sabbath. :P Today's post would come out shortly.

See you later,
Ace

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, forgive our foolish ways...

2005-07-22T22:09:00.000+08:00

Crikey me jinkies... are music students totally clueless these days? I gave my class a simple melodic dictation today. The tune was the opening line of the plainsong Pater Noster, a simple line that has nothing more than an interval of a minor third. Look how these budding Stravinskys fared.

(Um... just try fitting in the words: "Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum.")

Sigh,
Ace

My style

2005-07-21T23:07:00.000+08:00

Many people have asked me what my favourite type of music is.

Well for the record, I prefer English-cathedral-choir-and-organ type of music.

So there, be satisfied! :D

Ace

How To Perform

2005-07-20T22:54:00.000+08:00

The duty of all players, at whatever level and for whatever purpose they play, is to communicate, if only to themselves.

Whoa... the first instructive statement of this blog. I've just been reading the book Playing the Organ Works of Bach: Some Case Studies by Peter Williams of the American Guild of Organists. I'm just on the first few pages, and it's stirred up a few issues already. And how true too - music serves no purpose if it doesn't communicate.

Communicate what?????????????????????????

Interesting innit, when music teachers use this term abstractly. If not communicate, then express. You need to express this line more, you need to express that phrase more. Same difference. What are we supposed to express?

A standard answer that doesn't really explain much is "we express ourselves". What do people mean by that exactly? What aspects of their being are they emphasizing to the outside world? And why those aspects in particular? But hang on a second... our expressions are unique to ourselves. Is it still valid to speak about expressing ourselves through music which someone else composed (as is usually the case)?

Then there is the deeper trend of thought: the performer should communicate what the composer had in mind. Hmm... still dodgy. How would we know what some dead composer wanted to express? Or even so, how would we know that the composer actually wanted to express something?

Stravinsky mentioned that music "expressed" nothing; "express" is probably not the right word. Nor does it "symbolise" anything. Perhaps it only goes as far as to show what the composer thought music could do. That is, according to Williams. The next four points stuck with me, and perhaps I should just share it with you all.

1. The duty of the player is to communicate.
2. The duty of the player is to communicate what the composer had in mind.
3. What the composer had in mind can usually be established in general terms (i.e., in terms of the conventions of his day).
4. The point at which personal opinion needs to enter is further along the road than most players realise.

(Adapted from Williams, Peter, Playing the Organ Works of Bach: Some Case Studies, American Guild of Organists, 1987.)

Keep working at it,
Ace

The Choir Ladies

2005-07-19T03:09:00.000+08:00

The choir rehearsal in church this evening went better than I expected. I felt that the singers were finally aware of what they were singing. We were at long last going somewhere with the hymns and anthems. Many thanks also to Fudge for going through the songs with them last week. Cheerios, M'am!

The occasion is the feastday of our church, St Ignatius, and this year is extra special as we have a triple Jesuit ordination going on in the same mass. The event itself is happening in about a fortnight's time. I have prepared a programme of about 20 items to sing for the mass itself. Some of them are familiar favourites of the parish such as "Take and Receive" and "Soul of My Saviour". The others are perhaps more foreign to them. The Lourdes mass setting is almost completely new to the congregation. We are doing two biggish anthems - "Tu Es Sacerdos" by Aloys Desmet and "Panis Angelicus" by Camille Saint-Saëns.

And bless the choir ladies who have perservered in learning all the difficult songs. Who could ever forget them? Their singing is memorable, and even more are their efforts in trying to make things work. Oh, but you have to be tough with them. No exceptions. No leeways. No shortcuts. No discounts. Love hurts, hey? They make a mistake, you stop the train. I think I must've stopped them about a dozen of dozen times this evening to tick them off. But bless them. Bless them all.

Oh well, as they say, there's only a thin line between respect and fear. It was good to hear from Joyce that the line hasn't been crossed. Au contraire, the choir ladies prefer to be corrected rather than patronised. Well and good then. I could happily smack them into shape, and they could happily get smacked around...

I do hope they do not sing or react to me in fear though, unlike some other choirs. ;) Master Yoda puts it quite succintly, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." I wouldn't want to behold the day when Auntie Eleanor comes charging at me wielding a red lightsaber.

Peace out,
Ace

Hello World!

2005-07-18T15:18:00.000+08:00

Well hello there! Seeing that a few of my friends have started their own blogs, and going on babbling endlessly about their lives, I should perhaps open up to the idea of publishing my own blog too.

Why not? I am so free in the afternoons anyway, especially the hours between teaching - such as now. Believe it or not, but I'm sitting here in a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf typing away at this thing. Fantastic thing, this wireless technology which the shop offers. Adds that much more meaning to my rather pointless lifestyle, hey.

I guess a little introduction is in order here. I'm Adrian, and I'm a music professional; I perform on the organ, and teach academic and practical music to several students on this island we call home. My hours are so flexible, I get a lot of breaks during the day. Sometimes very long breaks of several hours. C'est la vie and all that. This blog would probably be dominated by organ and music related issues, so stay tuned.

So let's wait and see what this thing could bring, and where it could go. See you all soon.

Signing off,
Ace