This musical survey, which has been in the planning for several years, was the culmination of the country's first ever contemporary composers piano festival Free Hand 2019, featuring BBC Music Magazine's Best Newcomer award winner of 2013, Mei Yi Foo, who premiered a number of works in this volume.

 

The musical styles are as diverse as Malaysia's people themselves, colourful, contrasting, exciting and refreshing. From post minimalist to neo expressionist and beyond, the breadth of the compositions here provide an insightful glimpse into the world of 21st Century music in a country so young.

 

The sound world ranges from rhythmically potent to broadly contemplative, traversing worlds of colour, emotion, sonic exploration and the stretching of compositional forms and techniques handed down from past generations of classical composers.

 

Experience the darting motion of herring or the ghostly shimmer of stars long extinct, Webernesque miniatures or driving rhythms, meditations on the Malay pantun or the telling of a historical Malaccan battle, the footprints left behind by memories and the contemplations of cosmopolitan estrangement, a Chinese widow's last act of duty, the toil of the working class, echoes of kadazandusun gongs ...

 

You are invited to immerse yourself in this kaleidoscopic musical journey through the Malaysian music landscape, and to try a hand at playing these pieces for yourselves.

 

“A range of wonderful oriental flavours and colours. These pieces are somehow more fluid and personal.”

​

- Foo Mei Yi, pianist

​

“A fascinating and substantial selection of music for today that deserves international attention.”

​

- International Piano magazine, September 2022

​