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Centennial Symphony
The NUS Centennial Symphony Orchestra, comprising NUS students, alumni and their friends, premiered the NUS Centennial Symphony at the NUS Centennial Dinner on 2 July 2005, where Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was the Guest-of-Honour.
The symphony, specially commissioned for the NUS Centennial Celebrations, was composed by Dr Robert Casteels, Associate-in-Residence, NUS Centre for the Arts. Created for a multicultural orchestra, the musical instrumentation requires 100 musicians playing western instruments together with the Chinese strings and percussion, tabla and gamelan.
The symphony draws its inspiration from people, nature and heritage. Its music speaks at three levels – as a narrative symphonic poem, an abstract academic composition and lastly, as a lyrical piece of music. At the first level, the symphonic poem draws its inspiration from each historical period. At the second level, this tonal symphony is structured on mathematical proportions based on figure '100' and classical academic forms. Lastly, the composer hopes to have created an enjoyable piece of music. After the 100 seconds joyous overture that presents 10 themes, each movement corresponds to one historical period.
Highlights of the musical piece are: the Passacaglia depicting the relentless efforts of the community to establish a University back in 1905; the dialogue between Western and Chinese strings mirroring the co-existence and merger of University of Singapore and Nanyang University; and the rising of NUS' new campus at Kent Ridge.
Symphony Details
 NUS Centennial
The overture 'vivace energico' presents in rapid and intertwined succession the 10 themes that constitute the whole symphony. The choice of tonalities E flat Major, A Major and D flat Major respectively correspond to golden orange, blue and gold, the colours of the NUS centennial logo. These three colours symbolize ascendancy, vibrancy, vitality, dignity, timelessness, endurance and excellence.
The second movement 'andante testardo' is the only part that unfolds in a moderate tempo. As the title and agogic term of this movement indicate, a ground bass emerges timidly from the lowest register of the orchestra and gradually develops with obstinacy ('testardo') through 10 variations. In contrast, static clusters of wood winds, percussion and organ depict the resistance of the colonial masters to allow the establishment of an institution of higher learning. After 15 years of lobbying by the community, the British Governor gave his go-ahead in 1905.
The 10th and last occurrence of the passacaglia theme, now faster and in C Major, indicates the new optimistic mood. The overture and passacaglia last respectively 100 minims and 100 whole notes. From this point in the symphony, every movement corresponds to a historical period, starting with a colotomic signal of the timpani and concluding with the prefiguration of the theme of the next movement. Indeed, each institution that preceded NUS carried the seeds for the next stage of development of Singapore's premier university.
King Edward VII College of Medicine
and Raffles College
Fugato refers to a music composition in the style but not strictly in the form, of a musical fugue. Each time heralded by a brief call played by brass instruments, the main theme appears three times corresponding to the establishment of the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905, King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1921 and Raffles College in 1928. Suddenly without any premonition, these three themes are concatenated to express the onslaught of the Second World War. After a brief tense climax, an introvert melody played by the Japanese traditional flute ryuteki, reflects the suffering and the momentary closure of the medical school. The fugato 'allegretto' lasts 100 whole notes.
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University of Malaya
In a rondo, refrains alternate with episodes. This rondo 'con moto' refers to the University of Malaya founded in 1949. Six horns transform the timid theme of the passacaglia into a confident ascending call. Sarons of the gamelan orchestra gently rock the episodes. Each return of the refrain is shortened and follows the tonalities corresponding to the colours of the NUS centennial logo. The rondo lasting 100 dotted whole notes concludes with next movement's theme in C Major. |
Nanyang University and
University of Singapore
The ternary form of the scherzo depicts the co-existence of Nanyang University founded in 1955 and University of Singapore founded in 1962. Chinese and Western instruments dialogue at first within the same tonality, later modulating apart from each other. Themes are superimposed in the coda symbolizing the merger between the two institutions. The scherzo marked 'scherzo vivace' lasts 100 dotted whole notes. |
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National University of Singapore
The opening section of the finale paints the majestic natural environment of Kent Ridge with the first horn playing natural and uncorrected harmonics. The powerful brass theme rising from the depth expresses the construction of the new campus and the unstoppable development of NUS since 1980. Closing the loop, the finale concludes in a similar way to the overture with the three tonalities corresponding to the NUS centennial logo. The finale lasts 100 coronas.
So far the Centennial Symphony has looked at the past heritage of NUS and its predecessors.
The coda then ventures into the next 100 years. It superimposes a hundred sounds that dissolve at a particular mathematical rate with reminiscence of the previous acoustical music.
Overture (100”)
Passacaglia (4’30”)
Fugato (4’30”)
Rondo (4’48”)
Scherzo (4’30”)
Finale (6’)
Coda (3’20”)
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Music Downloads
 Download Centennial Symphony Movement 1
Download Centennial Symphony Movement 3
Download Centennial Symphony Movement 4
Download Centennial Symphony Movement 5 Part 1
Download Centennial Symphony Movement 5 Part 2
Download Centennial Symphony Movement 6
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