The Sisters' Islands 《姐妹岛》Composed by Wang Chenwei

Concert Title: The Story Of Singapore
Concert date: 14 September 2018
Conductor: Tsung Yeh
“The Sisters’ Islands” is a programmatic symphonic poem for Chinese orchestra inspired by the local legend of the Sisters’ Islands located south of Singapore, featuring four sections:
I. Fishing Village: A gong strike opens the piece, introducing the peaceful tropical coast of Singapore. As the orchestra plays wave-like patterns in the pentatonic Pelog scale, evoking impressions of Indonesian gamelan, the broad “sea” theme is presented by the alto instruments, followed by the bowed strings. Next, the graceful “sisters” theme enters with the Chinese flute, portraying the beautiful young Malay sisters Minah and Linah in an Asli dance. The following lively Malay Zapin dance depicts festivities in the village.
II. Capture of the Bride: Suddenly, a throng of pirates raids the village, illustrated by the menacing “pirates” theme in hexatonic scale played by the Diyin-Suona. Their chief, awestruck by Linah’s beauty, intends to abduct her as his bride. A weeping Zhonghu implores the release of Linah but to no avail as she is dragged away, and a Gaohu solo represents Minah stumbling into the sea to chase after the pirate ship.
III. Raging Waves: Bass instruments play a transformed “sea” theme, while octatonic scales and percussion effects depict the stormy sea. A struggling “sisters” theme emerges amidst the chaos as Minah swims after the pirates until she is overcome by exhaustion and disappears amidst the raging waves. Linah struggles fiercely to break free of her captors and jumps into the sea to join her sister, represented by a Liuqin solo fading into the depths. This tragedy incurs the wrath of the gods. Thunder and lightning strike, and a giant orchestral wave engulfs the pirate ship. After a long timpani roll, calmness is restored.
IV. Spirit of the Sea: In the morning, a conch (seashell) calls out for the sisters’ spirits to rest in peace. The “sea” and “sisters” themes are recapitulated and finally played together in counterpoint, building up to a climactic ending as two islands emerge from the sea where the sisters drowned.
Composed by WANG Chenwei at age 17, “The Sisters’ Islands” won the Singapore Composer Award at the 2006 Singapore International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Composition. This piece has been widely performed and recorded in various arrangements, most notably at Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural National Day concert in 2018. It also won the Top Local Classical Music Award 2023 presented by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).
交响诗《姐妹岛》取材于新加坡岸外姐妹岛的民间传说，全曲分为四段：
一、渔岛：低音锣一声鸣响，拉开了乐曲的序幕。乐队以印尼甘美兰风格的波浪式音形和 pelog 五声音阶烘托出一望无际的大海和蕉风椰雨的渔岛风光，中音乐器和胡琴先后呈示出宽广的「海」主题。大合奏之后，悠扬的笛子吹出轻盈优美的「姐妹」主题，描述一对年轻马来姐妹米娜与丽娜的 asli 舞姿。随后，弹拨乐器在马来手鼓的伴奏下进入一段欢快的 zapin 舞乐段。
二、抢婚：突然，胡琴响起阴森的颤音；随着低音唢呐凶悍的「海盗」主题，一伙海盗冲进渔村，首领强掳丽娜为妻，悲伤的姐妹苦苦哀求海盗放手。乐曲由中胡凄婉的泣诉发展到高胡的疾速下行音阶；海盗拖着丽娜乘船扬长而去，米娜哭喊着追入海里。
三、怒涛：急促的快板和八声音阶调式展现了暴风骤雨的场面。低音乐器奏出「海」主题，吹管和敲击乐器模仿汹涌的波涛。在一片混乱之中，「姐妹」主题再次出现；精疲力竭的米娜消失在惊涛骇浪中。船上的丽娜眼见失去唯一的亲人，猛力挣脱海盗的魔掌跃入大海。这一幕触怒了上天，刹那间雷电交加，一股巨浪吞噬了海盗船。在一阵定音鼓的滚奏后，一切恢复平静。
四、海魂：次日清晨，深沉的海螺声缓缓响起，为姐妹安魂。村民们回到岸边，惊见海面上浮现出两座相依而立的小岛。中音管再现「海」主题，胡琴奏起悠扬的「姐妹」主题，最后「海」与「姐妹」两个主题以复调手法同时呈现，把乐曲推向高潮的尾声，象征溶入大海的一对情深姐妹化为永恒的海岛。
王辰威17岁创作的《姐妹岛》获2006年新加坡华乐国际作曲大赛「新加坡作曲家奖」，随后由多个中西乐团演奏并录成光碟，并在2018年新加坡交响乐团的国庆音乐会上呈现。《姐妹岛》也获新加坡词曲版权协会2023“年度本地古典音乐奖”。

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