USAR02: Music and Technology

"Sing To The Dawn"

Huang Yuan Qin, USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.

"Sing To The Dawn" is a musical staged by Kent Ridge Hall of the National University of Singapore. A beautifully written story by a local writer, Ho Min Fong, it depicts the story of a village girl in Thailand who struggles to break free from traditions to study in the city. Music refers the audience to the story and gets the audience to engage with the meanings of the story that the musical presents. The absolutism in music expresses the meaning of the music through the musical processes in this production. The meaning of musical could well be the product of the past experiences of the audience, who might have read the literature or may have been through similar experiences in reality. The musical serves as a channel to express the production's viewpoint on the story, in particular, through the music.

The narrative musical evokes affective response in the listeners who may have shared similar experiences. The music acts as a stimulus to bring to mind the past emotional experiences, enabling the listeners to set into the created mood. Following the flow of emotions, it bridges the gap between the audience and the cast who experience the same musical consciousness. Kent Ridge Hall Production chooses to express their ideas and emotions not only through the use of music, but through verbal language as well. As a complement to one another, they provide the listeners a greater understanding of the meaning behind the musical through the songs that were played simultaneously in the musical. At the opening, the female lead actress led the audience into the story through her songs which convey the theme of the story. That piece of music not only creates a soothing ambience, but it helps to provide the background for the story. Music serves as a tool to enhance communication between the audience and the performers.

This musical creates a more personal interaction through the use of both words and music. Language expressed feelings through verbal words, whereas music expressed itself though sounds. Language is able to highlight the intended meaning in the music and brings across the story to the audience. As a musical play, language and music serves to enhance one another and enable the audience to better appreciate the element of music in "Sing to the Dawn". Without music, this musical by Kent Ridge Hall would probably not be able to stand on its own as the acting is insufficient to bring out the aestheticism in the story. It is the brilliantly composed music by their gifted music director Nelson Chua that aptly expresses the message behind the story and entices the audience to better appreciate the performance. The music director makes full use of music as a means of expression based on the literature text and the highlights of the story was expressed intentionally through singing. Physical performances like acting and dancing are reduced to secondary roles rather than primary elements that make up the show.

Musicals are different from orchestra performances as they not only present the aural experience, but musicals allow the manipulation of verbal words with the music. If music were to be seen as a language itself, both languages of the speech and of the sound open doors for the audience to participate in the musical performance more directly as they may be able to appreciate the element of music in the show itself. Words transmit the ideas and emotions clearly, whereas music provides an element of appreciation on the expressive plane of listening. The listeners can better appreciate the music by deriving the meaning of the music that may evoke emotional experiences emphasize by the lyrics.

The technical competency of the crew is another important aspect of the musical besides the music, in order to provide the perfect aural experience. It is required to elicit the aesthetic aspect of the music. In this musical, there was a serious technical flaw that ruins the atmosphere that was created with much effort. Wrong music was being played at the wrong scene and actors could only try hard to save the situation. Technical operation may be visually unseen by the audience, however it serves to ensure the smooth running of the performance and to bring forth the exact music at the right timing. The harmony of music in tune with the performance is only made possible with the technical professionalism of the crew behind scene.

There is also an expressive use of timing through the succession of musical pieces. The musical pieces in "Sing To The Dawn" intensifies the atmosphere through successive performance of songs which brought the performance to its climax at the ending. Sensitivity in the use of timing is crucial in creating the musical harmony. In stage musicals like this, the cast and the crew have to work together harmoniously to ensure the tunefulness of the music with the performance. Without precision in timing, it would affect the aestheticism in the music.

At the ending, my emotions were greatly aroused. The music so aptly expressed the message behind the story, the singing so quietly touched my heart. "Sing To The Dawn" is not the best musical I have watched, but definitely one of the more commendable ones. It scores in its brilliant musical composition that deeply moved me. The musical experience that I gained leads me to reconsider the relationship between language and music, drama and music. I understand music not merely by the musical structure of the songs, but I begin to contemplate the harmony of the elements together as a whole. The story, which is based on a popular local literature text, provided a sound plot for the musical. Kent Ridge Hall Production has indeed produced great pieces of music which serves to distract audience from its technical flaws. The music is more focused on the story rather than the musical techniques as I have seen from some musicals produced by professional troupes. It is a refreshing experience to watch musicals staged by our very own peers, however the expectation that I hold have conditioned my opinion towards musicals. On a personal note, I feel that it is rather difficult to be objective and expresses one's perception of the musical. Musical perceptions are subjective to each individual's past experiences and are unlikely to change much unless there is an encounter with an exceptionally mind-changing performance that breaks free from the traditional frame.

Bibliography

• Aiello, Rita with Sloboda, John A. Musical Perceptions. New York: Oxford University Press. 1994