Reliving Malaysia's pioneering orchestral music on MPO TV


When the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra embarked on its groundbreaking Forum series for local composers way back in the early 2000s, it marked a turning point, indeed a real renaissance, for Malaysian new music.

The Forum 1 and 2 literally gave rise to a whole new generation of serious composers who have since made their mark around the world, and which was the critical catalyst for the formation of the Malaysian Composers Collective starting with the core of the Forum composers, way back in 2007.

Two decades later the works premiered by the Forums still have a deep significance in our Malaysian orchestral repertoire, and the MCC decided to make these works better known to the present generation for the important place they hold in the development of our new music scene.

The MPO was enthusiastic with our idea of reliving these works on their MPO TV, and we drew from our archives 11 of these key works of that era to be made available to listeners once again and worked with MPO to give them new life.

Listening back to those seminal works relives the excitement of those early years, the mysterious and deeply reflective sounds of Johan Othman's Ittar and the following Topeng series, the gorgeous melodic flair of Vivian Chua's Water and her later celebratory Mercu Kegemilangan, the gamelan infused beauty of Ahmad Muriz' Bertabuh Kala Senja, the colourful vitality of Adeline Wong's cello concerto Snapshots, and the dark beauty of Ng Chong Lim's works especially his ethereal Xiang, still sound fresh and amazing today as it did then.

Listen to MPO TV's Malaysian Composers Series Vol 1

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