Hj Wandly Yazid (24 February 1925 – 5 August 2005) is an acclaimed

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, recognised for his contribution to the Malay film and music industry in the 1940s to the 1960s. He performed as a violinist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he received the COMPASS Meritorious Award by Composers and Authors Society of Singapore. Fondly remembered as Pak Wandly, he is renowned for the popular evergreen '' Gurindam Jiwa'', the theme song for the classic film of the same name. In 2015, the song bagged the Top Song Award at ''Viva Musik SG50'' by Suria, Warna 94.2FM, and Ria 89.7 FM in 2015.

Background

Wandly Yazid was born on 24 February 1925 in Suliki,

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5, ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

into a family of educators. His father Jazid Sutan Caniago was from Suliki and his mother Djalinoen Daud from Payakumbuh, both in Limapuluh Kota valley, West Sumatra. He was educated in Dutch primary and high schools, and graduated from the Teachers Training Institute, West Sumatra.

Music

Introduced to music during his primary school days, Wandly decided to study music at 17, when he was a schoolteacher. He learnt the violin and clarinet under teachers Pak Hamid and Mr I Bree. He also studied watercolour and oil painting under the late Indonesian master artist Wakidi, in Bukittinggi. In 1947, this Minangkabau lad came to Singapore, where the Malay film industry was thriving. Here, he studied piano arrangement under Mr Concordio Soliano, and violin under Mr Raquiza and Mr Paul Soliano. He also learnt to play the saxophone and clarinet under Mr Paul Martinez.

Achievements

Proficient in four instruments–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, Pak Wandly also wrote music scores. He formed the Wandy Yazid Orkestra, Wandy Five and the Megawati Orkestra (with The Radio Malaya) all in 1952, as well as set up his own record label. He composed music for films by the

Nusantara Film Company Nusantara most commonly refers to: *Nusantara (archipelago), an Old Javanese term which initially referred to the conquered territories of the Majapahit empire, corresponding to present-day Indonesia * Nusantara (planned city), the future capital c ...

such as ''Angin Berpesan'' (1954), where he composed the song ''Kasih Bermula'', accompanied by the Megawati Orkestra, which he conducted. Wandly received an award for the music direction of ''Hassan's Homecoming'' (1954) for the

Malayan Film Unit The National Film Department of Malaysia ( ms, Filem Negara Malaysia), abbreviated FNM, sometimes ''Jabatan Filem Negara'' (JFN) or informally the Malaysian Film Unit; was a Malaysian state-owned film organization. It is the country's first film ...

(now

National Film Development Corporation Malaysia The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia ( ms, Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional), abbreviated FINAS, is the central government agency for the film industry of Malaysia. FINAS is similar to the Motion Picture Association of America i ...

) or FINAS. Directed by Mohd Zain Hussain, this documentary was screened at the 8th Edinburgh International Film Festival (1954) and won Best Film (Non-Drama) at the 2nd Southeast Asia Film Festival, Singapore in 1955. In 1956, he performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as a violinist. In 1959, Wandly founded the Fajar Record Company, where he composed and arranged songs, and accompanied singers like

Julie Sudiro Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhav ...

Orchid Abdullah Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and

Rosiah Chik Rosiah Chik or Rosiah Abdul Manaf (1931–2006) was Malay traditional singer particularly of asli and ghazal songs, made famous in the 1960s–1970s in Malaysia. She was also known as Mak We among the people of the industry and her fans. Person ...

. He also trained those who later became successful including

Ernie Djohan Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c. ...

and Rafeah Buang. The 1960s saw him composing and arranging songs and background music for more than 13 classic films under Cathay-Keris Films (now

Cathay Organisation Cathay Organisation Holdings Limited is one of Singapore's leisure and entertainment groups. It has the first THX cinema hall and digital cinema in Singapore. The group has operations in Singapore and Malaysia. History Associated Theatres L ...

), including ''Hang Jebat'' (1961), ''Jalak Lenteng'' (1961), '' Lanchang Kuning'' (1962), ''Panglima Besi'' (1964), ''Kasih Ibu'' (1965), ''Naga di Tasik Cini'' (1966) and '' Gurindam Jiwa'' (1966) and many others. ''Gurindam Jiwa'' was to become a popular film, mostly due to his composition of the theme song, also titled '' Gurindam Jiwa''. Originally sung by R. Ismail and Rafeah Buang, with lyrics by Hamzah Hussein, the song remains an evergreen favourite for many fans until today. Wandly was also appointed

Music Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

of Cathay-Keris Films during this time. In the 1970s, Pak Wandly composed and arranged songs and background music for television programmes like ''Pesta Pop'', as well as radio programmes. In 1976, he became a violinist and member of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp) Orchestra. He later formed his own band, Café Vienna Trio, with Mr Ahmad Jarr and Mr Ahmad Sahab. They played classical and commercial music at Holiday Inn. He also gave solo piano performances at major hotels.

Later life and art

Retiring in 1992, he continued to perform, and taught music to the young. Not only was he a musician, but an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. His watercolour paintings were exhibited at: * 2001: ''Contemporary 2001'', by Association of Artists of Various Resources (APAD), Singapore Calligraphy Centre * 2005: ''Lakaran Warisan'', by ''Taman Warisan Melayu'' ( Malay Heritage Centre) He died on 5 Aug 2005 at his Aljunied Crescent home. He leaves behind his wife, Hjh Iswanar Wahid, and five children – three of whom hold a master's degree, and one a bachelors.

Membership

Wandly Yazid was a member of Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS); PERKAMUS; APAD; ''Niniek Mamak'' (Council of Advisors), Singapore Minangkabau Association; and National Arts Council (Singapore) (NAC).

Awards and recognition

Wandly Yazid receives COMPASS Meritorious Award

* 1953: Award for Best Documentary, by Malayan Film Unit for ''Hassan’s Homecoming''. Highly commended background music by Wandly Yazid. * 2001: Jasawan Agung Minang (Meritorious Minang Award), by Persatuan Minangkabau Singapura or Singapore Minangkabau Association (SMA). * 2001: COMPASS Meritorious Award, by Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS). * 2002: ''7 Magnificent Composers (7 Tokoh Muzik),'' published by Association of Malay Singers, Composers and Professional Musicians (PERKAMUS). Recognition of outstanding composers Wandly Yazid,

Zubir Said Zubir Said (22 July 1907 – 16 November 1987) was a Singaporean composer most notable for composing the national anthem of his country, "Majulah Singapura" – "Onward Singapore". A self-taught musician, Zubir also worked as a score arrang ...

, Osman Ahmad, Yusoff B., Ahmad Jaafar,

P. Ramlee Tan Sri Datuk Amar Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh (later Ramlee bin Puteh) (22 March 1929 – 29 May 1973), better known by his stage name P. Ramlee (Puteh Ramlee), was a Malaysian actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer famous in both m ...

and Kassim Masdor. * 2003: ''Simfoni Layar Perak'', a concert by MediaCorp, held at Esplanade, Singapore. Due recognition to renowned composers and music arrangers of Malay film and music from the 1940s to 1960s, including Wandly Yazid, Yusoff B., Zubir Said, Osman Ahmad, P. Ramlee and S. Sudarmaji. * 2005: ''Dendang Temasek (Melodies of Temasek)'', published by PERKAMUS. Compilation of essays on traditional Malay music with special mention of Wandly Yazid and his songs. * 2006: ''Persembahan Muzik 7 Lagenda (Remembering the 7 Magnificent Composers)'', performed by the Pentatronics, a 4-piece group, held at Library@Espalanade, Singapore as a tribute to the legendary seven. * 2013: ''Keronchong 1001 Malam'', a concert by Maya Gallery as part of Malay CultureFest 2013, organised by Malay Heritage Centre, under (

National Heritage Board (Singapore) The National Heritage Board (NHB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of the Government of Singapore. It was formed on 1 August 1993. National Museums and Heritage Institutions The National Heritage ...

), paid tribute to keronchong. Performed by musicians from Wandly Yazid Orkestra (Singapore & West Sumatra), Orkes Keronchong Putrajaya (Malaysia) and Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara), the recital performed classic Malay songs from 1960s including evergreen music composed by Wandly Yazid. Produced by Jeffrey Wandly, with music direction by Azmy Hassan (Singapore) and choreography by Hardie Pusako (West Sumatra). Performances by Julie Sudiro and R. Ismail. * 2014, 26 September: The song ''Gurindam Jiwa'' was performed at the ''Classical Music in the Context of ASEAN'' International Symposium, at Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music (PGVIM), Thailand. Special mention of composer Wandly Yazid, who was a member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and music director of Cathay-Keris Films. The song is described to be in the style of "Asli" (traditional) music, usually performed in a leisurely tempo inspired by soulful poetic body movements that project the graceful and charming native of Malay ladies. Performed by Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music Youth orchestra (PYO) as part of the ASEAN Youth Orchestra (a partnership project between Ministry of Culture, Thailand and PGVIM). Arranged by Wiwat Suthiyam, and conducted by Vanich Potavanich. * 2015: ''Top Song Award'' was accorded to ''Gurindam Jiwa'', composed by Wandly Yazid, at ''Viva Musik SG50'' (Celebrating 50 dynamic years of Singapore Malay Music), presented by Suria, Warna 94.2FM, and Ria 89.7 FM, held at the Kallang Theatre. * 2018, 19 August: Screening of ''Hassan's Homecoming'' (1954), the award-winning documentary by Malayan Film Unit (now FINAS), at Galeri Petronas, KLCC, Kuala Lumpur. Music direction by Wandly Yazid. * 2018, 8 September: ''Konsert Gurindam Jiwa'', a tribute concert to Wandly Yazid's music and journey, as part of Silver Arts 2018 by

National Arts Council, Singapore The National Arts Council (NAC) is a statutory board established on 15 October 1991 to oversee the development of arts in Singapore. It is under the purview of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The NAC provides grants, scholarships ...

. Produced by Saiful Amri, music direction by Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin, with Jeffrey Wandly as executive consultant. Performances by R. Ismail, Julie Sudiro and Rudy Djoharnaen.

References

* Tribute-sg (2014). "Wandly Yazid". Esplanade, Singapore. https://www.esplanade.com/tributesg/performing-arts/wandly-yazid * Azlan Mohamed Said (2013). ''Musika: Malaya's Early Music Scene (Arena Muzik Silam Di Malaya)''. Malaysia. * Hartinah Ahmad and Kamali Hudi (2002). ''7 Magnificent Composers (7 Tokoh Muzik)''. Singapore: PERKAMUS. * Mohd Raman Daud, editor (2005). ''Dendang Temasek (Melodies of Temasek)''. Singapore: PERKAMUS.