Instrumentation: Piano

Duration: 3’ 5”

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Based on ‘Singapura, Oh, Singapura’, the Prelude uses the song as a skeleton, fleshing out the interiors with chords of various sizes and dyads of varying intervals. The melody is generally obscured, although moments of clarity allow it to break forth and indicate to the audience where they are in the song. Slow and ponderous, the piece concludes sonorously with a long series of dissonant chords underpinned by a D octave in the right hand, before two D octaves provide a final measure of transparent simplicity.

The piece was premiered by Akkra Yuenyonghattaporn at the Singapore Embassy in Washington, D.C. as part of an event celebrating the 10-year relationship between the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the Peabody Institute.