About the Music

Lion City

Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cultures make up the unique and inspiring country of Singapore.  Its history dates as far back as the 11th century, but it was the 13th century that Sumatran prince gave this small island the name Singa pura, or Lion City, because of a creature he believed to be a lion walking on its shores.

The prime location has made Singapore popular for trade and military bases since the 1800s.  Owned by the British, occupied by the Japanese, and once part of Malaysia, Singapore gained its independence as a republic in 1965 and has four official languages.  English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.  Singapore is also referred to as one of the four Asian Tigers because of its economic growth and rapid industrialization.  Located near the equator, weather is mainly hot and humid, and the landscape was once a rain forest before it became a major city. 

Lion City is reflective of the many cultures that make up Singapore.  The beginning starts with an ancient rainstorm, introducing Malay and Indian themes.  The traditional instruments like the gamelan are portrayed by the col legno and pizzicato.  Con Fuoco depicts the rapid growth and booming economy that Singapore is known for today.  East meets West as Chinese and contemporary melodies play out.  A hint of Malay themes returns at the very end. 

Perseus

A legendary figure in Greek mythology, Perseus is best known for slaying the hideous snake-like haired Gorgon Medusa, who looks turn everyone into stone.  Being the son of Zeus, he received help from Athena, and from gifts that aided him in completing his quest, which included a shield, a cap that made him invisible, winged sandals, a sickle, and a satchel to carry Medusa’s head. On his journey home, Perseus rescued the princess Andromeda, who became his wife, from a sea monster.  They were later set in the sky by the gods as immortal constellations. 

Antche Danze Ed Arie

Ottorino Respighi was one of the most imaginative orchestrators of the first part of the 20th century. While most of his musical studies were undertaken in Italy, he spent two crucial years in Russia where he took lessons in orchestration with Nikolai RimskyKorsakov. He developed a masterful technique in the use of instrumental color and sonority, firmly rooted in the late-Romantic tradition. He maintained this style with only marginal influence from the revolutionary changes in music that occurred during his lifetime. Respighi was also a scholar of early music, editing the works of Claudio Monteverdi and Tomaso Antonio Vitali, as well as transcribing works by many Renaissance and early Baroque composers — although in an idiosyncratic manner anathema to modern musicological practices. He also delighted in arranging obscure early music for modern performance. His three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances are based on Italian and French lute music mostly from the early 17th century to accompany dancers and singers.

Respighi composed the Suite No. 3 in 1931 for string orchestra. His orchestration brings a modern cast to the old melodies, but unlike many modern arrangers of older music, he does not tamper with the original harmonies. His predilection for broad internal tempo changes is definitely not authentic to the original versions. On the other hand, Renaissance and early Baroque lutenists would have been freer with ornamentation, especially during repeats.

The suite comprises four distinct movements. The first, marked Andantino, is based on an anonymous Italian popular melody of the early 17th century. The second movement is based on six numbers from the Arie di Corte (Airs of the Court) by the Burgundian (Northeastern French) lutenist and composer Jean-Baptiste Besard, born in 1567.

Palladio

Composed between 1993 and 1995, the piece is a suite of three movements in the form of a concerto grosso for string orchestra, named Palladio, in reverence of the Renaissance architect.

Palladio was inspired by the sixteenth-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, whose work embodies the Renaissance celebration of harmony and order. Two of Palladio's hallmarks are mathematical harmony and architectural elements borrowed from classical antiquity, a philosophy which I feel reflects my own approach to composition. The first movement I adapted and used for the 'Shadows: A Diamond is Forever' television commercial for a worldwide campaign.

"Harmonious proportions and mathematics" play a role in music as in architecture. The architect Palladio based his designs on antique Roman models and studied especially the measurements of Vitruvius. Jenkins in turn based his music on Palladio's "harmonious mathematical principles".

The music, especially the first movement, has been arranged for different ensembles, including wind quintet and wind band Jenkins made a version for piano and used the motifs of movement I for an aria "Exultate jubilate", related to his 70th birthday.

Holberg Suite, op. 40 (“From Holberg’s Time”)

1884 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), who wrote droll comedies that earned him the nickname, “the Molière of the North.” Holberg’s hometown, Bergen, planned a grand celebration and commissioned a cantata for male voices from Edvard Grieg to be performed outdoors next to a new monument to the playwright. “I can see it all before me,” Grieg wrote to a friend, “snow, hail, storm and every kind of foul weather, huge male choir with open mouths, the rain streaming into them, myself conducting with waterproof cape, winter coat, galoshes, and umbrella! And a cold afterward, of course, or goodness knows what kind of illness! Oh well, it’s one way of dying for one’s country!” Grieg’s predictions about the premiere proved correct, and the cantata quickly sank into obscurity.

Grieg composed a second work in honor of Holberg, a suite of French Baroque-style dances for solo piano. Grieg thought little of it, describing the music as “a perruque piece,” in reference to the elaborate powdered wigs favored by the aristocracy of the 18th century. Over time, however, the suite, originally titled In Holberg’s Time: Suite in Olden Style, has become one of Grieg’s most popular and beloved works, particularly the version he arranged for string orchestra.