Programme Notes

Part I of ‘Life, Death and Everything In Between’

Set piece for the Piano Senior Category

Commissioned for the National Piano and Violin Competition 2023

This piece is part of a set of four pieces for solo piano and solo violin, which may be performed in any order should they be programmed as part of the same concert.

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You stand beside a bed; one that is situated in Kandang Kerbau Hospital, or ‘KK Hospital’ as everyone calls it.

In your arms you cradle a newborn child; warm, pink, and so small that it fits in the safe grasp of both your hands. It is curled up into a tiny ball, with eyes tightly shut, wriggling about helplessly. You think to yourself – is this little creature even human?

You start to imagine what the future has in store for this new lifeform; a myriad of possible life paths await this little being. Will they, like you, take a keen interest in music or the arts? Will they turn towards nursing, tending to the ailments of the masses, or will they take up banking, spending late night after late night in the office staring at figures at a computer and communicating with clients halfway around the world? Will they contribute meaningfully to society, or end up in court for physically abusing others? Will they forge many strong friendships, or will they end up dying alone in a hospital bed?

You snap back to the present moment, cradling the tiny, precious little baby, who begins to cry.