Last night, I attended a concert at Esplanade featuring Kelly Tang's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. I came to the concert expecting it to be an ear-opening experience, not  anticipating music rich in tonal harmonies, not anticipating music I am pleasantly comfortable with. 

A group of students sat in the row in front of me. Armed with paper and pen, these students started scribbling madly as soon as the first note sounded. Reflections, I thought, they must be writing reflections on the concert for their assignment. Tang's concerto was followed by the interval and I wanted so badly to steal a glance at their notes. What did they hear? How did they respond to what they heard?

I know what I heard. I heard music that was surprisingly, not unpleasant. No doubt it was difficult to understand though. The music somehow had a sense of unity among all the chaos it presented. As time went on, I realised that there seems to be this certain sound character I kept hearing. This could be due to, as written in the programme notes, "the harmonies [which] are derived from the pitches of the melodies and vice versa".

Audience reactions was something I was observing too. It was difficult to anticipate the end of the music, with its rich tapestry of interweaving melodies. The conductor's final firm wave of the hand was our only cue to the end of the work. This was responded by a few loud "Ha"s from the audience followed by a hesistant round of applause. Interesting indeed!

I remember the times I used to gawk in disbelief when hearing wierd non-tonal works. I remember my mind cringing in pain as I struggled to make head and tail what reached my ears. Nowadays, things are better. I still can't say that I like those non-tonal works of the 20th (and 21st) century composers. However, I can safely say that I have come to better appreciate the musical craftsmanship that has gone into such works. My ears are steadily maturing and slowly acquirng the taste of music of this century.