The Sisters’ Islands (Double Zhongruan and Piano)《姐妹岛》(双中阮与钢琴) by WANG Chenwei 王辰威 – 黄孜瑜 | 吴卓欣 | 王俊霖

Ruanxian Association of Singapore presents:
“Ruan Reimagined: A Seminar-Concert”
31 Aug 2023
Esplanade Recital Studio
Singapore Chinese Music Festival 2023

新加坡阮咸学会呈现：
《阮的新声：座谈暨音乐会》
2023年8月31日
新加坡滨海艺术中心音乐室
新加坡华乐节 2023

Zhongruan I: Ng Zi Yu Lynn
Zhongruan II: Wu Zhuoxin
Piano: Victor Ong
Artistic direction: Mdm Zhang Ronghui

中阮I: 黄孜瑜
中阮II: 吴卓欣
钢琴: 王俊霖
艺术指导：张蓉晖老师

Double Zhongruan Concerto “The Sisters’ Islands”
Composed by Wang Chenwei

“The Sisters’ Islands” is a programmatic concerto for double Zhongruan and Chinese orchestra, inspired by the local legend of the Sisters’ Islands located south of Singapore, featuring four sections:

I. Fishing Village: A gong strike opens the piece, introducing the peaceful tropical coast of Singapore. As the orchestra plays wave-like patterns in the pentatonic Pelog scale, evoking impressions of Indonesian gamelan, the broad “sea” theme is presented by the solo Ruan, followed by the bowed strings. Next, the graceful “sisters” theme portrays the beautiful young Malay sisters Minah and Linah in an Asli dance. The music then proceeds into a lively Zapin dance depicting the festivities in the village.

II. Capture of the Bride: Suddenly, a throng of pirates raids the village, illustrated by the menacing “pirates” theme in a hexatonic scale. Their chief, awestruck by Linah’s beauty, intends to abduct her as his bride. A weeping melody implores the release of Linah but to no avail as she is dragged away, and a descending scale represents Minah stumbling into the sea to chase after the pirate ship.

III. Raging Waves: Bass instruments play a transformed “sea” theme, while octatonic scales and percussion effects depict the stormy sea. A struggling “sisters” theme emerges amidst the chaos as Minah swims after the pirates, until she is overcome by exhaustion and disappears amidst the raging waves. Linah struggles fiercely to break free of her captors and jumps into the sea to join her sister. This tragedy incurs the wrath of the gods. Thunder and lightning strike, and a giant orchestral wave engulfs the pirate ship. After a long timpani roll, calmness is restored.

IV. Spirit of the Sea: In the morning, a conch (seashell) calls out for the sisters’ spirits to rest in peace. The “sea” and “sisters” themes are recapitulated and finally played together in counterpoint, building up to a climactic ending as two islands emerge from the sea where the sisters drowned.

Composed by WANG Chenwei at age 17, “The Sisters' Islands” won the Singapore Composer Award at the 2006 Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition. Originally scored for Chinese Orchestra, this piece has been widely performed and recorded in various arrangements, most notably at Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural National Day concert in 2018. It won the Top Local Classical Music Award 2023 presented by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) and is now featured in Singapore’s primary school music textbooks.

双中阮协奏曲《姐妹岛》
王辰威作曲

双中阮协奏曲《姐妹岛》取材于新加坡岸外姐妹岛的民间传说，全曲分为四段：

一、渔岛：低音锣一声鸣响，拉开了乐曲的序幕。乐队以印尼甘美兰风格的波浪式音形和 pelog 五声音阶烘托出一望无际的大海和蕉风椰雨的渔岛风光，双中阮和胡琴先后呈示出宽广的「海」主题。大合奏之后，轻盈优美的「姐妹」主题描述一对年轻马来姐妹米娜与丽娜的 asli 舞姿。随后，双中阮进入一段欢快的 zapin 舞乐段。

二、抢婚：突然，胡琴响起阴森的颤音；中阮弹出凶悍的「海盗」主题，一伙海盗冲进渔村，首领强掳丽娜为妻。凄婉的旋律描述悲伤的姐妹苦苦哀求海盗放手，但海盗拖着丽娜登船扬帆而去，随着疾速下行音阶，米娜哭喊着跳进海里，劈波斩浪，奋力追赶远去的海盗船。

三、怒涛：急促的快板和八声音阶调式展现了暴风骤雨的场面。低音乐器奏出「海」主题，吹管和敲击乐器模仿汹涌的波涛。在一片混乱之中，「姐妹」主题再次出现；精疲力竭的米娜消失在惊涛骇浪中。船上的丽娜眼见失去唯一的亲人，猛力挣脱海盗的魔掌跃入大海。这一幕触怒了上天，刹那间雷电交加，一股巨浪吞噬了海盗船。在一阵定音鼓的滚奏后，一切恢复平静。

四、海魂：次日清晨，深沉的海螺声缓缓响起，为姐妹安魂。村民们回到岸边，惊见海面上浮现出两座相依而立的小岛。双中阮再现「海」主题，胡琴奏起悠扬的「姐妹」主题，最后「海」与「姐妹」两个主题以复调手法同时呈现，把乐曲推向高潮的尾声，象征溶入大海的一对情深姐妹化为永恒的海岛。

王辰威17岁创作华乐合奏《姐妹岛》，在2006年新加坡国际华乐作曲大赛中获「新加坡作曲家奖」，随后改编为双中阮协奏曲等多种不同乐器组合的版本，并在2018年新加坡交响乐团的国庆音乐会上呈现。《姐妹岛》获新加坡词曲版权协会 2023“年度本地古典音乐奖” ，也被收入新加坡小学音乐课本。