Arrangements and Recordings
An abridged version of Majulah Singapura had been used by official bodies since 1965 although an expanded version, used only at grand ceremonial functions, exists. These versions were arranged by an Englishman, Michael Hurd. This arrangement was first recorded by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lim Yau in 1989.
The original version of the national anthem was in the key of G major, although in 1983 schools were issued an educational tape describing common mistakes made in singing the anthem and given the option of singing the anthem in F major. In 1993, the shorter version of Majulah Singapura was declared to be the official one.
On 19 January 2001, Majulah Singapura was officially relaunched in the F-major key, as this was said to be a "grander and more inspiring arrangement" of the anthem. The Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA, now the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)) took more than a year to produce the new version. Its main objective was to make the anthem more accessible to all Singaporeans. In May 2000, several leading local composers were invited to rearrange the national anthem in F major. An evaluation panel headed by Bernard Tan selected the version submitted by Cultural Medallion winner Phoon Yew Tien. Phoon's orchestration employed a slower tempo and used more instruments to create a majestic rendition of the anthem. MITA then commissioned Ken Lim to produce a recording by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lim Yau, which was carried out at the Victoria Concert Hall on 20 November 2000. The new arrangement was recorded in seven versions, including two orchestral versions (instrumental, and with soloist Jacintha Abisheganaden and the Singapore Youth Choir) and a piano solo version.
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