Songs for Mukul (2021)
Commissioned by The Opera People
Poetry by Md Mukul Hossine (trans. Cyril Wong)
Instrumentation:
high voice, piano
(version for medium voice is available)
Duration: 13' 30"
Songs For Mukul is cycle of three songs based on poetry from Md Mukul Hossine's poetry collection "Me Migrant" published by Ethos Books. Transliterated from the original Bengali text by Cyril Wong, these three poems explore themes of labour, fatigue, homesickness, love and a transient state of being.
The original song cycle was commissioned by The Opera People, for their recital series "In Our Manner of Speaking: ReClaimed Lands" as a tribute to the migrant worker community. It was premiered on 13th and 14th March 2021 at the Studio @ Wild Rice, by Moira Loh (soprano) and Pauline Lee (piano).
An orchestra version of "Golden Mother" was commissioned by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra for a Mother's Day concert on 11 May 2025, at the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens. It was sung by soprano Teng Xiang Ting and conducted by Lien Boon Hua.
I. I Possess No Address (5')
"Walking in streets without boundaries
How I lost myself I don’t know
I possess no address"
II. I Will Be A Firefly (3')
"I will be a firefly at your window
I will peer in
Look into your eyes
Lock gaze with my heart’s eyes"
III. Golden Mother (5' 30")
[orchestra version available]
"Mother, o mother,
where are you?
I’m not myself anymore, mother,
come see how I live.
(...) Call me khoka, just once."
Hear The Opera People's podcast on Spotify: Opera Tok - Songs For Mukul
"In Chen Zhangyi’s ‘Songs For Mukul’, Moira Loh’s sustained notes ring pure and true in ‘I Possess No Address’, before she moves on to ‘I Will Be A Firefly’, allowing us to vividly imagine the scene of a single firefly going on a long journey, flitting around the space. By this time, she is fully in the zone as she ends off with ‘Golden Mother’, immersing us in the mood."
"Golden Mother" was performed by soprano Natasha Da Costa and pianist Alexander Kwon on 7 Feb 2025, under the Arts Without Borders Initiative (ABBI) at Holywell Music Room, University of Oxford.
"I Possess No Address" was performed by soprano Panchita Meksakulwong and pianist Kant Lormsomboon at a concert "Harmony Across Borders" on 23 August 2025, at Sala Sudasiri Sobha, Bangkok, Thailand. In the same programme, Panchita also sung the role of GIRL in "Window Shopping" with soprano Mu Yu (WOMAN), accompanied by members of the Thailand Philhamonic Orchestra.