Introspection (2021)

Introspection was written in response to the pandemic, and for the Nanyang Collective. I approached this piece by employing processed sounds of a cello to create an ambient bed underneath the players. During the pandemic, and post lockdown/circuit breaker, many people had different views on how the situation needed to be handled, and how they wanted to live in this post-pandemic society. The piece incorporates repetitive ideas on each instrument, not always in sync or in agreement, to depict these differing views. There's a sense of uncertainty, of lack of fulfillment, especially in the cello - which is never able to completely finish a melody. This was my challenge during the pandemic - of taking on too many ideas, never being able to finish them - an aimless feeling which I'm still struggling to get rid of. I had troubles finishing projects or sticking to deadlines - the pandemic made want to do more, but without the inspiration that was needed to achieve that. It even seeped into the writing of this piece!

A lot of the melodic material was derived from or expanded on from a Rajasthani folksong called 'Ghoomar'.

Towards the end, the cello leads the ensemble to more synchrony, with different instruments supporting each other - this is a depiction of what I hope society will evolve to, with more agreement, more conversation, and less polarisation.