Performed by Bridges Collective Ensemble from Melbourne, Australia

Lovely Lolen for Mezzo-Soprano, Piano, Clarinet, Cello (2011)

Performed by UiTM Symphony Orchestra 2012

The Story Of Mount Kinabalu

Tanjak – Mahkota Alam is a piece for flute and piano. It is inspired by the traditional malay male headgear worn daily by malay warriors, royal families, and the common people during the Malacca Sultanate. Nowadays, these headgears are less common and only worn during ceremonial functions. Mahkota Alam (Crown of Nature) is one of the many types of the Tanjak. This Tanjak is said to be worn by leaders who are so pious that they can govern two worlds (Humans and Jinn). 

The piece is a depiction of the composer’s interpretation of the Mahkota Alam Tanjak. The composer tries to give sound to a soundless object through the various possible colors produced by the flute and piano. In this piece, the composer uses extended techniques for the instruments, unconventional musical notations, and graphic score to realize his interpretation of what the Tanjak would sound like. Furthermore, he focuses on timbre (the character or quality of a musical sound) more than the other elements in music. The composer also believes that the score itself is a form of visual art which could also illustrate how he sees the Mahkota Alam Tanjak.

The piece was performed by the members of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (Ignacio de Nicolas Gaya - flute and Akiko Daniš - piano). Video recording of the performance can be viewed at @DFPMPOStagePlus - "MPOPlaysOn: Malaysian Composers Series - Chamber Concert" on Youtube.

Tanjak - Mahkota Alam by Raja Alif (2021)

Kepada mereka yang bernama sahabat, ini la hadiah yang bermakna untuk menghargai kamu semua... Hargailah sahabat kita selamanya....:-)

Sahabat Selamanya - Michele M. (Composer/Arranger: Elvin Dainal)

Soldier Boy was written in April 2013 as a tribute to American composer, Elliott Carter, who died aged 103, last November. He is one of the last survivors of the heroic age of postwar musical modernism and by time, he and his music were completely impervious to fashion. The music lost its hectic intricacy of the 1970s and 80s and became so graceful in its modernist purism that it took on the mysterious quality of a classic – always contemporary, through being essentially timeless. Soldier Boy constructed from Carter's timpani piece, March, which the form and rhythmic structure was borrowed from that piece and developed by a little modification on the rhythmic parameter which suitable for the ensemble performance. This piece includes a small quotation from his Piano Sonata (1945-46), and also inspired from Debussy’s piano prelude, General Lavine, 1913. Written in tonal structure and straight forward form are the attempt to create the traditional military marching music with a humorous character. Soldier Boy consist of various sections which portrays a boy who has a spirit of becoming a soldier.

Performed by University Of Manchester Students at The Church of The Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester. 19th May 2013

Soldier Boy for Brass Quartet. (2013)

an adaptation from Esperanza Spalding's music, based on an Argentinian Traditional Dance, Chacarera.

Performed by quartet in resident; Quarto Danel, University of Manchester.

Chacarera for String Quartet (2013)

Sempadan was constructed to symbolise the idea of two different cultures which complement each other. Using different styles and approaches to treating the instruments, Sempadan strives to create unique proximal sound-structures using off-stage brass instruments and explore different manners of musical performance.

Performed by Psappha at Cosmo Hall, University of Manchester.

Tanjak - Mahkota Alam by Raja Alif (2021)

Raja Mohamad Alif

Related tracks