不知为何，这个2021-2022年的访谈录音及文稿 The Life and Music of Phoon Yew Tien，刚刚才无意间在网上看到。其中话题除了围绕着《化雨》大合唱，更多还是关于个人50多年来的漫长创作生涯历程，篇幅相当长，但概括了许多重要的有关“情节”。
Monumentality at the Premiere of Phoon Yew Tien’s Confucius – A Secular Cantata
Kenneth Tay (November 2021)
In this essay, I offer some perspectives on monumentality with respect to the premiere of Phoon Yew Tien’s Confucius – A Secular Cantata in 2001. Beyond the musical content, I identify these areas which contribute to the importance of this landmark composition.
First, there was a high level of direct support by the state, in particular, through the National Arts Council. At the point of the premiere, it was reported by The Straits Times, Singapore’s most circulated daily newspaper, that a five-figure sum was put aside for the commission of the work, which was then the largest ever commission by the National Arts Council for concert music (Tan, 2001a). In addition, the premiere was a part of the Singapore Arts Festival, the largest state-supported international arts event. The scope of the festival was further invigorated to present the best in local and international arts, especially with the unveiling of the Renaissance City Report, which outlined a new strategic direction for the transformation of Singapore into a “key city in the Asian renaissance of the 21st Century and a cultural centre in the globalised world” (National Arts Council, 2000). High-level audiences at the premiere, which included then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, and Lee Seng Gee (the lattermost being chairman of Singapore’s largest charity foundation, the Lee Foundation) underpinned the commitment of the state as the largest champion for the arts, with Confucius – A Secular Cantata at the centre of attention (Tan, 2001b).
The CD album cover of the live production of Confucius – A Secular Cantata, featuring all performers at the curtain call.
Second, the sheer number of performers required to perform the work would have dwarfed many concert music productions at the point of the premiere. In 2001, the largest venue to stage the premiere would have been the Victoria Concert Hall, which could seat 883 audiences at full capacity. In my review of the programme notes together with the live CD recording, which includes the names of all performers, I counted a total of 64 orchestra members, 103 choristers (across three choirs) and 8 soloists, who were featured alongside conductor Professor Xia Fei Yun and chorus master Nelson Kwei.
The pages of the CD programme, which includes the instrumentation and names of performers for the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at the premiere of Confucius – A Secular Cantata
Third, at ten-movements long, with a total play time of 2 hours 27 minutes on the live CD production, Confucius – A Secular Cantata is the longest work written by any Singaporean composer for the concert music medium. More fascinating to me, Phoon Yew Tien, a composer whose compositional process revolves around a piano, an audio recorder, and music notation software, had labouriously hand-engraved all 490 pages of his full orchestral score. Phoon, who regularly writes reflections on his personal blog, recounts, “Prior to writing Confucius – A Secular Cantata, I had always handwritten my music on stave paper. But after six months, working hard day and night at a desk, I hurt my poor back! I decided to switch to use a computer keyboard to engrave my music” (Phoon, 2018; my translation).
The handwritten full score of Confucius – A Secular Cantata. Featured here is the opening of the 2nd movement.
Furthermore, Phoon reflected that “[a]lthough it [Confucius – A Secular Cantata] took me barely six months to complete, I actually worked on it day and night during the later stage of its creation. It was way beyond my expectation (I had originally planned to write a 90-minute piece). One recollection: it was like going on an impossible, long and arduous journey or climbing a mountain without ever seeing the peak. Composing music is a lonely venture. Those nights that saw me struggling all alone have helped me gain a fresh understanding of what loneliness means. In terms of personal development the effort I made in the process was in itself a reward. Looking back, besides a deep sense of fulfilment I have grown more confident in meeting any future challenges” (Phoon, 2001).
To conclude, the identity of Confucius – A Secular Cantata as a monumental work exists because of its interaction with a community that provides the necessary support for its premiere. The state, particularly through the National Arts Council, provided the necessary funding and administrative support for the organisation of the premiere at the Singapore Arts Festival. The performers not only invested energy towards learning of new repertoire, but also delivered the rousing performance that is kept on record through the CD. At the heart of the composition, is the composer, who toiled for months to bring the work to its completion.
Bibliography
Lim, Lorraine. 2012. “Constructing habitus: promoting an international arts trend at the Singapore Arts Festival”, <em>International Journal of Cultural Policy</em> 18(3), 308-322.
National Arts Council. 2000. Renaissance City Reports (2000, 2004, 2008). Retrieved 12 December 2021. https://www.nac.gov.sg/resources/arts-masterplans/renaissance-city-reports-(2000-2004-2008) .
Phoon, Yew Tien. 2001. Confucius – A Secular Cantata. Audio CD.
Phoon, Yew Tien. 2018. “《化雨》风波（一）”. Retrieved 13 December 2021. https://phoonyewtien.blogspot.com/2018/12/2001-10-cd-90.html .
Tan, Shzr Ee. 2001. “Phoon the ‘Show Loser’”. The Straits Times, May 25, 2001.
Tan, Shzr Ee. 2001. “Hard labour, sweet delivery”. The Straits Times, June 10, 2001.
Interview with Phoon Yew Tien
Kenneth Tay (January 2022)
Part 1 – On compositional process and the Chinese orchestra
KT: A very good morning! Thank you for having me here. Here’s the first question for today. I’d like to ask: when you compose, do you hear chords, melodies and harmonies in your head, and then you write them down? Or do you try different things and improvise at the piano? How does your compositional process work, and does it involve a combination of some of these methods?
PYT: That’s quite a lot of a question! You see, I don’t have perfect pitch, so I can only imagine the sound. I love paper, and I used to play a lot on the piano. My time is different from now. During my time, we are talking about the 1970s and 1980s. I only started using computers after 2002. And before that, if there were things I wasn’t sure of, I would have to go to the piano. And traditionally, for composers, part of the training required learning how to play the piano. There are very few exceptions, like Berlioz, who didn’t play the piano, but we can imagine composers like Schumann, Chopin and so on, everybody plays the piano. They are not only instrumentalists, but also composers and conductors. So it is a combination.
KT: Based on a copy of Confucius: A Secular Cantata that I borrowed from the library, you handwrote everything, over 400 pages?
PYT: This was before 2002! Before I started using computers for notation. There was a lot for me to do, to come up with the full orchestra score, as well as the piano short score for the choir and vocalists. So that took up a lot of time. I only knew I needed to do all that towards the end, as I was finishing the orchestral score. So it was a huge blow to me, it was kind of a shock because I was just trying to finish and meet the deadline. It wasn’t in the contract, I’m not really sure, because I was trying to concentrate on the orchestra, the choir and the solo parts.
The reason I eventually turned to the computer was because of this piece! Because writing Confucius: A Secular Cantata really hurt my back. Imagine, you compose such a long work, I think in less than half a year, and along the way there were many problems. So it was quite a challenge.
KT: Of all the music that you have written so far, have they all received performances? Or are there some that haven’t yet been performed?
PYT: Good question. As a professional composer, there are different stages I suppose. I am lucky in a way because in my early years, in the 1970s, I worked with the PA Chinese Orchestra. And at that time there weren’t many scores because of the political landscape. They were very sensitive about communist ideologies and a lot of Chinese music had associations with Mainland China. And they would have been published as records, but most of them were banned, including those without political issues. So there was a shortage of music for the Chinese Orchestras here in Singapore. So what I did was a lot of dictation. I’d listen to records and write as much as possible. The music then wasn’t as complicated as now, so it was quite doable. I could get about 70-80%, and it was quite enough for the orchestra, because the orchestra was really short of compositions and repertoire. Nowadays, there are so many composers! It’s also easier for ensembles to buy music now, with the internet.
The good thing was, I got a lot of opportunities to practice. It wasn’t stressful at all. That time I hadn’t received much formal training, but had some advice from a few people. I had only learned from Mr Leong Yoon Pin (梁荣平) from 1974, and those arrangements that I did, some of it was before that, some of it was after. I think Western music theory and harmonies doesn’t fit wholly into the Chinese orchestral music in those days, and you have to think of a way to go around it. It made you think, how to make use of what you learned in Western music theory.
I think also in Singapore, we are one of the pioneers of using Western concepts of music and merging them into Chinese orchestra music. My generation… I don’t know about other people, but perhaps because I was more serious about it, so I did quite a bit of it. Perhaps that is something similar to what the Chinese composers from Mainland China are doing too, at that time.
I would say 90% of my music have been performed. There are those pieces I have written that were for my own interest, to try out something. The orchestra might not be available all the time, but most of the time they were okay because they needed new music to play.
After having lessons with Mr Leong, we had a group of pupils that had interest in composing songs, and there were some competitions. There were at least 3 that I participated in. So those were the ones where I wrote something, and had performance opportunities of my work. I joined the PA Chinese Orchestra in 1974 as a musician as well as arranger, under conductor Mr Ng Tai Kong (吴大江), who became the first director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, which I consider the best Chinese Orchestra in the world. So the music I wrote, the musicians will practice it.
End of 1970s, I went to Australia under a Singapore Symphony Orchestra scholarship, initially to study the flute, and later on having two degree programmes going on at the same time! I did compose a lot, and most of it have been performed. Apart from those you know, assignments? Haha! But being in school as a composer was wonderful – they would be performed in some masterclass by leading musicians, or in concerts by student musicians.
So after I came back to Singapore, I was probably the only person working professionally as a composer. Even though I had to pay back my bond by serving the PA Chinese Orchestra from 1984-1992, and that period I was the assistant and associate conductor, I still wrote quite a bit of music performed at the Singapore Arts Festival as well as overseas. I also taught in NAFA from 1984, and was the head of the music department between 1993 and 1996.
That time, I was doing two things – I was administrator for the music department, and I was also taking on commissions from local organisations as well as overseas. Although before that I won some compositional prizes, like the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize, which I received before Tan Dun (谭盾) did! Haha! But I was getting to around 40 years old, I thought I should do something better than I had already done before, and I got a bit worried. For the serious compositions, if I didn’t try to do something good, then if I got older I wouldn’t have the energy and the motivation. So I tried to challenge myself, without a commission, to come up with something good, even without a performance.
On my arrangements… part of my education was from my early childhood in the 1960s. There wasn’t much entertainment in Singapore at that time, the main source of it was the radio. The Rediffusion channel. Your family members would listen to those old records and the radio. There were English oldies, Chinese oldies, and some Western classical music even, but then you didn’t know the name of those works. Later on we find out its some masterpiece and at that time we just go, wow, it is very nice. So I listened to a lot of popular music at that time, now considered oldies. I was Chinese educated, so of course I listened to a lot of the Chinese oldies.
But if you know about the Chinese oldies, in the 1930s to 1940s in Shanghai, a lot of the music were arranged and played by Russian musicians. But of course the melodies would have come from the Chinese songwriters, like Yao Min (姚明), Li Jinguang (黎景光), Chen Ge Xin (陈歌辛). When I listened to the arrangements, I liked the way they arranged them, the colour, the harmonisations, so unconsciously, over time, I remember a lot of details. I didn’t know much about 4-part harmony then, but when listening to the same song arranged by different people, I just had a feeling that made me uncomfortable, like something was wrong. And so we come back to the 1990s, when I have more time to write music after I left the PA Chinese Orchestra. There’s a lot of memory in this music I grew up with. Some of the recordings, I couldn’t get access to again, so I based it of my memory, and rearranged tunes according to what I can remember. So I did two CDs in Shanghai of these kinds of arrangements, about 30 pieces in total. But I think to date, I did more than 100 of such arrangements for symphony orchestra and Chinese orchestra.
After the completion of the recordings in Shanghai, we had two concerts performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, of these oldies – in 2015 and in 2016. Those are performed by the Kids’ Philharmonic Orchestra here in Singapore. There are still a number that haven’t been performed. You see, when I have time, I just write arrangements, for my own satisfaction! Of course there is the hope that they will eventually get performed.
As a professional composer, sometimes you don’t just compose for fun, especially those that need a lot of creative ideas. I feel like I do arrangements for my own enjoyment, because there are so many arrangements available in the market, and I don’t like some of them. The recording I did in Shanghai, I didn’t get much in payments, but that’s something I do for myself. Comparing with professional arrangers in Hong Kong or Taiwan, I think they are not like me, because they don’t have the same kind of background as me. During my childhood, those music I can remember… I make some adjustments. Because the original music might be for a smaller ensemble, while I write it for a full symphony orchestra or Chinese orchestra. And also, in the 1930s and 1940s, there was very little editing for records, they just go straight in one-take. Sometimes there might be wrong notes, but they just go with it because of the expensive studio time, or whatever else was in the cost. So for me, I will try to patch up those things that weren’t right. I tried to perfect it. So that’s what I did.
KT: Before you wrote Confucius: A Secular Cantata, you wrote this work, called Variations for Chinese Orchestra, also known as the Young Person’s Guide to the Chinese Orchestra. Of course, there are comparisons between this work and Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Could you tell me about the genesis of this interesting composition?
PYT: When I first came back from Australia, I composed this piece for the Hwa Chong Junior College Chinese Orchestra, because that was one of the best student orchestras, and the conductor, Mr Tham Chaik Kong (谭泽江), was very serious. Very good musician, although he wasn’t formally trained, I think at least in spirit he is better than a lot of professional conductors. I repeated the performance of this work when I was with the PA Chinese Orchestra as the assistant and associate conductor. I think I made some changes when it was eventually performed by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in the 2000s under Tsung Yeh. We did a CD… it’s like a package for people that wanted to learn more about writing for instruments of the Chinese Orchestra. Because in the CD, not only did I want something close to what Benjamin Britten did with the voiceovers, but also a work that depicted the history of Chinese orchestral music from the very beginning.
There are three works in this series. There was a demonstration piece to showcase some of the possibilities of each of the Chinese instruments in a solo manner. It’s very educational.
KT: Was it because the Chinese Orchestra as a concept, was somewhat young then, that there wasn’t a lot of repertoire, that made you write this work?
PYT: That time there was definitely a lack in Chinese instrumental books and guides. I think there were books that attempted to gather facts about each of the Chinese instruments, but my work had sound and also narration, and to explain about the historical development of the Chinese orchestra. I think it is important to help young people learn about the Chinese orchestra. I feel the need, the urgency. There are a lot of budding composers who write in a Western style, but as a person of Chinese descent, there is value in knowing about Chinese music. Of course, some composers like Eric Watson have written for Chinese orchestra too. And composers like Tan Dun (谭盾), and those in his generation from Mainland China, they were all bilingual in some sense.
So for me, my background is different because I was Chinese educated, and was self-taught in Chinese instruments. Even though when I first joined the PA Chinese Orchestra, which was supposed to be professional, all of us musicians were self-taught. We listen to Chinese music, of course, but learned a lot about Western music after a tour to Switzerland. There was an international youth orchestra festival, and we represented Singapore as a Chinese orchestra. That was an important tour for us because we get to listen to so many Western symphonic orchestral performances every night. When we came back, we wanted to learn more, so we took Western instrumental lessons, theory lessons all that. We are different from the Mainland Chinese composers because they were professionally trained early on, they have a better background in a way. So therefore, Chinese music written by a Singaporean composer and a Mainland Chinese one is very different, especially when we try to talk about a Nanyang style, all that.
So coming back to the need of these materials… Over the years I see a lot of young composers try to write for Chinese orchestra, and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra tries to encourage that. And actually they commissioned composers to write for them. I used to be working quite closely with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, because I was once their composer-in-residence, for at least 2 years, and I’ve been working very closely with them. And when I saw the scores submitted by young composers, I was quite shocked, I felt they didn’t know Chinese music at all. I mean, the orchestra does provide some resources, like the possible ranges of each instrument. One of the biggest mistake is, that composers treat the Chinese flute like the Western flute, and then they write all the chromatic scales. But the Chinese flute cannot play it; you have to be sensible to the instrument. If you don’t know enough about an instrument, it is important to ask questions. Like, it’s not possible to treat the erhu like a violin.
So during my term with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, one of the things I did was to conduct some workshops and some training. The participants have to come up with a piece that would be read by the musicians. I was then the second composer-in-residence. The first composer-in-residence had already conducted some masterclasses with the young composers, but I thought what happened was that they assumed that the young composers already knew about the basics of Chinese orchestra writing. So for the composition masterclass, the one who conducted the class just went straight into the composition. I don’t really agree with that because a lot of these young composers weren’t really sure about what they were doing. So during my term as composer-in-residence, I suggested to the music director that I wanted to teach young composers the right way of writing for Chinese instruments. So we aimed for each participant to complete one piece, then I go through the details during each weekly lesson during a 3 month workshop series. I think that’s the better way.
I heard from some of my musician friends in Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, which I think is one of the best Chinese Orchestras in the world, when the organization commissions a work, they have no right to object to some writing styles that weren’t idiomatic, or suitable. I mentioned to the music director of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Tsung Yeh, to not accept these kinds of commissions that didn’t respect the capabilities of Chinese instruments. I mean when I write or the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, I spend a lot of time, to check every detail. So I think a composer should have that kind of responsibility, otherwise I think they are not honest, nor sincere.
Part 2 – On Confucius: A Secular Cantata
KT: You used a very established genre to describe the Confucius composition – a cantata. Would you say it was a conscious decision to adhere to some kind of musical tradition, by calling it a cantata?
PYT: In the first place, this was not my idea! Before the lyricist, Chong Wing Hong (莊永康), approached me, he approached a Mainland Chinese composer, Liu Yuan (刘湲). It didn’t work out, I don’t know why. But before he went to that composer, he did come to me for advice. After that, he came back to me for advice, and suggested we work on it. Initially, I was thinking of an opera, but then he said, considering the cost of production and things like that, a cantata is an easy way to work out the project. For me, it was okay, either an opera or cantata was fine, since the text was about the life of Confucius, from his childhood to adult life.
KT: How would you describe the relationship between the commission for Confucius: A Secular Cantata, and the overall structure of the eventual composition? Was there for example, any guideline on time limit for each movement, or was it just born out of the discussion with the lyricist?
PYT: When I discussed with Chong Wing Hong, we did have a very clear idea of how long the piece was going to be. I thought it shouldn’t be too long, because the script was just a few pages. But when you start composing, somehow, it just ended up like that, that there was a kind of force that said, you have to do this, this passage needed a certain duration to describe what you want. So it ended up that long. When I compose, I wasn’t concerned about the overall duration, but when I finished, then I realised the scale – there were 10 movements. Two of the movements were close to 30 mins. In total, the work was about 2.5 hours.
KT: To your knowledge, has any other Singaporean composer written such a huge and systematic work in scale, over two hours long?
PYT: I think I may have been the only one. My teacher, Mr Leong Yoon Pin, composed an opera before, but I don’t think it was that long. The other Singaporean composers, I don’t remember. Before Confucius: A Secular Cantata, I wrote one long work for the Singapore Arts Festival with Mdm Goh Lay Kuan (吴丽娟), Nu Wa (女娲). I think that one was at least 1.5 hours long.
KT: Normally your compositions are shorter in length?
PYT: It varies, because I believe as a composer, you should be able to do almost anything. Haha! But of course, it depends on your own liking, there are some things you might not like to do. But for professional composers, you cannot just write serious music, you will not be able to survive. It doesn’t really show your abilities, in a way. As a professional composer, for me, there are periods of time where my livelihood requires me to take on work that I cannot choose. Most of the time, I will accept, even things that are not my cup of tea, but I take it as a kind of challenge, and I try my best to like it. I did quite a bit of pop song arrangement for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra – normally I don’t listen to it, but when I receive a commission, I have to try and transform in my mind, and write for Chinese orchestra. The original of course, isn’t for Chinese orchestra, like the pop songs by Faye Wong (王菲). I did an arrangement of her “I’m Willing” (我愿意) before. Cantopop is okay, Cantonese opera is okay, it is more in line with my compositional language. But after you do it, you kind of understand it more, I might not like it much but I can accept it.
KT: And for Confucius: A Secular Cantata, did you feel a sense of achievement when you completed it?
PYT: Of course!
KT: Were there any particular challenges writing such a long work? How long did that process take?
PYT: The challenge is determination. Sometimes you really don’t feel like writing. Not to mention, pain in the body and what not, because you bend down all the time. That time I was much younger, but I realised you really can hurt yourself. It was so much music then. Now with a computer, it is much easier to cut and paste, but that time when you want to repeat a section, you have to rewrite it. But the good thing is, when you rewrite, the process is slow, then you have more time to rethink about certain things. Not like computer, where it’s fast and you sometimes don’t reflect on it. You see when you write on score, you see everything, but on a computer, you have to zoom in and out, click here and there… your focus just becomes more narrow. With paper, you can see the whole picture. Sometimes, with computer, it is too easy for young composers to cut and paste. When they want to experiment with certain sounds, they let the computer do it. But with composers of my time, if we couldn’t imagine the sounds, the harmony, we just had to go to the piano.
Because like the cantata, I didn’t use traditional modulations. On recordings it sounds smooth, but when one of the top singer from Shanghai opera sang it at first, he got lost! I think Nelson Kwei did it very well for the chorus. I was of course inspired by composers like Prokofiev, some similar kind of treatment in his melody. His modulations, like in Peter and the Wolf? That kind of melodic modulation. I didn’t use pivot chord, I used pivot notes. And you have to do it very carefully. Prokofiev is Western, mine, I combined with the pentatonic scale for more Chineseness.
Luckily, we have a modern Chinese orchestra, and I would say they are as good as the Western orchestra, in terms of the playing technique.
KT: Do you think you approached the vocal and instrumental writing differently in Confucius: A Secular Cantata? How did it play out when you merged these forces together?
PYT: I think I just did it very naturally. I don’t have any problems with that.
KT: How would you describe the colours used in your composition?
PYT: I want everything! Colourful, loud, soft and energetic, sometimes a bit plaintive. At the same time I have to go with Chong Wing Hong’s text, but when it comes to the music I have my own freedom, my own interpretation. He did a lot of research and made the text very good, but honestly, if not for the commission, I would not have written it. The interest and love for the work kept growing as I worked on it, it’s like being around people. When you spend time with people, the more you interact, the more you understand, the more you like them or hate them! Haha! But you have to like the process, otherwise it will be very miserable. I always tell my students, you have to like what you do. If you don’t like it, then don’t do it. But of course, I wouldn’t have given up. This wasn’t my first priority, in a way, but it took so much energy. My child was still in kindergarten then: we had a TV in the living room, so I had my son sit on a stool to entertain himself while I kept watch from the other room to work.
KT: How do you feel about being Singapore’s most eminent composer? After all, the national anthem, with the most recent arrangement by you, is sung and played daily.
PYT: Haha! Never thought about it. You may call it luck or opportunity, but I think you still need to fall back on hard work, because things don’t just come without working hard. Great composers have a large number of works, some works might never get heard or performed, but I think you need to have a large volume that some good ones can emerge. If I have the time and energy, I would sit down and arrange some music. I like what I do, and I think it’s important to give others something you’ve done with love.
Exploring Monumentality in 天下滔滔 from Phoon Yew Tien’s Confucius: A Secular Cantata (2001)
《在潘耀田〈孔子：世俗清唱剧〉首演中论“纪念碑性”》
Kenneth Tay（2021年11月）
本文将从若干角度探讨潘耀田的《孔子：世俗清唱剧》于2001年首演时所体现的“纪念碑性”。除了作品的音乐内容之外，我还归纳出以下几个使这部里程碑式作品具有重要意义的方面。
首先，作品获得了政府的高度直接支持，尤其是来自国家艺术理事会的支持。在首演之际，新加坡发行量最大的日报《海峡时报》报道称，国家艺术理事会拨出了一笔五位数的款项委约创作此作；这在当时是该理事会为音乐会作品提供过的最高额委约金（Tan，2001a）。此外，首演也是新加坡艺术节的一部分，而该艺术节是规模最大的国家资助国际艺术活动。随着《文艺复兴城市报告》的发布，艺术节的规模与内容得到进一步拓展，旨在呈现本地及国际最优秀的艺术。该报告提出了一项新的战略方向，即把新加坡转型为“21世纪亚洲文艺复兴的重要城市，以及全球化世界中的文化中心”（国家艺术理事会，2000）。出席首演的高层嘉宾包括时任副总理李显龙、无任所大使许通美，以及新加坡最大慈善基金会李氏基金主席李成义。这些嘉宾的到场进一步体现了政府作为艺术事业最主要推动者的承诺，而《孔子：世俗清唱剧》正处于这一关注的中心（Tan，2001b）。
《孔子：世俗清唱剧》现场演出CD的封面，呈现了谢幕时的全体演出人员。
其次，该作品所需的庞大演出阵容，在首演当时足以令许多音乐会制作相形见绌。2001年，可供首演使用的最大场地是维多利亚音乐厅，满座时可容纳883名观众。根据我对节目册和现场录音CD的查阅，其中列出了所有演出人员的姓名：共有64名乐团成员、来自三个合唱团的103名合唱团员，以及8名独唱者，此外还有指挥夏飞云教授和合唱指挥桂乃舜。
CD节目册内页，包括《孔子：世俗清唱剧》首演中新加坡华乐团的乐器编制及演奏者名单。
第三，《孔子：世俗清唱剧》共有十个乐章，现场录音CD的总播放时长为2小时27分钟，是新加坡作曲家为音乐会舞台创作过的最长作品。更令我着迷的是，潘耀田的作曲过程主要依靠钢琴、录音机和乐谱制作软件，但这部作品长达490页的管弦乐总谱，却全部由他费力地亲手誊写。潘耀田经常在个人博客中撰写回忆。他写道：“在创作《孔子：世俗清唱剧》之前，我一直是在五线谱纸上手写乐谱。不过，经过六个月日以继夜地伏案工作，我可怜的背部受伤了！于是，我决定改用电脑键盘来制作乐谱。”（潘耀田，2018；笔者译）
《孔子：世俗清唱剧》的手写总谱。图中为第二乐章的开头。
潘耀田还回忆道：
“虽然我只用了不到六个月便完成了《孔子：世俗清唱剧》，但在创作后期，我其实是日以继夜地工作。作品的规模远远超出了我的预期——我原本只打算写一部90分钟的作品。有一种记忆是：那仿佛踏上了一段不可能完成的漫长艰苦旅程，或者攀登一座始终看不见顶峰的高山。作曲是一项孤独的事业。那些独自苦苦挣扎的夜晚，使我对孤独有了新的理解。就个人成长而言，我在创作过程中付出的努力，本身就是一种回报。回首往事，除了深深的满足感之外，我也更有信心面对未来的任何挑战。”（潘耀田，2001）
总而言之，《孔子：世俗清唱剧》之所以成为一部具有纪念碑意义的作品，是因为它与一个为首演提供必要支持的社群产生了互动。政府，尤其是国家艺术理事会，为新加坡艺术节首演的筹办提供了必要的资金与行政支持。演出者不仅投入精力学习新作品，也呈现出一场振奋人心的演出，并通过CD录音被保存下来。而在整部作品的核心，则是那位辛勤工作数月、最终使作品得以完成的作曲家。
参考文献
Lim, Lorraine. 2012. “Constructing habitus: promoting an international arts trend at the Singapore Arts Festival”, International Journal of Cultural Policy 18(3), 308-322.
国家艺术理事会。2000。《文艺复兴城市报告（2000、2004、2008）》。2021年12月12日检索。
nac.gov.sg
潘耀田。2001。《孔子：世俗清唱剧》。音乐CD。
潘耀田。2018。《〈化雨〉风波（一）》。2021年12月13日检索。
Tan, Shzr Ee. 2001. “Phoon the ‘Show Loser’”. The Straits Times, 2001年5月25日。
Tan, Shzr Ee. 2001. “Hard labour, sweet delivery”. The Straits Times, 2001年6月10日。
潘耀田访谈
Kenneth Tay（2022年1月）
第一部分：关于作曲过程与华乐团
KT： 早上好！谢谢您接受我的访问。今天的第一个问题是：当您作曲时，脑海中会先听见和弦、旋律与和声，然后再把它们写下来吗？还是您会在钢琴上尝试不同的构想，即兴探索？您的作曲过程是怎样的？是否会结合以上几种方法？
PYT： 这个问题包含了很多内容！你看，我没有绝对音感，所以只能想象声音。我喜欢纸张，以前也经常弹钢琴。我的年代和现在不同。我们说的是20世纪70年代和80年代。我在2002年以后才开始使用电脑。在那之前，如果有些东西拿不准，我就必须到钢琴前试一试。传统上，作曲家的训练也包括学习钢琴。例外很少，例如柏辽兹不会弹钢琴，但像舒曼、肖邦等作曲家，几乎人人都会弹钢琴。他们不仅是器乐演奏家，也是作曲家和指挥。所以，我的作曲过程是多种方法的结合。
KT： 根据我从图书馆借到的一本《孔子：世俗清唱剧》，整部作品超过400页，全部都是您手写的吗？
PYT： 那是在2002年以前！当时我还没有开始使用电脑制谱。我需要完成很多工作，包括管弦乐总谱，以及供合唱团和歌唱家使用的钢琴缩谱，所以花了很多时间。直到接近尾声、快要完成管弦乐总谱时，我才知道还需要做完所有这些工作。那对我是个很大的打击，也有点令人震惊，因为当时我只想赶在截止日期前完成作品。那些工作是否写进合同，我也不太确定，因为我一直专注于乐团、合唱团和独唱部分。
后来我之所以转而使用电脑，就是因为这部作品！创作《孔子：世俗清唱剧》真的伤到了我的背。你想象一下，在不到半年里创作这么长的一部作品，而且过程中还有很多问题。因此，它确实是一次巨大的挑战。
KT： 您至今创作的所有音乐都获得过演出机会吗？还是有一些尚未被演出？
PYT： 这是个好问题。我想，作为职业作曲家，会经历不同的阶段。从某种意义上说，我很幸运，因为早在20世纪70年代，我就与人民协会华乐团合作。当时由于政治环境的关系，可用的乐谱并不多。人们对共产主义意识形态非常敏感，许多华乐作品都与中国大陆有关联。那些音乐本来可能已经被录制成唱片，但大部分都遭到禁播，包括一些并不涉及政治问题的作品。因此，新加坡的华乐团非常缺乏乐曲和曲目。
于是，我做了许多听写工作。我会聆听唱片，尽可能把音乐记录下来。那时的音乐不像现在这么复杂，所以还算做得到。我大概可以写出其中的70%至80%，对乐团来说已经足够，因为当时实在非常缺少作品和曲目。如今作曲家多了很多，乐团也可以通过互联网更容易地购买乐谱。
好处是，我获得了很多练习机会，而且完全没有压力。当时我还没有接受太多正规训练，只得到过几个人的指导。我从1974年起才跟梁荣平老师学习，而我所做的那些编曲，有些是在那之前，有些是在那之后。我认为，西方音乐理论与和声并不能完全适用于当时的华乐团音乐，你必须想办法绕过这些限制。这会迫使你思考，如何运用自己学到的西方音乐理论。
我认为，在新加坡，我们也是把西方音乐观念融入华乐团音乐的先驱之一。我这一代人……我不清楚其他人的情况，但也许因为我对这件事比较认真，所以做了相当多的尝试。这可能与当时中国大陆作曲家的做法有些相似。
我会说，我大约90%的作品都演出过。有些作品只是出于个人兴趣，为了试验某种想法而写。乐团未必随时都能配合，但大多数时候没有问题，因为他们需要新作品来演奏。
跟梁老师上课以后，我们有一群学生对歌曲创作感兴趣，当时也有一些比赛。我至少参加过三次。因此，我创作了一些作品，也获得了演出机会。1974年，我以演奏员兼编曲者的身份加入人民协会华乐团，当时的指挥是吴大江先生。他后来成为香港中乐团的首任艺术总监。我认为香港中乐团是世界上最优秀的华乐团。因此，我写出的音乐都会由团员排练。
20世纪70年代末，我获得新加坡交响乐团奖学金前往澳大利亚，起初是学习长笛，后来同时修读两个学位课程！我创作了很多作品，其中大部分都得到演出。当然，不包括那些你知道的课堂作业！哈哈！不过，在学校里当作曲学生是一件很美好的事。作品可能会在大师班上由杰出音乐家演奏，也可能在音乐会上由学生音乐家演出。
回到新加坡后，我可能是当时唯一以专业作曲家身份工作的人。尽管我必须履行奖学金合约，于1984年至1992年在人民协会华乐团服务，并在那段时期担任助理指挥和副指挥，我仍然创作了相当多的音乐。这些作品曾在新加坡艺术节和海外演出。我也从1984年起在南洋艺术学院任教，并于1993年至1996年担任音乐系主任。
当时我同时做两件事：一方面担任音乐系行政人员，另一方面接受本地及海外机构的创作委约。在那以前，我已经赢得过一些作曲奖项，例如入野义朗纪念奖，而且我得奖的时间还比谭盾早！哈哈！不过，当时我快40岁了。我觉得自己应该创作一些比以往更好的作品，因此开始有点担心。对于严肃作品来说，如果当时不尝试写出好作品，等年纪更大以后，可能就没有精力和动力了。因此，即使没有委约，也不确定是否会获得演出，我仍尝试挑战自己，创作一些优秀作品。
至于我的编曲，部分教育来自20世纪60年代的童年。当时新加坡没有太多娱乐，主要来源是收音机和丽的呼声。家人会听旧唱片和广播，其中有英文老歌、中文老歌，甚至还有一些西方古典音乐，但当时你并不知道那些作品的名称。后来才发现，那些原来都是名作。当时我们只觉得：“哇，真好听。”所以我听了很多当时的流行音乐，如今它们都被视为老歌。我受的是中文教育，自然也听了很多中文老歌。
如果你了解中文老歌，就会知道20世纪30至40年代的上海，有许多音乐是由俄国音乐家编曲和演奏的。当然，旋律出自中国词曲作者，例如姚敏、黎锦光、陈歌辛。我很喜欢那些编曲的方式、音色和和声处理。随着时间推移，我在不知不觉中记住了许多细节。当时我不太懂四部和声，但聆听同一首歌由不同的人编曲时，有些版本会让我觉得不舒服，好像哪里不对。
到了20世纪90年代，我离开人民协会华乐团后，有更多时间创作。我成长过程中听过的音乐，在记忆中留下了许多痕迹。有些录音后来已经无法再次找到，因此我根据记忆，依照自己记得的内容重新编曲。我在上海录制了两张这样的CD，总共大约30首作品。不过截至目前，我为交响乐团和华乐团创作的这类编曲，应该已经超过100首。
上海录音完成后，我们举行了两场由新加坡交响乐团演奏这些老歌的音乐会，分别是在2015年和2016年。这些作品也由新加坡的儿童爱乐乐团演出。还有不少作品尚未演出。你看，我有空时就会写编曲，纯粹为了自己的满足！当然，我也希望它们最终能够获得演出。
作为职业作曲家，有时不能只凭兴趣作曲，尤其是那些需要大量创意的作品。我觉得编曲是为了自己的享受，因为市面上已有许多编曲，但其中一些我并不喜欢。我在上海录制那些作品时，并没有得到多少报酬，但那是我为自己做的事。与香港或台湾的职业编曲家相比，我认为他们与我不同，因为他们没有和我一样的背景。童年时听过的那些音乐，我至今仍记得。我会对它们作出一些调整，因为原曲可能是为小型乐队而写，而我则把它改编成完整的交响乐团或华乐团版本。
另外，在20世纪30至40年代，唱片几乎没有后期剪辑，通常直接一次录完。有时即使出现错音，也会照样保留下来，可能是因为录音室时间昂贵，或有其他成本因素。因此，我会尝试修补那些不太妥当的地方，使作品更加完善。这就是我所做的事情。
KT： 在创作《孔子：世俗清唱剧》以前，您写过一部名为《华乐团变奏曲》的作品，又称《青少年华乐团指南》。这显然会令人联想到本杰明·布里顿的《青少年管弦乐队指南》。您能谈谈这部有趣作品的创作缘起吗？
PYT： 我刚从澳大利亚回来时，为华侨中学初级学院华乐团创作了这部作品，因为那是当时最优秀的学生乐团之一，而指挥谭泽江先生也非常认真。他是一位很优秀的音乐家。虽然没有受过正规训练，但我认为至少在精神层面上，他比许多职业指挥都优秀。
后来，我担任人民协会华乐团助理指挥和副指挥时，再次演出了这部作品。到了21世纪初，新加坡华乐团在叶聪指挥下演出这部作品时，我想我又作了一些修改。我们还制作了一张CD……它就像是为那些希望进一步了解华乐器创作方法的人准备的一套教材。在CD中，我不仅希望像本杰明·布里顿的作品一样加入旁白，也希望通过作品呈现华乐团音乐从最初阶段开始的历史。
这个系列共有三部作品。其中有一部示范曲，以独奏方式展示各种华乐器的演奏可能性，具有很强的教育意义。
KT： 当时华乐团作为一种乐团形式还比较年轻，曲目也不多。这是否促使您创作了这部作品？
PYT： 当时确实缺少有关华乐器的书籍和指南。我想可能有一些书尝试汇集各种华乐器的资料，但我的作品不但包含声音，也有旁白，并且会说明华乐团的历史发展。我认为，帮助年轻人了解华乐团非常重要。我感受到一种需要，也感受到一种迫切性。
很多新进作曲家以西方风格写作，但作为华人，了解华乐是有价值的。当然，Eric Watson等作曲家也为华乐团写过作品。谭盾以及与他同代的中国大陆作曲家，从某种意义上说都具有“双语”能力。
我的背景则有所不同，因为我受的是中文教育，也是自学华乐器的。即使在我刚加入人民协会华乐团时，那个乐团名义上是专业乐团，但我们所有演奏员其实都是自学成才。我们当然会听华乐，但在前往瑞士巡演以后，也学习了许多西方音乐。当时有一个国际青年管弦乐团节，我们以华乐团的形式代表新加坡。那次巡演对我们非常重要，因为每晚都能听到许多西方交响乐团的演出。回国以后，我们希望学习更多，于是开始上西洋乐器课、乐理课等。
我们与中国大陆的作曲家不同，因为他们很早就接受了专业训练，从某种意义上说，他们拥有更好的基础。因此，新加坡作曲家和中国大陆作曲家创作的华乐非常不同，尤其是在讨论所谓的“南洋风格”等问题时。
回到这些教材的需要……这些年来，我看见许多年轻作曲家尝试为华乐团写作，新加坡华乐团也努力鼓励这种发展，并委约作曲家创作作品。我过去曾与新加坡华乐团密切合作，因为我担任过至少两年的驻团作曲家。看到年轻作曲家提交的乐谱时，我非常震惊。我觉得他们根本不了解华乐。乐团当然会提供一些资料，例如每种乐器可能达到的音域。但最常见的错误之一，是作曲家把笛子当作西洋长笛来处理，然后写出各种半音阶。可是笛子无法像西洋长笛那样演奏；你必须考虑乐器的特性。如果对某种乐器了解不足，提出问题是很重要的。同样，也不能把二胡当成小提琴。
因此，在我担任新加坡华乐团驻团作曲家期间，我所做的事情之一，就是举办工作坊和培训。参与者必须创作一首由乐团演奏试读的作品。我是该团第二任驻团作曲家。第一任驻团作曲家已经为年轻作曲家举办过一些大师班，但我觉得，当时的授课者似乎假定这些年轻作曲家已经掌握了华乐团写作的基础，所以一开始便直接讨论作品本身。
我不太认同这种做法，因为许多年轻作曲家其实并不清楚自己在做什么。因此，在我担任驻团作曲家时，我向音乐总监建议，希望教导年轻作曲家以正确方式为华乐器写作。我们的目标是让每位参与者完成一部作品，然后由我在为期三个月的每周课程中逐一处理细节。我认为这样更好。
我从香港中乐团的一些乐师朋友那里听说，当该团委约一部作品时，即使某些写作方式不符合乐器特性或并不合适，乐团也无权提出异议。我认为香港中乐团是世界上最优秀的华乐团之一。我曾向新加坡华乐团音乐总监叶聪提出，不应接受那些不尊重华乐器演奏能力的委约作品。我的意思是，当我为新加坡交响乐团写作时，会花很多时间检查每一个细节。因此，我认为作曲家应该承担这样的责任，否则他们便称不上诚实或真诚。
第二部分：关于《孔子：世俗清唱剧》
KT： 您使用了一个非常成熟的体裁来描述《孔子》这部作品，也就是“清唱剧”。把它称为清唱剧，是否意味着您有意识地遵循某种音乐传统？
PYT： 首先，这并不是我的主意！在词作者庄永康找我以前，他曾接触过一位中国大陆作曲家刘湲，但后来没有合作成功，我也不知道原因。不过，在找那位作曲家以前，他曾向我征询意见；后来他又回来找我，并建议我们共同创作。
最初我想的是歌剧，但他说，考虑到制作成本等因素，清唱剧是比较容易落实这个项目的方式。对我来说，歌剧或清唱剧都可以，因为文本讲述的是孔子从童年到成年的一生。
KT： 您如何描述《孔子：世俗清唱剧》的委约要求与作品最终整体结构之间的关系？例如，每个乐章是否有时长限制，还是作品结构完全源自您与词作者之间的讨论？
PYT： 我和庄永康讨论时，对作品大约应该多长确实有很清楚的概念。我原本认为不应该太长，因为脚本只有几页。但开始作曲以后，作品不知不觉就变成了那个样子。仿佛有一种力量告诉你，必须这样写；某个段落必须有一定的长度，才能描绘你想表达的内容。
所以，作品最终变得那么长。作曲时，我并没有考虑整体时长；直到完成以后，才意识到它的规模。作品共有十个乐章，其中两个乐章接近30分钟，总时长约为两个半小时。
KT： 据您所知，是否还有其他新加坡作曲家创作过如此庞大、系统性如此强，并且超过两个小时的作品？
PYT： 我想，我可能是唯一一个。我的老师梁荣平先生曾创作过歌剧，但我认为没有那么长。至于其他新加坡作曲家，我不记得有人写过。在《孔子：世俗清唱剧》以前，我曾与吴丽娟女士合作，为新加坡艺术节创作一部长篇作品《女娲》。我想那部作品至少有一个半小时。
KT： 您平时的作品一般都比较短吗？
PYT： 长短不一，因为我认为，作为作曲家，几乎什么都应该能够做。哈哈！当然，这也取决于个人喜好，有些事情你可能并不喜欢。不过，对职业作曲家来说，你不能只写严肃音乐，否则无法生存。从某种意义上说，那也不能完整体现你的能力。
作为职业作曲家，我有些时期必须为了生计接受自己无法选择的工作。大多数时候我都会接受，即使不是自己喜欢的类型，也会把它当作一种挑战，并尽力去喜欢它。我曾为香港中乐团编写过不少流行歌曲。平时我不太听这类音乐，但收到委约以后，就必须在头脑中转化它，再为华乐团写作。
原曲当然不是为华乐团创作的，例如王菲的流行歌曲。我曾编过她的《我愿意》。粤语流行曲还可以，粤剧也可以，它们更接近我的音乐语言。不过，完成以后，你会对这些音乐有更多了解。即使不是很喜欢，也可以接受。
KT： 创作完成《孔子：世俗清唱剧》后，您是否感到很有成就感？
PYT： 当然！
KT： 创作这样一部长篇作品时，有哪些特别的挑战？整个过程用了多长时间？
PYT： 挑战在于决心。有时候你真的完全不想写，更不用说身体上的疼痛了，因为你一直低着头。当时我年轻得多，但也意识到人真的会把自己弄伤。那部作品的音乐实在太多。
如今使用电脑，可以很容易地复制和粘贴；但在当时，如果要重复一个段落，就必须重新抄写。不过，好处是，重写的过程很慢，因此你有更多时间重新思考某些内容。电脑就不同了，速度很快，有时你反而不会认真反思。
在纸上写总谱时，你能看见所有东西；但在电脑上，你必须不断放大、缩小，到处点击……注意力就会变得比较狭窄。在纸上，你可以看到整体。有时候，电脑让年轻作曲家太容易复制和粘贴。他们想试验某些声音时，就让电脑来完成。但我们那个时代的作曲家如果无法想象某种声音或和声，就只能到钢琴前试奏。
例如在这部清唱剧里，我没有使用传统的转调方式。录音听起来很流畅，但最初由一位上海歌剧界的顶尖歌唱家演唱时，他竟然迷失了方向！我认为桂乃舜把合唱部分处理得很好。
我当然受到普罗科菲耶夫等作曲家的启发，在旋律处理上采用了一些类似的方法。例如他在《彼得与狼》中使用的转调方式，那种旋律性的转调。我没有使用共同和弦，而是使用共同音，而且必须非常小心地处理。普罗科菲耶夫属于西方音乐，而我则把这种方法与五声音阶结合，使作品更具中国色彩。
幸好我们拥有现代华乐团。在演奏技术方面，我会说它们与西方管弦乐团同样优秀。
KT： 在《孔子：世俗清唱剧》中，您是否以不同方式处理声乐与器乐写作？当您把这些演出力量结合起来时，具体是怎样处理的？
PYT： 我认为自己只是很自然地完成了，没有遇到什么问题。
KT： 您会如何形容作品中使用的音色？
PYT： 我什么都想要！色彩丰富的、响亮的、轻柔的、充满活力的，有时也略带哀怨。与此同时，我必须配合庄永康的文本。不过，就音乐而言，我拥有自己的自由和诠释方式。
他进行了大量研究，把文本写得很好。但坦白说，如果不是因为这项委约，我不会创作这部作品。随着创作不断推进，我对作品的兴趣和热爱也越来越深。这就像人与人相处一样：相处的时间越长、互动越多，你就越了解对方，也会越来越喜欢或越来越讨厌对方！哈哈！
不过，你必须喜欢这个过程，否则就会非常痛苦。我总是告诉学生，必须喜欢自己所做的事。如果不喜欢，那就不要做。当然，我也不可能放弃。这从某种意义上说并不是我的首要项目，但它耗费了太多精力。当时我的孩子还在上幼儿园。客厅里有一台电视，所以我让儿子坐在小凳子上自己看电视，而我则在另一个房间里一边照看他，一边工作。
KT： 对于自己被视为新加坡最杰出的作曲家，您有什么感想？毕竟，如今每天演唱和演奏的国歌，采用的最新编曲版本就是由您完成的。
PYT： 哈哈！我从来没有想过这件事。你可以说这是运气，也可以说是机会，但我认为，归根结底仍然要靠努力，因为机会不会在不努力的情况下凭空出现。
伟大的作曲家往往创作了大量作品，其中一些可能从未被听见或演出。但我认为，你必须有足够庞大的创作数量，才可能从中产生一些优秀作品。如果有时间和精力，我就会坐下来编曲。我喜欢自己所做的事，也认为把自己怀着热爱完成的作品带给别人，是很重要的。
