Transcript of interview with Joyce Koh (conducted by Gavin Lee), 3 April 2017, 11 am, at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Joyce is a Chinese Singaporean composer, sound artist and educator who is recipient of several accolades. Joyce completed her doctoral music studies at York University and did further studies in Composition and Music Computing at the Institute for Research and Coordination of Acoustics/Music [IRCAM] in Paris. She describes her musical language as being European with no discernible Chinese influences at that time. Joyce believes that more sophisticated audiences in Europe would know that a European-trained Asian composer may not necessarily include Asian influences in his or her work. However, she is conscious that some Europeans may still look at Asian composers and expect to find Asian influences within their music. In response, Joyce discovered and attempted Chinese calligraphy. She is deeply fascinated with the structure of calligraphy and how it could relate to music. More generally, she is interested in musical architecture and harnessing the magic of timbre in generating different sound complexes. The idea of manipulating sound masses as a strategy to aurally project the way the ink bleeds into the canvas led to the creation of TAI for Symphony (1998). Composers also have to deal with social media, which has become a powerful tool that can allow composers and their compositions to be quickly disseminated to a large group of people. As the Vice Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts [NAFA], Joyce is currently responsible for projects which involve several arts disciplines. She points out the difference between interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary works, with the key difference being that works of the former category is a synthesis of knowledge that might lead into new insights while works of the latter category tend not to. One of the musical goals Joyce emphasizes is the creation of more compositions, because to achieve quality of works, there must first be a large quantity of new works. She is very positive about the development of the music scene in Singapore because there is a huge diversity of programs that one could attend, new music groups are constantly springing up, and there is increased collaboration between Singaporean artists from various arts disciplines.
“TAI was conceived at the point when I came into contact with music computing. I was also intrigued by the French idea of thinking about music as frequencies rather than pitches, and the spectral attitude towards sound complex.”
“Music computing expanded my musical language in the area of timbre. I mean, all along I’ve been interested in how timbre organization can shape form and vice versa. Right now, I am still pre-occupied with timbre and the idea of “sound complex.””
“1998 was a definitive year in the sense that the music computer course at IRCAM was a demanding endeavor. Even though I had about eight years of writing acoustic composition, the learning curve of working with computer was terrifyingly sharp!”
“Music computing gave me new insights into timbre organization and manipulation, and how timbre and form might be inter-related.”
“There are certain pianistic gestures that I like very much and I had integrated them into the piece. For example, how one moves from one register of the keyboard to another by means of gestural movements? This is similar to what I imagined in TAI, where I mapped register, density and speed to the calligraphic stroke and ink flow of the Chinese character TAI.”
“Ensemble expression for me is not about transcribing the piano material into the instruments of the ensemble. Rather, I work with the numerous possible combinations of instrumental colors as material, along the line of moving sound complexes.”
“Well, it is a kind of fascination I suppose, with scale manipulation - I like to work with the effects and affects of proportion and scale in the formal design.”
“In my opinion, my musical language is more European than Asian or Chinese. Almost all of my musical references have been European since I started learning music. There wasn’t anything Asian or Chinese in the musical education, apart from knowing what is gamelan orchestra and the erhu.”
“Of course, I am very conscious that I am Chinese, when it comes to developing an original voice as a composer. Thankfully, I have a strong command of the Chinese language mandarin, both in writing and speaking. Unfortunately, I don’t have the Chinese literature grounding.”
“I feel calligraphy is a time-based art, like music, dance and theater.”
“Calligraphy provides space for abstraction. I am less intrigued by the meaning or semantics of the Chinese character, because I am not a story or narrative driven person. What inspired me is the structure of the character, the properties that are inherent in that calligraphic form and how a particular property could be visually captivating and or sonically arousing might speak to me.”
“La pierre magenta had a good review. The International Piano Quarterly described my sound world as one that “engages the intellect and requires a different approach.” This is the only review I have of the magenta series. I don’t really pay attention to reviews.”
“I got really involved with Varèse’s attitude to sound mass during my PhD years. An extension of the Varèse sound block idea, usually made from percussion section or brass section, is to come up with a combination of instruments that might create a distinct sonic quality by means of determining a specific tessitura and articulation.”
“In recent years, I got back to studying Bartók and the Bluebeard’s Castle (1911) is truly one of the best in history. It is totally poetic at the same time timbrally descriptive. Messiaen is the other one. Stravinsky too. They work with blocks of sounds that take you into unexpected places and planes of existence.”
“Well, Varèse definitely remains instrumental in my attitude to sound.”
“A cell is a sound frozen in time. It depends on the size of a cell, and one could pile up this cell in varying size and speed. This is how I approach chords – I have a clear idea of the instrument(s) that will play the cell, at which register and articulation. What you get, therefore is a self-contained object.”
“Now my interest is to morph this first object into this second object, without the listener knowing how and when. You have two kinds of processes; a kind of slow evolution, or you have a revolution - a hard cut. Either you evolve slowly, or a “revolutionary” attack. How do you arrive at one sound? How do you depart from that sound?”
“The mind must be present - I think it says a lot about being “in” it – living it [the act of composing]. You must carry everything that you are – in other words – you are what your music is, if you are honest.”
“With Nicola, there were more class, and sit-down sessions. Whereas with David, we took walks in the woods and had conversations, like “Oh, what do you hear? Let’s go for a walk.” Not that Nicola doesn’t do that but I reckon Nicola leaves this part to David.”
“I hope that I’m not doing [cultural appropriation].”
“References and knowledge that you have gained as a child (implicit), or acquired through intentional learning (explicit) are deeper. This depth carries legitimacy for the artist to refer to or lean on.”
“Personally, I wouldn’t take a Greek myth that I didn’t grow up with and make something out of it. But I would do something with this Greek myth, if I have internalized and abstracted through deep learning, experimentation and investigation.”
“The artistic intention must be very clear and the work will hold up and speak for itself.”
“The value of composition is for me, lies in giving a part of oneself that should be honest and with integrity. To be honest is to look inside yourself, look deep.”
“Every contemporary composer must be conscious of the context one comes from, is in, is going to, and stays in between thresholds.”
“I’m a “marriage agent.” I find ways and design platforms that might conceptually and feasibly bring two or more disciplines together. At the same time, these platforms must address the intended outcomes of the respective discipline.”
“For faculty collaboration, I aim to bring faculty – artists together to share their artistic preoccupations so that new energies might be created.”
“The force of populist mindset is lethally powerful. It’s so strong that it is very difficult to go against. And I’m not interested a single bit in populism. To be an artist working in the 21st Century, it means that we have to work with electronics and the digital information.”
“Are you referring to opera music as interdisciplinary? Well, the “interdisciplinarity” appears to be within the medium of music and text.”
“Interdisciplinary is about a kind of synthesis that leads to new knowledge, while multidisciplinary is about coexisting, which is more common. Practically everything is multidisciplinary.”
“You can write acoustic compositions in a multidisciplinary environment, and not all interdisciplinary works must deal with digital tools.”
“About technology, one must know the principles and tools well in order to write strong works. Underlying it all, I believe that the artistic intention of the work must be the reason why certain principles are applied, tools are used and choices of material are made.”
“The answer is affirmatively a Yes – a right environment to grow musical cultures. Young musicians are forming their own ensembles and chamber music making is on the rise. I think it’s fantastic at the moment.”
“There is a reason why theater works. Theater lends itself very naturally to issues which are localized and pertinent to the society. Music is more abstract as a discipline. The added complication with music is the repertoire.”
“20th Century repertoire trains one’s technique. If you can’t go beyond Debussy, you will forever stay in the late 19th Century world.”
“The question is, do you really need Xenakis? Maybe you don’t need Xenakis, but you probably could do with acquiring extended techniques and musical understanding of Xenakis if you want to get you a place in the professional and international music scene.”
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