Piccolo, 2 Flutes, Oboe, Bassoon, 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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3 Trumpets in Bb, 4 Horns in F, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba

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Double Bass

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Timpani

Glockenspiel

Xylophone

Vibraphone

Chimes (Tubular Bells)

Percussion 1 (Snare Drum, Susp. Cymbal)

Percussion 2 (Bass Drum)
Percussion 3 (Tam-tam, Ocean Drum, Wind Chimes, Crash Cymbals, Triangle, Floor Tom, Wood Block)

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Programme Notes

Originally commissioned by Adrian Chiang and the Anderson Serangoon Junior College Symphonic Band for a flexi-band instrumentation during the Covid-19 pandemic, Keppel Harbour is an overture depicting the waterway in Keppel Bay, Singapore, which had been used as a passage for ships sailing from the Straits of Malacca to the South China Sea since the 13th century (and possibly before as well).

In September 1819, William Farquhar, whom Sir Stamford Raffles appointed as the first Resident of Singapore, reported that he discovered a ‘new harbour’ to the west of the settlement. In 1848, Captain Henry Keppel discovered the sheltered, deep water harbour while onboard the vessel, Meander. Repairs on the Meander were the first carried out in the harbour, known as New Harbour, where the Tanjong Pagar wharves would later be built. That name remained until 1900, when Keppel, then the Admiral, visited Singapore again at the ripe old age of 92. To honour him, the acting Governor, Sir Alexander Swettenham, renamed the harbour Keppel.

Today, shipyard activity has shifted to Tuas, which is at the west coast of the island-nation, and the old docks have since evolved into a luxurious hideaway at the fringe of the city centre, with luxurious condominiums raised where seamen once stood. Echoes of the dock can still be seen in the water channels that the condominium surrounds.

This edition is a revised version for full wind band.