An Evening with Friends 2020

Posted in News & Events

记得吗?/ Do You Remember?

The ACJC Choir and The ACJC Alumni Choir

91 home-recorded singers from the college and alumni choirs.

Our An Evening with Friends 2020 concert rehearsal season began as usual at the start of the year. Unfortunately, circumstances quickly dictated that we could no longer come together physically to practise or to perform, for that matter, at The Esplanade Concert Hall on 31st May. 

Nevertheless, to mark the season, we are pleased to have shared a series of online releases over this weekend, culminating in the virtual premiere, on 31st May 2020, of “记得吗?” or “Do You Remember?”, sung by The ACJC Choir and The ACJC Alumni Choir. This final instalment of our series represents an exploration of new aspects of music making for the choirs.

Arranged specially for the ACJC Alumni Choir in May 2020 by renowned Xinyao* composer and CEO of All Saints Home Samuel Tan, the piece was originally composed in 2015 as the theme song for the documentary “The Songs We Sang”. The lyrics were written by the late Heng Cheng Hwa, to whom Samuel dedicates this arrangement.

As sung in the last line of “记得吗?” — “the flower that bloomed in the desert finally has its beautiful spring” — we hope to transcend the physical distances between us with the unifying power of music, and to come through this challenging time together. 

Proceeds from the commission have been donated to All Saints Home. If you would also like to support the elderly and sick at All Saints, please click here

*Xinyao, an abbreviation in Mandarin for “Singapore Songs”, is a Singaporean Mandarin music movement of the 80s, which led to a flourishing of the local music scene.

Our Heartfelt Appreciation to:
Mr Samuel Tan
Mr Eugene Yip from Micappella and team at GRYD Studios
The School Leaders of Anglo-Chinese Junior College
Mandarin Chinese Lyrics
记得吗 你曾听过一首歌
有你的年少时光 那些欢笑哀愁
记得吗 你曾写过一首歌
献给你曾爱的人 和你的青春
记得吗 你曾有过一个梦
一路走过的挣扎 不可能的神话
记得吗 你在沉默中高歌
因为这里从来不曾有春天
从不曾告别 不曾离去
从不曾忘记 想起点点滴滴
每一次总在 起起落落的浪涛中
一再和梦与歌相遇
记得吗 你曾听过一首歌
有你跌宕的人生 那些璀璨年华
记得吗 你曾写过一首歌
写出你内心的疼 和你的真
从不曾告别 不曾离去
从不曾忘记 想起点点滴滴
每一次总在 起起落落的浪涛中
一再和梦与歌相遇
记得吗 你曾有过一个梦
一路走过的挣扎 已不再是神话
记得吗 你在喧哗中高歌
一直都在追寻自己的春天
记得吗 开在沙漠里的花
终于拥有自己美丽的春天
English Translation
Do you remember? You heard a song
Which captured the time you were younger, the joys and the sorrows
Do you remember? You wrote a song
For those you have loved and for your youth
Do you remember? You had a dream
The struggles encountered along the way, the impossible myth
Do you remember? You sang in the silence
Because there was never a spring here
Never bid goodbye, never left
Never forgotten, remembering every detail
Every time always, in the ups and downs of the waves
Repeatedly meeting with dream and song
Do you remember? You heard a song
Which captured your eventful life, the shining years
Do you remember? You wrote a song
Which spoke of your pain and your sincerity
Never bid goodbye, never left
Never forgotten, remembering every detail
Every time always, in the ups and downs of the waves
Repeatedly meeting with dream and song
Do you remember? You had a dream
The struggles encountered along the way, no longer an impossible myth
Do you remember? You sang loudly amidst the chaos
Always in pursuit of your own spring
Do you remember? The flower that bloomed in the desert
Finally has its own beautiful spring
An Evening with Friends 2020  《记得吗?》
英华初级学院合唱团与英华初级学院校友会合唱团

今年初,我们的合唱团同往常般为年度的《An Evening with Friends》演出开始进行排练。然而,随着2019冠状病毒疫情恶化,我们无法继续排练,并无法如期于5月31日在滨海艺术中心为大家演唱。

尽管如此,我们仍然希望能在这段期间与大家分享我们的音乐。这段不寻常的时刻,给了我们合唱团一个机会来探索以不同的方式录制和分享音乐。过去这周末,我们在网上发布了一系列的歌曲。今天,2020年5月31日,我们也在网上首次发布由英华初级学院合唱团,以及英华初级学院校友会合唱团一起演唱的合唱版《记得吗?》。这首歌由合唱团的成员们各别在家里录制合成,对我们来说是个全新的尝试。

合唱版的《记得吗?》,是由知名新谣作曲家和众圣之家疗养院总裁陈志群专为英华初级学院校友会合唱团所改编。这首歌的原曲,是2015年纪录片《我们唱着的歌》的主题曲。陈志群也将合唱版的谱曲献给这首歌的作词人,已故的邢增华。

我们希望能够通过音乐,跨越我们空间上的距离,也希望音乐能够给予我们勇气和力量,一起渡过这段艰难的时间。犹如歌曲的最后一句 – “开在沙漠里的花 终于拥有自己美丽的春天” – 相信我们也一定会像坚强的花朵,迎来属于我们的春天。

合唱版《记得吗?》的编曲费用,已全全捐赠予众圣之家疗养院。若您也想为众圣之家疗养院的居民们尽一份力,可点击此链接

我们由衷感谢
陈志群 先生
Micappella 麦克疯 的 Eugene Yip 先生 与 GRYD Studios 团队
英华初级学院董事会

Listen to our releases from the AEWF 2020 series!