After showcasing Malaysia's young compositional talents from both
the West and East coasts, the next representative at the upcoming ACL festival
hails from the Borneo state of Sabah across the South China Sea.
28-year-old Rayner Naili, born in Sabah, will be presenting
his chamber work piece Serpihan Mimpi for flute and violin (Fragments of Dream)
at the festival's Young Composers Competition, and sees the opportunity as a
"breakthrough" for Sabahan composers.
Naili started learning music as a self-taught musician, and
then decided to get proper music education at the Faculty of Music of
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) from 2008 until 2013, where he received a
dean's list for his Bachelor of music in composition.
He then furthered his studies in composition at the
University of Manchester, UK, where he studied composition with Richard
Whalley. Rayner’s works have been performed and workshopped with many
professional musicians such as the Quartor Danel, Trio Atem, Clare Hammond etc.
Currently, Naili is teaching at the Faculty of Music in UiTM.
On his four-part work, Naili says, "The piece was
inspired by the idea of a journey in a dream. There are many occasions in a
dream that switch from one emotion to another in relation to the dimensions of
the dream.
"These dimensions could be related to each other or
could be different from one another. Although these fragments of the journey
are scattered, it's still in one set of a dream, hence, it makes a story that
has different sets of emotions. These emotions and dimensions were composed and
arranged accordingly as there are several parts in music composition."
The four short movements of the work are titled: I. Samar,
II. Celaru, III. Sepi, IV. Riuh.
It begins with a conventional dialogue between the two
instruments, but as the movements unfold, Naili introduces more extended
techniques and flexible meters, and the tonality of the opening soon gives way
to more unconventional sounds from the instruments, including jet whistle tones
and scratch tones (excerpt below).
On his musical style, Naili says, "My music has always
been influenced with interlocking elements, rhythmically and harmonically. This
could be influenced of my growing up with the traditional music of Sabah, such
as gong tunes, kulintangan, togunggak etc, which are largely using interlocking
as their main element.
"Apart from that, I have always been fascinated with
Einstein’s theory of relativity, where the speed of light is a universal
measurement of time. From this perspective, I usually try to develop my music
using these two elements of interlocking and relativity."
He said going to Taiwan for the 35th ACL "would be a
breakthrough for me or any Sabahan contemporary composer".
"It would be an exciting experience to explore other
composers’ works and hopefully learn something for personal development, and
promote Malaysian contemporary music at the same time," said Naili.
History of the ACL Young Composers Competition
The ACL (Asian Composers League) comprises representative bodies from across the Asia Pacific that holds regular festivals every 12 to 18 months around the region. Its Young Composers Competition is a platform for young composers around the region to show their talent.
As the Malaysian representative in ACL, the Malaysian Composers Collective (MCC) has sent many young talents to the regional platform, and each and every representative has done the country proud in showing their highly individual musical voices. In particular, 2011 (Taiwan), Jessica Cho won third prize for her work Five Little Pieces for Piano, while in 2014 (Tokyo), Ainolnaim Azizol won second prize for his Fragments I for trumpet duo.
As the Malaysian representative in ACL, the Malaysian Composers Collective (MCC) has sent many young talents to the regional platform, and each and every representative has done the country proud in showing their highly individual musical voices. In particular, 2011 (Taiwan), Jessica Cho won third prize for her work Five Little Pieces for Piano, while in 2014 (Tokyo), Ainolnaim Azizol won second prize for his Fragments I for trumpet duo.
2011 Taipei - Jessica Cho, won 3rd Prize
2013 Singapore - Ainolnaim Azizol
2014 Tokyo - Ainolnaim Azizo, won 2nd Prize
2015 Manila - Sayyid Shafiee
2016 Hanoi - Raja Mohamad Alif
2018 Taipei - Rayner Naili
2018 Taipei - Rayner Naili
