Seismographs
by Ng Yu Hng 

My piece explores the resonance of the theorbo. As the title suggests. this piece takes inspiration from seismographs, instruments used to record ground tremors during an earthquake. In the first half of the piece, pointillistic gestures occasionally erupt from the drone-like cantus firmus, before being clouded by cluster chords in the theorbo’s unfretted bass strings. This texture evokes the sound of impending tremors. An echoing clock-like texture next emerges, alluding to the mechanical nature of the seismograph. These two textures then merge at the close of the piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ng Yu Hng is a composer whose works have been performed in the UK, Germany, Finland and Singapore. He is interested in exploring musical intertextuality: the myriad ways in which past music is quoted and recontextualized into modern pieces.

He obtained his Master's degree in Composition (Distinction) under Morgan Hayes at the Royal Academy of Music, supported by the Countess of Munster Trust scholarship. Previously, he studied composition at King's College London, achieving the Purcell Prize in Music. 

His music has been performed by CHROMA, Lontano ensemble, Hill Quartet, George Fu, Richard Uttley and Maria Marchant among others. Recently, his music was presented in the Singapore Symphonic Orchestra's Musical Soundbites series, and also at the 10th Singapore Saxophone Symposium.