Persis Overture

Persis Overture is a contemporary band piece composed by James L. Hosay. It is one of the most famous band pieces in the band scene due to its ability to 'attach' the listener and its enchanting melodies.

Persis Overture is essentially about a love story in a dream. The piece has a 'persian', 'oriental' feel and starts off grandly with lots of brass instruments. The Percussion 'push' the music forward with lots of running notes especially on the marimba. There is some sort of interplay between groups of instruments requiring some balancing feat. The entire piece, however, is generally homophonic.

The oboe solo in the middle of the piece is expressive and requires musicality of the soloist. The oboe solo should be played with lots of expression but not to the extent of being melodramatic. The oboe solo is then built up to a larger instrumentation and eventually, we are brought back to the recapitulation.

The finale of the piece is one of my favourites. It is a modification of the melody of the oboe solo and accompanied by horns. It brings about some form of 'sustained' emotion in the listener and its extremely 'touching' and melodious.

I give this piece a 8/10. However, it is often overplayed.

Kenji Wu Ke Qun - Bu Xie Ji Nian

Apparently, this song is inspired from Kenji's experience with his ex. In terms of composition, this ballad is emotive and has a 'tinge' of a feeling of denial. This song is also reflective in nature. I especially like the chorus and the variations associated with it. (The first time the chorus is sang, it is sang expressively without percussion. Afterwards, it is sang with percussion to give the music its 'wheels' ). A similar technique of instrumentation is used in Jay Chou's An Jing.

Also, the chorus is cleverly composed in the sense that the 'up-beats' is diminished upon repetition. i.e. the length of the 3 up-beat notes is shortened. This is a common technique used to emphasize certain notes. In this case, "Wo Bu Xie" is emphasized using this technique.

Kenji's ballad is definitely well composed but uses common or even classical techniques. Definitely an addictive piece. I'll give it a 7.5/10.

不屑纪念

十月十八我生日这一天
蜡烛熄灭后浮现你的脸
你说祝我生日快乐
但还有话挂在嘴边
你说你身边多了一个他
之后伤人的话你不想讲
你说你会怀念或纪念
谢谢你我该说声感谢
我不屑纪念这一天我们分别
我不屑怀念你的嘴喊着抱歉
我后来发现你的侧脸
只是我脑子里面的一点残缺
一点残缺
但还有话你挂在嘴边
我不屑怀念你的脸欲止又言
忘了说抱歉的是我才对

Translation (from chinesemusicblog.com forum):

"Don't Want to Remember" - Kenji Wu

October 18th - my birthday.
The candles went out and your face appeared,
And you wished me happy birthday
But there was something more on the tip of your tongue.
You said you'd found someone else,
But you didn't want to say anything else that would hurt me.
You said you'd always remember us.
I should speak up and thank you.

I don't want to remember the day we split,
I don't want to remember you screaming you're sorry.
Eventually I find your profile,
Has lost a little inside my mind,
Lost just a little.

But there was something more on the tip of your tongue,
I don't want to remember your face as you wondered if you should say it, I forgot I should be the one to say sorry.