© 2009 Siow Lee Chin
The title of my debut recording is a play on Antonín Dvořák’s
well-loved work Songs My Mother Taught Me. This album of
lovely melodies and violin showpieces is a labor of love and is
dedicated to my dear father, the Singaporean Chinese violinist
Siow Hee-Shun, who is also my very first violin teacher, and
still an ever-supportive mentor.
Music has always been in my family. My younger brothers and I
grew up in a loving atmosphere filled with music, and it was only classical music. My father, a
pioneer violinist in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, is a quiet and modest man. My father
never marketed himself, but believed in an honest work ethic. He espoused Confucian values,
and used to tell me,
(Do not worry about the harvest. Keep sowing and the
rest will take care of itself.)
When I was three months old, my father had already set his sights on me becoming a violinist.
However he waited until I was seven before he gave me my first violin lesson. You could say I
was a late bloomer! As a teacher, he paid attention to detail, especially in the styling of a phrase,
as well as the big picture. “Listen to this piece of music,” he would say, “and hear how elegantly
this violinist shapes its ending.” Nothing is ever glossed over whenever I played for him.
Father’s favourite violinists are Jascha Heifetz and Fritz
Kreisler. One of his best loved Heifetz recordings was a
transcription of Debussy's song Beau Soir, a piece so
simple yet so poignant that it touches the heart. Violin music
with a singing tone, seamless lines and soaring climaxes is
what matters to him most.
I won my first competition soon after starting lessons, playing
Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs, one of the first concert
pieces my father taught me. It has been with me ever since, and I performed it with the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui’s direction in Osaka in 2003. Also under my
father’s tutelage, I learnt to play many masterworks, including Pablo Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen
(Gypsy Airs), Henryk Wieniawski’s Polonaise in D major Op.4 – typically virtuoso fare – and
Nicolo Paganini’s Cantabile and Heinz Provost’s Intermezzo – music of great lyricism.
Intermezzo, from the soundtrack of 1939 movie of the same title starring Ingrid Bergman and
Leslie Howard, is one of his particular favourites. I am very pleased to be able to include some of
these in my recital disc.
When the Singapore Symphony Orchestra gave its first concerts in 1979, I was the youngest of
three trainee musicians to play in the violins – alongside a rather proud father. There were many
visiting violinists whom I had a chance to play for, among them Ruggiero Ricci, Salvatore
Accardo and Aaron Rosand. It was Rosand who helped get me a place to study at the
prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. My father knew I was in good hands when I eventually
left for the States.
Virtually all my studies and concert career were centered in
my adopted homeland of the United States of America. From
the New World came many new musical experiences and a
widening of my repertoire. I have chosen three works from
the American continent. African-American William Grant Still’s
Gamin’ from the Suite for Violin and Piano is pure Americana,
it’s jazzy, highly rhythmic and full of playful portamenti (slides)
and blues notes. Amy Beach’s Romance from 1893 is a
lovely lyrical work in the best Romantic tradition from the pre-
eminent American woman composer of the age. I dedicate this
performance to Lady Yuen Peng McNiece, who has been such
a role model for me and whose foundation supported me throughout my studies in the United
States.
Mexican composer Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita is his most famous song, one which he later
incorporated into the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. The Polish-born violinist Henryk
Szeryng was the concerto’s most famous interpreter. Having won the 1994 Henryk Szeryng
International Violin Competition in Mexico City seems to be a fortuitous coincidence for me, but
isn’t it just a simply ravishing melody?
One might have noticed a gypsy element in my recital programme. With the Sarasate are Vittorio
Monti’s Hungarian-flavoured Csárdás, Kreisler’s earthy La Gitana, and Dvořák’s melancholic
Songs My Mother Taught Me from his set of Gypsy Songs Op. 55. This highly expressive and
almost carefree feel to the music might very well describe my life as a musician. Be it
Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Oberlin or Charleston, I am usually far from home
but always on the move!
Coming home to Singapore and loved ones is always a pleasure. What do I miss most about
being away? Besides family, it’s the food… especially Hainanese chicken rice and char kuay
teow (wok-fried noodles with lots of garnishing)! I decided to include one Chinese work in my
recital, Fisherman’s Song at Sunset arranged by Chinese composer Li Guo-Quan. This
performance is dedicated in memory of the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong, former president of
Singapore, who was a music lover and a fine pianist. He once accompanied me on the piano in
this very piece! I am grateful to him for making available the 1750 Guadagnini violin that you
hear on this recording.
Finally, I have included the slow movement, titled
Improvisation, from the youthful Violin Sonata in E-flat
major (1887-88) by Richard Strauss. Its serene and
sensuous melody, played with heartfelt warmth and
tenderness, is something my father loves. My father
sat in all my recording sessions at the Yong Siew Toh
Conservatory of Music, listening attentively and taking
mental notes. Once I caught a glance of him, and
found tears in his eyes. He has a Chinese saying ,
which resonates deeply within me,
“Remember the source that quenches your thirst”.
It was a wonderful honor to return home for a
sabbatical as a visiting artist at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of
Singapore, where I recorded this album, and had the opportunity to work with young musicians
from the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. I did not realise that I had the nurturing spirit in me
until I started teaching. It was an unexpected talent which I now pursue with passion and
commitment. I know a small part of my father’s legacy had rubbed on. It is great to be back!
)
With Jascha Brodsky at my
Curtis graduation
My father, Siow Hee Shun
)
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with
the Dallas Symphony conducted by
Eduardo Mata
)
Performing with Li-Wei and Bernard
Lanskey at my homecoming concert in
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music,
National University of Singapore
ABOUT THE CD
