Random Musings

(This is a post of random musings that is designed to bore you by the time you reach the third paragraph or so.)

It can be both rewarding and challenging playing through a Frederick Loewe score.

I bumped into a copy of the full vocal score to “My Fair Lady” while I was in London (for under £20!), and I’ve recently been trying to play through it and savour it.

It’s quite tricky, his music…and if I had to describe Loewe’s music, I would say that it is “rich”.

It’s thick with colourful harmonies in almost every bar, and when you play through the pieces you get a good appreciation of the beauty of Loewe’s music and the way he harmonises his songs.

I guess his early upbringing in Vienna and Berlin, plus the fact that he attended a music conservatory in Berlin had a lot to do with his wonderful music.

It’s got that Viennese “Romantic period” feel to it.

I’ve been playing through the scores of various Broadway composers such as Richard Rodgers, Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber…and Loewe’s music strikes me as being particularly rich.

Friends have been asking me what’s happening with Songcraft, and when our next meeting is going to be.

Well, I don’t really have an answer for that.

I tend to think that Songcraft was something very special that came along at the right time and helped many people tremendously in finding themselves as songwriters.

It gave them the inspiration, the motivation and the encouragement to write songs, and it brought out the best in them as songwriters.

I thought it served its purpose perfectly.

But like a number of things, such as the polaroid, or Disney hand-drawn animation…there comes a time when maybe something isn’t necessarily as pertinent as it once was.

A few years back there probably weren’t many songwriter circles/showcases around.

Now there’s the highly successful OOOM@Singapore Art Museum run every month by Jonathan How, which showcases the brightest singer-songwriter talents in town.

And there’s the occasional MTL songwriters showcases too, of which I’ve recently been involved with.

There are quite a number of avenues for local aspiring songwriters to showcase their works, which I think is great.

And besides, we all have to move on at some point in life.

Not just me, but some in the organising committee as well.

I get the sense that perhaps there are those in the committee who are not as enthusiastic about Songcraft as we once were.

But it’s cool, cos everyone has to move on at some point.

For me personally, I’ll always be passionate about songwriting and music in general, but this year I seem to have found my calling in musical theatre.

Not that the interest was never there, but it just happens that this year I’m particularly determined to make something out of it.

I have been meeting some really wonderful people lately, and yesterday, by some strange stroke of serendipity, I was introduced to a very wonderful and highly prominent person whom I had a most interesting and engaging conversation with over coffee.

As for me, my immediate aims are to really absorb and learn as much as I can about musical theatre.

Apart from trying to attend as many productions as I can and trying to know as many people as I can, I’ve been reading tons of books on the subject, listening to CDs and podcasts, and playing through scores.

I’m thinking of upping my piano playing hours to just play through as many Broadway scores as I can (especially the full vocal scores), so as to better understand the finer workings of Broadway music.

(And also to hone my chops, in case I’m called to action when the opportunities arise.)

I always believe that one can never be too well-prepared.

Local theatre practitioner Jonathan Lim once said in an interview (here) that young aspiring playwrights should read and watch as much as they can pertaining to the subject, and I believe it is no different for aspiring musical theatre composers and songwriters as well.

You simply have to know your craft and appreciate the body of work left behind by the past masters.

I always believe that success is never guaranteed, but you should always put yourself in the best position to succeed…and that means putting in the work required to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge.

Talent (or the lack of it) is another matter altoghter…but one can never be too well-prepared.

So anyway, that’s that.

Here’s to an exciting year ahead!