InTempo 2008 - ST review

A band on the march

The NUS Wind Symphony marks its 40th year with flag-waving fervour and blaring sound effects

By Chang Tou Liang

IN TEMPO 2008
National University of Singapore Wind Symphony
Leonard Tan, Conductor
University Cultural Centre/Last Saturday

FOR its 40th anniversary celebration, the National University of Singapore Wind Symphony went back to its roots as a marching military band.

Beginning with two marches, Gerry Soliano's patriotic and Sousa-inspired Crescent And Stars and Vaughan Williams' folksong Seventeen On Sunday, the general upbeat tone of the evening was set.

The orchestra, now close to 100 strong, responded with gusto and confidence under budding conductors Ian Lum and Martin Lim respectively, before its music director Leonard Tan took centrestage.

For the 'serious' items requiring more of an interpretation, the young outfit did not disappoint.

Sibelius' Finlandia had more blare than usual in its all-wind guise, and voices otherwise sung by the strings were lost but its nationalistic, flag-waving fervour came through.

The big work of the programme was Dutch wind band-meister Johan de Meij's Third Symphony, also titled Planet Earth. At 50 minutes, it is overblown to say the least.

A solid five minutes of sound effects - the Big Bang and whizzing planets - began the work, and it meandered from the sound world of Holst's Neptune The Mystic before unfolding like some long-winded Richard Strauss tone poem.

More cliches abound, from the chugging of Adams and Glass' minimalism to the inevitable big melodies from a quasi-John Williams celestial score.

Those more accustomed to Mahler and Bruckner's longeurs might have been bored, but conductor Tan's youthful exuberance kept the ensemble from flagging, ensuring a highly spirited reading that lurched from one climax to another.

The band alumni - now in their 60s - accorded the performance a standing ovation. And rightly so, from its humble beginnings at Bukit Timah campus to the spanking new home at Kent Ridge, the band had indeed come of age.

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quite a disappointing post because he missed out one song, and actually did not write as much as we had expected. but some comments which may be quite true. things like "overblown", yes i think that may be true in some parts. (i'm dl-ing the Earth's official recording, and going to listen to it soon.)

Listened: some parts really overblown and some parts stuck out. cellos should have been louder.. oops. haha. shd juz played everything near the bridge. haha... afterall, cello section in a wind band - who win? :P other comments, i dun wan to write here :P

as concerts come and go, i feel older and older... haiz...