Music of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) Forum 2 Finalists: Reflections on Malaysian Multiculturalism

The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) Forum for Malaysian Composers 2 signifiesthe multicultural vibrancy of Malaysia. The finalists respectively promote cultural elementsin their works. The appropriation of Eastern aesthetics, philosophy and cultural heritage intoWestern musical ideology are some of their compositional approaches. Moreover, variouselements of Malaysian traditional art forms ranging from dance rhythms to ritual conceptsand practices often emerge as an integral compositional component in their works. Thisarticle attempts to identify the compositional styles of Mohd Yazid Zakaria, Ng Chong Lim,Teh Tze Siew and Yii Kah Hoe by means of critical analysis on their selected works andinterviews. This comprehensive investigation shows that their stylistic trends can be classifiedinto two main categories, i.e., music influenced by Malay art forms, and music influencedby Chinese aesthetics. Mohd Yazid s works embody various aspects of Malay traditional artforms, whereas Teh and Ng s music demonstrate their affinity with Chinese philosophy andaesthetics. Straddling between these two categories is Yii s music that illustrates both Malayand Chinese elements with equal importance. In the light of their diverse musical styles in keeping with a multicultural concept, these four composers have much to contribute to theshaping of Malaysian art music of the 21st century. Malaysia as a multicultural society isclearly reflected in the works of these composers which this article further substantiates based on critical readings of the composers works.