Joshua [Cerdenia], student of Conservatory don Ho Chee Kong, provided yet another of his aurally lush canvasses in Creed. This slow movement gradually unfolded like the nascent radiance of a rising sun, with French horn and woodwind solos emerging through a sea of strings textures before gently closing like an unanswered question.
–Chang Tou Liang, The Straits Times

Composer's Note

Though I made several attempts at orchestral music when I was younger (only two of which I ever completed, and only one surviving into the present), Credo is my first attempt after having undertaken some formal study of orchestration. It is a short slow movement with a narrative loosely modeled after the Nicene Creed. Despite the nature of the source material, there is no intent to express any specific religious meaning. The entire piece comprises a single large gesture: a gradual progression from an initial germ of an idea to a grand and resolute statement of profound belief, and, ultimately, prayerful contemplation.

Credo was originally titled Creed and written in 2013 for a reading with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra. A revised version was later selected for a special program by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, leading to its first public performance.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets in B flat, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, strings

Duration

6 minutes

First Performance

13 February 2014, Conservatory Concert Hall, Singapore
Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jason Lai