General Theme: Common Illness 1.

Write up on theme
2. Fugue In Db Major (Schizophrena ) a. Write Up Softcopy of final score 3. Tone cluster (Headache In A Kindergarten) a. Write Up b. Softcopy of final score 4. Pointilism (Cough and flu) a. Write Up b. Drafts (Softcopy) c. Softcopy of final score

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Write up on theme:
Singapore, over the past few years has been transformed into a heartland city. With the cleaning up of Singapore river in between 1977 1987, indeed, serious illnesses such as diarrohoea, malaria and cholera, has almost decreased by some two hundred percent. However, Singaporeans, living in such a clean and green state of Singapore, often fall prey to common illnesses such as cough, flu, headache and even mental illness. Yes, our health certainly has been pushed up a naught in terms of general well being, but an underlying question remains, are we well mentally? This is the question that I have been asking myself which lead me to compose a series of compositions base on this theme: Commo n Illnesses. The reason why I picked cough, headache, flu and schizophrenia as common illnesses is due to the fact that cases of such have been increasing over the past decade. In a survey done by Medical Incorporation, it has been stated that cough, head ache and flu are common illnesses that are faced by millions of people worldwide due to stress, pollution in the environments, or simply just by being in contact with another infected person. Schizophrenia, an illness which involves a person talking to herself, also has increased in large amounts over the past 5 years. In another medical report done by Medical Incorporation, for every 435 Singaporeans, there would be 3.5 suffering from Schizophrenia. Though not as common as Cough and Flu, where for every 50 Singaporeans, 10 suffer from such disease, it is also important to take note that cases of Schizophrenia is simpl y catchin up slowly but surely. Therefore, these three compositions aims to raise awareness among the audience to take note of such common ill nesses and that appropriate break should be taken when needed. I also hoped that through these compositions, people may take care of themselves more, in order not to fall prey to such common illnesses that may deem to be fatal if one simply turns a blind eye to it. Also throughout these compositions, I hoped that the listeners would be able to relate my compositions to the illnesses as they have been composed in such a way to resemble such illnesses by the usage of certain tempo markings, dynamic levels and also, the rhythmic motifs used. Different tempo markings are given to specific pieces such as to bring across certain moods and also, to mimic the effects of the different types of illness. Throughout, different rhythmic motifs are used to convey certain ideas of illnesses, and particularly, one of the pieces is written in a story style. Without further explaining myself, but instead to let you enjoy the pieces I compose, I give you common illnesses .

Write Up on Schizophrenia : As stated in the general write up for my theme above, the reason I decided to write a composition for such an illness particularly comes from the shocking results I came across through Medical Incorporation surveys. Secondly, also partly due to an incident which left me shocked. The inspiration of composing for Schizophrenia comes on the 14 th July when I was returning home from attending a day of lessons. A lady who came into the MRT began to speak to herself, through shouts, screams and even in hushed tones. What others may feel weird began to turn into an inspiration for me. Through this incident, I searched up for the illnesses that may contain such symptoms which happened to turn out to be Schizophrenia. One of the main symptoms of Schizophrenia would be hallucination and therefore, my fugue is based upon this idea. Throughout these the particular fugue, I employed many traditional compositional techniques such as the dominant for the answer and an easily remembered tune. Throughout the piece, many different voices can be heard at a single time, particularly referring to the illness Schizoph renia. These layering of voices does not serve only to fit into the harmony given by the melody above but also, to mimic the upon the fact that a person suffering from Schizophrenia may be experiencing such traumatic experiences, when he hears different voices in his brain begins to reply them through the real world. Also, the dynamic levels present the piece serves to act as the level of tone the person is speaking in. Throughout, I tried to minimize the input of dynamic levels, such as to leave it to the player to decide what dynamic level he should employ; to tap upon his creativity. In certain places where terrace dynamics are input, this is to create a certain effect I want. The sudden increase in dynamic level would come as a shock to the audience, which seems to mimic the hallucination part in Schizophrenia, when the patient, talking silently to himself suddenly burst our shouting, shocking the audiences around it. The tempo marking of 74 per crotchet beat also comes with a motif. It is intended to make the listener to identify every possible theme I have placed inside the piece, and also to mimic the patient s talking and walking speed. People suffering from Schizophrenia often walks and talks slowly possibly, to listen to the voices in his head, and also, to take note of their surroundings which may contain more than what normal human beings see due to hallucination. With the addition of such ingredients prior to composing my fugue, I give you the composition Schizophrenia .

Write up on Headache in a kindergarten The inspiration this time comes during a day when I was walking home, passing by Temasek Polytechinic. As my house was just beside Temasek Polytechinic Staff Quarters, I could easily hear what the teachers often say to the kindergarten kids who often play at a playground nearby and till this day, remains vividly in my mind. The phrase goes like this Kids, I am having a headache now, could you all just stop shouting and screaming. I was amused at the fact how easily someone could contract Headaches while just listening to screams and shouts. Indeed, this is not simply a saying passed down from generations to generations but instead, has connections with the environment we are placed at. On another report done by Medical Inc orporation, it states that headaches could arise due to visual problems and confusion. Indeed, Singapore has one of the highest record for people suffering from headache. In every 43 Singaporeans, 8 suffered from headaches. Therefore, this common type of illness became a part of my compositional portfolio as many Singaporeans, often suffers from headache once a month, probably due to stress. The piece started off in the motif with syncopated accented beats to create a jarring effect. This would seem to mimic the effect of a pulsating headache which we all face when there is a sudden rush of blood throughout our blood vessels to the brain. The accents, in heavy chords would mimic a headache that is slowly building up and this is achieved by th e right hand, with tone clusters in various octaves of the piano. Throughout the piece, different rhythmic motifs are used to increase diversity, such as the introduction of semiquavers in the first page, signifying that the person is confused. Throughout the piece, in order to mimic the environment of the kindergarten, tunes that we are familiar with come into play, although altered drastically to achieve the desired effect. The effect of altering the tunes serves to create a contrast between the person who is having a headache and the contrast would be between the real world and the world that the person could be in. In the real world, the kids may be listening to the tonal version of the tunes but within the person himself, because of the intense headache , the tunes may be altered as the mind is not able to function normally due to the intensity of headache, Throughout the piece, the piece has its various dynamic levels to mark off the intensity of headache and may decrease and increase in time to determine the intensity of headache, However, I composed the piece in such a way that the overall dynamic level would seem to increase in a level-by-level basis until it reaches the climax at the second page with the right hand playing a ostinato and the bass line descending and ascending once again in chromatically-orientated tone clusters. The opening theme then returns, and finally, the headache seemed to subside, however, not with an ironical ending behind. Instead of ending in a normal key note, I chose to end it in an altered twinkle-twinkle little star theme. This ending serves to create a darkened ending to the piece, signifying that the headache may once again return.

Write Up on Cough and flu The inspiration for writing cough and flu came when I recalled upon the H1N1 incident that left the world reeling in shock after it happened in Mexico and became a worldwide pandemic in just a short span of one month. The quickness of the influenza virus t hat spread so fast leads me to write upon the song. In Singapore, it is reported that out of every 4 person, 1 person suffers from flu, and that this piece of shocking news makes me wonder why does people get flu so easily. Therefore, I decided to write upon the sickness cough and flu as they often come as a pair, and often if not treated would lead to fever and other kind if infectious disease. This piece is written specifically in the style of pointillism, and this further illustrates my idea of using the sickness cough and flu. Short rhythmic motifs such as would serve to mimic the coughs and flu sounds we often hear and that actually, could be closely connected to the writing technique of pointillism. Throughout, different rhythmic m otifs are used such as to illustrate the different sounds made by cough and flu. Writing in the style of pointillism lead me to input various dynamic levels that ranges from pp to ff, such as to bring across different intensity of cough. However, all the dynamic level would point to one source, which would be at the moment when two tone clusters are added to the piece, at the dynamic level of ff, signifying that the person has indeed has a loud and unpleasant sneeze. The different dynamic levels would also be crucial in maining the pointilistic feel in the music, as with sudden dips and increase in the dynamic level, one could not anticipate what the player would do next. But most importantly, this piece is written in a story style, with the listener lis tening to the music in the second person s view. The story goes about when a woman experiences a bad cough and flu and tries unsuccessfully to subdue the cough and flu, which at one point made her to knock down a vase (as seen at bar ). Also, the piece does not revolve around the woman sneezing and coughing but I also input voices that are normally heard in the house, such as the ringtone of a phone ringing to mimic the world that we are living in. The tempo of the piece would ultimately be the decision of the player as they is no fix rule to play a piece written in the style of pointillism. However, I would still put a tempo marking of Adagio, as when one person have a sneeze or cold, her world would often go slower than usual when she is awake, often finding ways to stop the mucus from coming out of her nose.