Score Video
Instrumentation
2 Flutes, Oboe (opt.), Bassoon (opt.), 3 Clarinets in Bb, Bass Clarinet in Bb, 2 Alto Saxes in Eb, Tenor Sax in Bb, Baritone Sax in Eb
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2 Trumpets in Bb, 2 Horns in F, 2 Trombones, Euphonium, Tuba
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Double Bass (opt.)
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Timpani
Glockenspiel
Xylophone/Marimba (opt.)
Chimes (Tubular Bells)
Snare Drum
Bass Drum
Percussion 1 (Susp. Cymbals & Cabasa)
Percussion 2 (Drum Set Toms, Wind Chimes, Tam-tam)
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Programme Notes
Commissioned by Adrian Chiang and the Maris Stella High School Symphonic Band in 2021 for performance at the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation for School Bands, this piece is part of a series of compositions celebrating Singapore’s unsung heroes.
The piece serves as a salute to Lim Bo Seng, who is recognised as one of Singapore’s most famous war heroes, playing an active role in Force 136, which was a secret service organisation in Malaya active during WWII. He accomplished, among other feats, blowing up the Causeway to impede the advance of the Japanese, as well as setting up an intelligence network (Operation Zipper) in four urban areas with the aim of recapturing Malaya with British support by 1945. Unfortunately, he was caught in 1944 and, unyielding in the face of the Kempeitai’s* brutality, eventually died in a jail in Perak due to severe malnutrition in the same year.
The title of this piece was decided upon by the band members of the Maris Stella High School Symphonic Band, and the spirited music portrays his unwavering spirit and bravery.
This edition is a revised version for full concert band.
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*Kempeitai: a military police force in Japanese-occupied areas in Southeast Asia
