Le Sieur de Machy and the French Solo Viol Tradition

Baroque Performance Institute

I have been invited by Kenneth Slowik, the artistic director of the Baroque Performance Insititute at the Oberlin Conservatory, to present a lecture recital as a part of the BPI. This would be my first performaince in mainland USA. I hope to devise a lecture recital around all the famous solo 17th-century viol composers, namely Hotman, Dubuisson, Sainte Colombe, Machy and Marais. Perhaps a 'best of solo viol' concert culminating in a chaconne would go down well.

While the Oberlin Conservatory has offered me a full scholarship to the event, I will need to find my way to Cleveland International Airport all by myself. I have applied for ArtsWA's Artflight grant to help with this. I managed to get 3 excellent letters of support from Suzanne Wijsman, Stewart Smith and Miriam Morris. Special thanks to them.

If I should be succesful in acquiring the grant, I will be using this blog to document the process, including the 30 plus hour flight from Perth to Cleveland, Ohio! That would certainly be very interesting. If I have an internet connection in Oberlin Conservatory, I would definitely post from there. I expect many, many, many photos.

Concert in Sydney

Voice and Viols
March 28, 3:30pm to 5:00pm

MLC Chapel
Rowley St, Burwood NSW

Professional Tutors from the National Viol School present their annual concert. Works by Dowland, Machy & Marais. New work by Chris Berensen. Timothy Chung, Counter Tenor, Chris Berensen, harpsichord. Louis Begin, Caroline Downer, Shaun Ng & Jennifer Eriksson, viols.

For more information, click here or here.

Easter Viol School 2008

I have been invited to the Easter Viol School. Held in Sydney at the MLC School in Burwood, I will be teaching beside Jenny Eriksson and Caroline Downer. I will also meet bow maker, Louis Begin, whom I also met on my last trip to Hawaii during the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering. Some part of me feels like commissioning a bow from Louis, but I've already got a theorbo on commission and I would like to be able to afford a holiday at some time. I do not have more details on the school, but I imagine there will be opportunities for consort coaching, private lessons as well as masterclasses. In addition, the tutors are in the process of planning a concert during the school. I will post more exact information closer to Easter. 

The Concert Spirituel

The next disc with Ensemble Battistin has been released on ABC Classics. I am mostly heard in the Sonata by Guillemain, which features a really interesting viol part including some really cool and flashy virtuosic passages. I have not received a copy yet, but I suppose at some point of time I'll receive one in the post. I read a PDF of the liner notes online and was very happy to see the changes in my biography. (See my last post on the first CD)

I am not sure if there will be any more CDs to the series, but I hope there will be. Perhaps I will suggest recording the baroque cantata Tobie by Bousset? I read about it somewhere in a thesis, but I have never seen the score. Has anyone heard of this work?

Theorbo

I've finally decided to commission a theorbo from Luciano Faria. It should be ready around Nov/Dec 2008. After spending countless hours conversing with other lutenists and makers, mulling over the very many details of the kind of instrument I want and need, I've finally come up with a somewhat historical model for an instrument. Unlike the viol world, where there are far more surviving instruments, very few theorbos and lutes have survived (if they managed to survive at all) in the condition that they were originally intended.

Instead of going for a typical early baroque theorbo model, such as those of Sellas or Tieffenbrucker, I've opted for a design based on the body of a large baroque lute (Edlinger/ Leipzig no. 497). The string length will be lengthened slightly to accommodate the 10th fret, but the diapasons (I rather call it grand jeu) will remain a modest 140cm or so. I am attempting to make this instrument act as a hypothetical French (baroque) theorbo, not a Monteverdian one. With these string lengths, I will be able to play baroque music without the nasal sound that earlier theorbos seem to have. I am however aware that I will find myself playing quite a bit of earlier music. Will you be able to hear the difference?

Catherina Meints

The high point of my trip to Hawaii was not my solo performance, but my meeting with Catherina Meints. Currently the professor of viol in Oberlin Conservatory, she is probably one of the most established violists, having studied with August Wenzinger in Basel. Here is some information from the Oberlin website:

Education:
B.M., Performers Certificate 1996, Eastman School of Music, cello study with Ronald Leonard; Viola da gamba study with August Wenzinger, Basel, Switzerland, 1968-71.

Professional Affiliations:
Cellist, Rochester Philharmonic, 1964-66; assistant principal cellist, Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, 1966-68, National Symphony, 1968-71, Cleveland Orchestra, since 1971.

Performances:
Performances on viola de gamba and baroque cello throughout the U.S. as member of the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, Cleveland Baroque Soloists, and Oberlin Consort of Viols since 1971; Solo recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall and Smithsonian Institution, solo appearances with Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Apollo's Fire and Lyra.

Teaching Background:
Faculty member, Oberlin Conservatory since 1975; Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute since 1971; Clevland Institute of Music since 1990. Master classes in Italy, Austria, and the U.S.

Recordings:
Solo and chamber music recordings for Cambridge, Vox, Gasparo, Dorian, and Nonesuch.

Here we are pictured with her 1680s Joachim Tielke viol, after her Bach sonatas recital with harpsichordist Web Wiggins. I took this opportunity to have some lessons with her and to participate in her masterclass. In retrospect, I think that was somewhat unorthodox, as none of the other younger professional players did the same. The masterclass was really meant for students or amateur players. However, I knew I was not going to pass up on this opportunity to play for one of the teachers of my first viol teacher! After the conference in Hawaii, Catherina invited me to Oberlin for its next Baroque Performance Institute in 2008. I do not know if I will have the funds to fly (40+ hour flight from Perth!), but I'm dreaming about it already. 

P.S. That's Liam Byrne in black with a gold belt!

Solo Recital in Hawaii

August 1, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Manoa Campus, Orvis Auditorium

This young performer from Australia (via Malaysia) will play his bass viola da gamba in a mixed program of early viol solos, music he has composed himself, and “fusion” pieces. Part of the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering, July 31-August 4.

For more information, click here.

Machy

I recently changed the setup of bass viol slightly. Instead of having the soundpost almost directly under the bridge (as suggested by Wieland Kuijken), it has gone around an inch away from the bridge. A longer, but thinner soundpost was made and fitted by local luthier, Andrew Tait. The overall string tension has been vastly reduced, especially on the bass side. I'm now using strings of the lightest gauge by Daniel Larson's Gamut Strings. I am using a very, very old, long and light pernambuco baroque violin bow, which has taken the edge off the sound, and made it more resonant (Are there many existing historical snakewood bass viol bows anyway?). My usual snakewood one feels too bright for my taste. The thin ribbon of hair has made my playing a lot more focused and perhaps even slightly louder. The string length has also been reduced, to around 68 cms. I think this has been the best thing I have done for my viol in a long time.

Below is a clip of a prelude by the violist Machy (fl 1685). It's probably my all time favourite prelude and possibly the most dramatic one ever written for the viol. It is an unmeasured prelude, so no bar lines or any sense of a regulated tempo. Because of that, even up to today, after so many years of playing this piece, I am never quite sure how I should play it. Despite all those years of musicological research (I'm probably the world's only Machy scholar), I don't think I'm even close to what Machy would have wanted.

bMuze.com
Title: Prelude Artist: Shaun Ng

Morning Magazine

When publicising my last solo recital at Kulcha, I was invited to do a little interview on RTRfm 92.1FM Morning Magazine. So on the morning of 8th February, I turned up at their Mount Lawley studios. This is what I said.

However, at their website I noticed:

From Singapore, and making his debut solo performance in WA, Shaun performs the works of the viola da gamba masters of the 17th and 18th centuries and tells us about the appeal of this instrument and its era…

At least this time I wasn't born in Singapore!

Review

CLASSICAL, Ensemble Battistin, The Perfection of Music, Masterpieces of the French Baroque, (ABC Classics). Reviewed by Patricia Kelly

RESEARCH into period music performance during the mid to late 20th century produced a wealth of scholarly material that made possible recordings such as this sophisticated disc from University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University. Unlike the geologist or archaeologist whose diggings into the past interpret but do not change what they see, the musicologist can interpret but can only approximate the instrumental and vocal quality produced in centuries before electronic recording could verify the process.

The program of this CD, the first of five exploring early 18th century French chamber music, is the outcome of study by musicologist David Tunley. The shimmering performance by Ensemble Battistin, with soprano Taryn Fiebig and mezzo Fiona Campbell, of two cantatas each by Jean-Baptiste Stuck and Michel Pignolet De Montéclair follows faithfully the French imperative to make the rhythms dance. The playing is clear, light and phrased with class, but oh, why do singers have to whine on to notes instead of going squarely to the sound's core?

Shaun: It's a called a port de voix, darling. :)

Finally!

I finally received my copy of the French Baroque Cantatas CD. I must say, although I am generally amazed with the musical result, I am not very used to the overall sound of the recording. I suspect very much that when this recording reaches the hands of the magazines and gets reviewed, they might have issue with it too. Maybe I've been using a bad CD player and my Grado Labs headphones are too revealing?

The CD booklet is gorgeous, with a lovely picture of the chapel at New Norcia. The liner notes are top notch, as is the rest of the physical product. Looking forward to the next one, which should appear some time in June. Is there a sponsor out there who would like to help finance the next in the series?

N.B. In the liner notes, Shaun Ng again falsely represents Singapore again!

Born in Singapore, Shaun Ng studied bass viol...

Jambe de Fer

A little quote I happened to stumble while doing research for my thesis:

What difference is there between Music & Singing, between musician and singer? There is as much difference between a poet and the reader of poetry: for the poet is inventor and maker of the thing, without which the reader could read nothing. Likewise the Musician is inventor & composer of some Music, without which the singer could not show off (or make heard) his voice.

Philippe Jambe de Fer, Epitome Musical (Lyons, 1556)

So tell me, were singers back then not musicians? Are singers now not musicians?

Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering

I have just received an invitation to the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering that will happen in late July to August in Hawaii. Represented at this event are viola da gamba players from Australia (this includes me), Canada, Japan, Malaysia (this includes me too), New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. I usually falsely represent Singapore, but this time the organisers have got it right! Here is the tentative list of participants:

Ibi Aziz, Bruce Bellingham, John Bryan, Liam Byrne, Tina Chancey, Megan Collins, Brendan Conroy, Alison Crum, Marie Dalby, Wendy Gillespie, Brooke Greene, Peter Hallifax, Kaori Hashizume, Julie Jeffrey, Yukimi Kambe, Mari Kano, Andrew Kerr, Margaret Little, Loren Ludwig, Roy Marks, Sarah Mead, Catharina Meints, Miriam Morris, Susie Napper, Shaun Ng, Maki Noguchi, Eriko Ozawa, Ken Perlow, Fred Reinagel, Daniel Rippe, Alice Robbins, Brett Rutherford, Toshiko Shishido, Polly Sussex, Laura Vaughan, Victoria Watts, Webb Wiggins, Brent Wissick and Barbara Zuchowicz.

At this stage, I am still unsure what I will be performing or presenting. It seems that the organisers are keen on an unconventional programme. Perhaps I will include improvisations and contemporary works, especially music that was written for me. Naturally, I would like to include transciptions of current pop tunes. That seems to go down well with the mainstream audience, but I'm afraid that the viola da gamba crowd may not be familiar with what's current on Mtv. I say this because I too am not very familiar with what's on telly these days. I suppose I'll also include a few staple viola da gamba solos to make us all feel at home.

I hope that I will be succesful in securing funding for my trip. Hopefully the art funding bodies that I will approach will be interested in sending a representative from Western Australia to Hawaii.

French Baroque Cantatas

At long last, the first of the French Baroque Cantatas CDs is out. We recorded it so long ago, I cannot remember what I played in this one. If I'm not wrong, there is an obbligato viola da gamba part in one of the cantatas, but the rest of the contribution is all basso continuo. Obviously I've not heard it yet, but will expect to get some complimentary copies soon. The next CD should include some of the chamber music. I believe this CD project is ongoing and may include more completely unknown French baroque works. More information about the CD can be found here.

Australian Youth Choir

I finally accepted the position with the Australian Youth Choir as their choral conductor. So far, the experience has been an extremely rewarding one. I've been on the job 4 weeks now and I think things have been flowing along quite smoothly. I have convinced myself that if I can teach such young boys and girls to sing, I could probably teach just about anyone anything!

Bmuze

Jeremy's Pick-- I haven't heard or seen a Viol da Gamba since college (music performance major), and I forgot how beautiful they are. Thanks Shaun Ng!

Thanks to Tim Wang, who uploaded our jam session online, I managed to find a great new service to upload tracks for our enjoyment. To my surprise, after uploading a Telemann movement a few days ago, I became "Jeremy's Pick!" (I think Jeremy owns and/or runs bMuze) Thanks very much Jeremy. Here's another for you and the rest of the world.

This piece by Abel is probably a world premiere recording! I have never heard it recorded by any viola da gamba player ever. I am not sure if this piecee has ever been published in a modern edition. A few years ago, when I went to New York with my father for holiday, I stopped by at the New York Public Library and made copies of the manuscript (New York Public Library, Drexel 5871). It's a little bit of a strange piece. Called Vivace, it doesn't feel to have a fast or lively character. There are very many crosses in the music, made probably by someone attempting to spot "mistakes" in the music. I am not sure if I got it right myself, but I quite like the music. How does it sound to you?

bMuze.com
Title: Vivace Artist: Shaun Ng

Kulcha Recital

Thanks to everyone for attending my recital at Kulcha.

I had comfortable crowd of around 50 people, excluding my friends and family, which is a pleasant surprised considering how very new I am to Australia. The venue wasn't one that I was used to, but the relaxed "jazz club" atmosphere made the performance so much more intimate. I joked how similar it felt like being on the set of Dreamgirls.

For those that missed it, here is an old clip of the Telemann sonata that I played during the recital:

bMuze.com
Title: Andante Artist: Shaun Ng

Special thanks to my friends (Jeremy, Brian and Jumius) that turned up for my WA debut! (Sorry Brian, I don't have a picture with your eyes open!)

Jam

bMuze.com
Title: perth jam session Artist: shaun/bryyin

Tim Wang, a friend from Melbourne, decided to do some singing with his guitar, when I suggested that we "jam" and record something. This is the first and only "take" we made of a song that I had never heard before. With such interesting sonorities from guitar and viola da gamba, I am surprised we don't hear the combination more often!

Upcoming Solo Recital

Fri 23 February 8:00PM
SHAUN NG - Viola da Gamba

Shaun performs the works of the French and German viola da gamba masters of the 17th and 18th centuries including favourites such as a transcription of Bach's solo violoncello suite and Telemann's sonata.


Tickets at the Door $14, so Book Now!
Presale Tickets @ $12
Members Tickets @ $10

KULCHA Fremantle,
1st Floor, 13 South Terrace, Fremantle (above Dome Cafe)

Happy New Year

Firstly, Happy New Year to all!


Last year I applied for a position with the Australian Youth Choir, and am happy to announce that I have just received an offer for the position of Choral Conductor! However, at this point of time, I am unsure if I want to accept this position as the terms of employment have somewhat changed since the interviews. I think some time of negotiation will be necessary before I decide to take up this position. I am aware how few choral conductors actually make a living working with choirs and how fortunate I am to be able to.

Autograph

Three months ago, I was asked to accompany Wieland Kuijken and Eva Legene in concert, which I unfortunately could not do because of an unexpected urgent matter. Wieland requested to borrow my viol and I was meant to accompany on theorbo. Together with my viol, I passed him a copy of his CD that I owned and asked him to 'autograph' it. I thought that if I was not going to meet him this time, at least I would have something from Wieland to take away. This is what came back:


Dear Mr. Ng,

Many thanks for the nice instrument you lent me!

Wieland (signed)

I do hope you will approve the "new" setting. I moved the bridge up (± 1cm) and put the soundpost straight under the left foot of the bridge. In my opinion, the sound has improved a great lot.

Almost no violin luthiers would ever suggest putting the soundpost right under the bridge (of the violin). A baroque violin maker (I cannot remember who) did once suggest I try it on my violin, but never mentioned it for my viol. Because of this, I would have never thought that doing so would improve the sound. The overall effect of this small change in setup has created an evenness in tone that was not quite so apparent with my old setup. There is also an added resonance to the instrument, which is simply wonderful.

According to Eva, Wieland mentioned he preferred my viol to all the others he borrowed during his Australian tour. Too bad I missed him this time round. Plans for a Perth international early music festival in 2008 are in the works. I may very well be the director for strings and invite Wieland over!

Wieland Kuijken in WA

Wieland Kuijken is probably the most well-known and highly regarded viol player and teacher of my generation. He was the teacher of almost every professional viol player today (above 30 years of age!). This includes two of the my viol teachers, the glamorous Mieneke van der Velden and Philippe Pierlot. When I was studying in Holland, he had stopped accepting students into his class in The Hague and was signalling his retirement. I did however have the opportunity to experience his lessons, though I never did study with him. Here is some information about him:

(b Dilbeek, nr Brussels, 31 Aug 1938). Viola da gamba player and cellist. Members of the family were musicians on both sides, connected with brass bands. Wieland left school at 15 and began musical studies (cello and piano) at the conservatory at Bruges, where the family had moved in 1952. He also studied at the Brussels Conservatory (1957–62; prix d’excellence, 1962). At 18 he began teaching himself the viol. He played in the Brussels avant-garde group Musiques Nouvelles (1962) and, from 1959 to 1972, in the Alarius Ensemble, a group specializing in Baroque music, especially French. After that he played with his brothers in the Kuijken Early Music Group and was much involved in teaching; he has held appointments at the conservatories of Antwerp, Brussels and The Hague since the early 1970s and has conducted many masterclasses. He has appeared frequently at festivals, such as Flanders, Saintes and the English Bach Festival, and toured in Australia and New Zealand with his brothers and Gustav Leonhardt. Artists with whom he has played include Alfred Deller, Gustav Leonhardt and Frans Brüggen.

In the late 1970s Wieland Kuijken came to be regarded as the leading exponent of the bass viol, both as a continuo player, in a wide repertory of French, German, Italian and English music, and as a soloist, in Bach and particularly in the French repertory, notably Marais and Forqueray; he has also played in chamber music of the Classical period, including Mozart and Boccherini. His playing combines care over scholarly detail with a high level of musicianship; it is characterized by its tonal purity, its sense of line, its poise and restraint, and by its seriousness of approach.

J. A. Sadie: 'Kuijken, Wieland’, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 8 November 2006),

It was only a little more than a month ago that I was asked to accompany Wieland and Eva Legene on the theorbo in concert (Wieland requested to borrow my viol as he did not bring his from Europe). However, I was urgently summoned back to Asia due to more pressing matters. This is a picture of my viol in Wieland's during the solo recital he did instead:



It seems he was equipped with his own bow, perhaps one of the Patignys that he seems to favour. I know, I can't stand my own bow either!

Fionnuala

I discovered an entry in the Welsh Music Information Centre concerning the first ever modern work to be written specially for me. Fionnuala, inspired by Irish folklore, was a work for viol and harpsichord written by Andrew Wilson-Dickson, then the head of early music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was during a recital in 2003, with harpsichordist Shane Thio, that I premiered the work in Singapore. Here is some information about Andrew:

Andrew Wilson-Dickson is a composer, pianist and conductor (as well as author, teacher and string-player). During his four years at Cambridge
University he studied piano with John Lill and then the organ at York with Nicholas Danby and Francis Jackson, at the same time holding the post of organ scholar at York Minster.

Just prior to his move to Wales in 1984, Andrew won the National Eiseddfod`s `Tlws y Cerddor` with Sefyddfa a Sgwrs for clarinet, strings, horn and accordion. But before and since then his compositions have been played (and broadcast) by many well-known artists such as Peter Lawson, Andrew Ball, Julian Jacobson (piano), Nancy Ruffer (flute), John Wallace (trumpet), Susanne Stanzeleit, Madeleine Mitchell (violin), (piano) Kevin Bowyer (organ), and by ensembles such as Lontano, the Wallace Collection and the Medici String Quartet (who played his string quartet commissioned by the BBC). He has written three operas and other dramatic works. He won the Bournemouth-Parry International Festival composition prize in 1999 with a piece (Psalm 29) which has since been taken on tour in Australia by the Sydney Chamber Choir.

As a result of his long-standing involvement with period music as a player and teacher, he is particularly interested in writing for early instruments – explaining the recent commissions for music from Fretwork and Charivari Agréable. Unknown to the players, he is writing a concerto grosso for the Welsh Baroque Orchestra, a period instrument ensemble which he founded and directs.

Recently completed commissions include Three Hail Marys (ten-piece brass) for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and The Fox, a cantata for period instruments first performed by the Welsh Baroque Soloists, summer 2005. A guitar concerto is due for first performance at the end of 2005.

Fionnuala will definitely see the light of day soon (harpsichordist Stewart Smith expressed great interest during our last recital), but in the meantime I shall be on the look out for more composers - especially young composers - to write for the viol. Perhaps one day I will premiere your work?

Défense de la basse de viole

This is a slightly amusing and revealing extract from a random blog I happened to stumble by during a Google search:

On Wednesday I caught a performance by Shaun Ng (viola da gamba), Jeong Ae-Ree (soprano) and Shane Thio (harpsichord). An entirely early programme:

Monteclair Le Triomfe de la Constance (sop, viola da gamba and continuo)
Simpson Ground in E minor (viola da gamba & basso continuo)
Telemann Sonata in D (Viola da gamba solo)
Rameau L'impatience (Sop & basso continuo)

A thoroughly enjoyable performance. Shane seems to be able to play anything and everything. Besides playing a harpsichord and not a piano, he was improvising all the way based on figured basses and the like. What a genius. Ae-Ree had a very pure tone which was very suited to this music and her singing was coloured and dramatic, reflecting the secular nature of the subjects. Shaun's viola da gamba was something I've only heard live one other time, at a concert by Les Arts Florissants performing Handel's Messiah. He plays well enough, and is very defensive of his instrument, as demonstrated in the post-concert interview with the artistes. What an evening! I had been transported to another place and time entirely.

Being described as being "very defensive" of my instrument hardly seems praise to any musician, but then again, I am not just any musician with such an uncommon instrument. During the interview, I was asked some rather factually inaccurate questions - mostly relating the viol to cello, which in reality has no truth or basis. Looks like this attempt to leave the audience a little more historically informed has backfired! (Despite playing in every piece, I get no credit!) :)

Recital

Due to personal circumstances, this recital, originally scheduled for 15th of April this year was cancelled. Now that things are sorted, the concert organisers at KULCHA have scheduled the recital for the 23rd of February 2007 at 8.00pm. Do check back often, as the recital and programme will be finalised at a later date.

Interview in Chelys Australis

with John Weretka
How did you first become involved with the viol?
In 1998, while studying modern violin in Vienna, I met Jose Vasquez, the professor of viola da gamba at the Vienna Hochschule for music. How it all started was really quite mysterious. While walking past the hochschule one day, something possessed me to get in touch with Jose. I called the secretariat, who gave me his number. Immediately, I gave Jose a call and explained my interest to learn the viol. I told him that I did not own a viol and hoped that it would not be a problem. He laughed it off and invited me over the same evening, where I joined him and some students playing Castello duets on baroque violin. It was then that I realised he owned a museum of original instruments. He lent me one of his viols and enrolled me under the hochschule's lehrgang studies. Back then it was not possible to do a degree in early music in Vienna, so after 6 months I had to venture elsewhere.

Could you tell me about your experiences in Europe?

Jose suggested I go to the United Kingdom, which I did. A scholarship to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama allowed me to study the baroque violin, as well as the viol to a lesser extent. Looking back, I feel that Jose gave me all the viol technique that I will ever need in that 6 months. After finishing with Wales, I moved to Holland, where I travelled between Amsterdam and the Hague for lessons.

I did most of my playing as a baroque violinist. I remember doing things like Monteverdi's Vespers and Poppea, Bach's Brandenburg concertos, Handel's operas, Mozart concertos, etc. As a viol player, I did more playing in Holland. I often collaborated with Takashi Watanabe, the harpsichordist. We even got as far as finalists for an early music competition in Germany. I would like to think I was one of the few active solo viol players of my generation around. I played everything in concerts, mostly Bach, Couperin, Forqueray, Schenk, but never Marais. I have never been fond of Marais and I think it has been done to death by violists. I always try my best to avoid his music.

I know you're involved in giving concerts in Singapore. What are the viol and early music scenes like in Singapore?

There is not very much activity in Singapore because the early music has not quite had enough exposure yet. In 2000, I managed to form an early music group to explore performing in Singapore. We managed to perform almost all the major genres of baroque music. We probably were the first in Singapore to ever do a 'one voice per part' Bach cantata, French air de cour, Monteverdi opera and so much more. We were faced with a surprising enthusiasm by our audience, most of whom were probably not sure what kind of musicians we were. I still hope to return to Singapore and resurrect this group, but my commitments are with Australia now.

As a viol player, I did solo concerts in Singapore. Solo meaning, unaccompanied. I played anything and everything that was written for solo viol, even modern music. Recently, it has been mostly solo French music: Dubuisson, Hotman, DeMachy, Sainte-Colombe. I've done occasional "cross over" performances, with other artists like poets, singers, dancers, etc.

What particular challenges face the viol player in Perth? Are there challenges in Australia more generally?

In Perth, there are no other professional viol players, so playing consort is out of the question. Although there is a greater appreciation for classical music in Perth than there is in Singapore, there is probably less awareness in early music here. There is only one early music group, which is made up of the faculty of the university's music department. Occasionally I do join them. In the meantime, I spend more time teaching violin than anything else. At the moment, I am discussing representation by a local agent, which I hope will advance my career somewhat.

There are challenges anywhere. It just changes according to where you are.

Could you describe a typical lesson with José? What kinds of things were discussed in your lessons, and what did you play?

Most of my formative years of gamba playing consisted of technical exercises, e.g. bowing and finger exercises. A typical lesson would begin with me playing a piece that I've prepared, and then we would work from there. If there was a technical issue, the passage would be analysed in detail and the exact physical movement required to execute this passage would be discussed. It's an extremely efficient way to learn, which in time teaches the student to teach himself. Most, if not all, of his musical ideas are extremely expressive, sometimes going beyond the boundaries of what some consider tasteful, but I loved it.

What was the most important thing you learnt from José? How did his approach differ from other teachers you’ve encountered?

My bowing technique. Most of the other teachers I encountered did not seem to have a specific technique or a methodology, they just played. I think this is because the viol's repertoire is not so difficult that you cannot get away with some shortcomings, so there isn't really the need to be as regimented as our modern string player counterparts. Imagine if you had little concept of violin technique? You wouldn't be able to play Bach, let alone Brahms or Beethoven.

Avoiding Marais is a big challenge for a viol player. What turns you off Marais, and what are you finding in Schenck, Forqueray and others that you’re not finding in Marais?

The music of Marais is generally overplayed by viol players everywhere. This is understandable, since most of his music is pleasing and technically not too challenging. But after 5 books of Prelude, Allemande, Courante, etc., I am starting to feel that these books were intended as a commercial venture, rather than an artistic pursuit. Why I say this is because, in the context of baroque France, there are far better things. Lully, for instance, who can regarded as a benchmark for all things French, created the most wonderful sacred works. I know this can be considered a far fetched comparison, but the level of artistry and imagination that we get from Lully, in my opinion, is far more developed than anything we see in all 5 books of Marais. Not to mention, Lully's style was established before Marais', and Marais definitely knew how great Lully was. I think we are being shortchanged somewhat.

I am aware of many modern viol player's admiration of Marais, occasionally treating his music as the Rolls Royce of the French viol. My feeling is that these 5 books simply cannot represent the best pieces of the great Marais of baroque France. In giving these pieces more worth than what they have is simply misrepresenting the abilities of the French viol. Do you think Marais would sell his best pieces to just anyone? Everyone would start to sound like him!

I have a lot more faith in the works of Antoine Forqueray (Pièces de viole - Paris, 1747). The context in which they were transmitted is a clear indication of what we should expect from the French viol - a more varied style with greater technical requirements. These pieces were published posthumously by Jean Baptiste, his son, and possibly against the wishes of Antoine. I believe that they are an almost exact copy of Antoine's collected personal pieces. I am aware of the modern opinion that these pieces are actually the work of Jean-Baptiste, not those of Antoine. I completely reject this idea, since there is no historical evidence for this except for some similarity of the musical language with certain French violinists, which itself is not a compelling argument for the attribution of an entire collection of viol pieces. Many pieces share the more traditional idiom of 'jeu d'harmonie', which had been developed far back in the 1620s, as seen in the unaccompanied pieces of Hotman and similar composers that come after him, however with a more 'modern' musical language. In fact if you play Forqueray alone, you will find that most of it is already complete. Just listen to Forqueray's arrangement for harpsichord and the transcription for theorbo by De Visée. Doesn't it sound like unaccompanied music? Maybe that is why the basso continuo part for the viol sounds sometimes so redundant. I often play unaccompanied Forqueray to audiences, and so far, no one has ever realised that I was actually playing music that requires basso continuo. The texture is so rich and complete, and for a very good reason too; he never intended anyone to back him up. A truly great soloist wouldn't need any back up, would he? We could not do the same for Marais as his music has a completely different purpose. Marais' music is music meant for the general public, but Forqueray's music represents the actual pieces that he played himself; music we should expect from a great virtuoso of this period. There are some pieces of Marais that I would never perform for an audience. Do you think Marais would?

Susie Napper and I had a discussion about Isabelle Panneton’s ‘Ellipses’, which Les Voix Humaines performed while they were in Australia. This was a piece that had been inspired by Sainte-Colombe’s concerts and yet, in some ways, the music didn’t sit well on the viol at all, something you rarely feel in Saint-Colombe’s own works. What is your exposure to modern works for the viol, and do you feel, as one sometimes does with Schenck, that you make the music work in spite of the instrument?

Writing for the viol must be very difficult for the modern-day composer. As far as I know, there are no manuals out there to teach you how to write for this instrument, so understandably, there are pieces out there which do not suit the viol as well as one would like. But as viol players, we must be used to this. Bach's gamba sonatas are not all that idiomatic for the viol, but because they are such great pieces (more likely because it's Bach), we work as hard as we can to make them sound pleasing. Perhaps an even better example are Couperin's suites for the viol, which are the most beautiful pieces ever written for the viol, but don't always make too much sense technically (however I am starting to better decipher his intentions). In fact playing Schenk and Forqueray is far easier for the hand and the bow, despite requiring more pyrotechnics.

Where will you be in twenty years?

This is a very hard one. I suspect I will be doing something completely unrelated to music in some tropical island somewhere.

The Twain Shall Meet - Shaun Ng's bass viol knows no bounds

by Greg Cahill


For Shaun Ng, discovering the viola da gamba proved a life-changing experience. "I personally believe that there is a missing link in our musical heritage," says the 22-year-old Malaysian musician and composer, "as there is no bass instrument—other than the viola da gamba—that expresses this kind of tonality. The larger cousin of the erh-hu [the two-string Chinese violin], to my knowledge, does not exist anymore. The modern reproductions of it are closely related to the cello and the double bass. This is why perhaps many people here possess a special affinity for the cello. But the viola da gamba has many more possibilities than a cello.

"Imagine what one can do with seven strings instead of four!"

Ng, a student at the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, has been exploring those possibilities in some interesting ways while winning rave reviews. As the founder of the Singapore-based ensemble Musica Obscura, which specializes in medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music, Ng is introducing the viola da gamba (also known as the bass viol) and early European music to a larger Asian audience. As a solo artist, he has performed and recorded works by Bach and Telemann, among others. But he also performs contemporary material in a duo with harpsichordist Shane Thio.

As a composer, Ng is helping to bring this ancient European instrument into the modern world. He recently told music writer Rachel Jacques that his mission is "to penetrate the souls of the listeners and to excite their emotions (to use the words of Leopold Mozart), and make accessible and familiar the raw energy and humanistic allusions that thrive in the nature of this music.

"We want to serve as an alternative to the more staid and established classical music conventions and institutions already prevalent in Singapore," he added. "One needs to understand what music is really about. People in Singapore need to be subjected to raw and honest emotion without the glitz and glamour of concert halls."

As a teen, Ng traveled to Europe on a scholarship and has since studied early music with Richard Boothby and Lucy Robinson of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Mieneke van der Velden of the Amsterdam Conservatory, and Philippe Pierlot of the Royal Conservatory of the Hague.

"I discovered the viola da gamba in 1997 when I met José Vázquez, the professor of early music at the Musikhochschule Vienna, while studying modern violin there," Ng says. "The initial attraction was naturally its sound. The viola da gamba possesses a kind of sound that evokes certain emotions—a kind of melancholy that complements such Asian instruments as the Indian sarang and the Chinese erh-hu. That is no surprise since these instruments share many similar technical attributes."

As an associate artist at the Substation, Singapore's first independent arts center, Ng is exploring the boundaries of that instrument. Last August, Ng premiered his own multimedia avant-garde performance piece, Suites of Stranger Taste, Book 1, a reference to a series of works by progressive French viola da gambist Marin Marais (1656–1728). The work employed the viola da gamba in compositions based on Indian ragas and teamed Ng with filmmaker Tania Sng, Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer Arul Ramiah, and award-winning poet Cyril Wong of Singapore.

"The response was great," Ng says of his growing Malaysian following, an audience that obviously appreciates the bold cross-cultural approach he brings to his works. "As with Suites of Stranger Taste, Book 1, as often as possible I like to reach out to poets, composers, musicians, and dancers in my work. And I'm finding there are many others here who like to experience this form of experimental art."

Back to the Future from the Baroque

by Justin Cheong


Something really old is about to become really hip!
The 20th century witnessed a resurgence of interest in the 500 year old viol (or viola da gamba) for the authentic performance of early music. But come August, the founder of early music group, Musica Obscura, Shaun Ng, will be making a radically cutting-edge step for the instrument in a collaborative performance that sees him cross-pollinating the media of music, film, dance and poetry.
The performance is titled Suites of a Stranger Taste, Book 1, a reference to a series of works by progressive French viola da gambist Marin Marais (1656-1728). In a programme as unconventional as Marais, Ng will compose and perform the accompaniment to a film created by Tania Sng, an Indian dance by Arul Ramiah and a poetry recital by Cyril Wong. Ng's long-time friendship with Wong made for a better understanding during this unusual collaboration. "Performance poetry," Ng explains, "is something which is often done very badly, because it's too easy to get carried away and end up writing a 'song'. We decided that I should have the freedom to give his poetry a different interpretation through my music."
A love for Indian culture and music prompted Ng to improvise on a tradition Indian raga and employ the talents of dance Arul Ramiah, whose choreography is based on the Bharatanatyam school of dance. Ng feels that early music and Indian music share many similarities, especially the art of improvisation and ornamentation. He reflects: "I do sometimes imagine that perhaps somewhere in history, these two cultures have met."
The performance will involve an improvisation of the Charukeshi raag in a non-metered form within a cyclical rhythmic structure. "Its supposed form should be no different from a traditional raga. The only things that I cannot recreate are certain ornaments, which aren't easily executed on a fretted instrument. Hopefully, one will forget that I am playing a musical instrument of Western origin."
Finally, multimedia forms a central theme in the performance. Ng articulates succinctly: "In our culture of television and film, what better way is there to reach out to audiences?" Ng intends to go beyond music, sound, noise, silence and emotions in an aural and visual experience, which incorporates a film by Tania Sng on the issues faced by Singaporean women.
"We developed this theme to explore the struggles of women amidst the lessons and fears faced in life, "Ng elaborates. "The music used to accompany her creation was composed along these lines to give the audience a more intense and heartfelt experience."
Held at The Substation, the performance will take advantage of the intimate venue to educate audiences on the viola gamba's reticence and poetry. "It has already missed out the best of the 1800s and 1900s," says Ng. "I hope it will be welcomed in the 21st century as the musical instrument that best describes the 'voice' of humanity." With a young artist like Ng as a proponent of the viola da gamba in such innovative new forms, it certainly looks like this ancient instrument can achieve the very goal.
Suites of a Stranger Taste, Book 1, on 30 August at The Substation - Guinness Theatre.