Today, I met with a composition faculty member. He was the composer who arranged the Coventry Carol for the Women's Chorus. He asked if he could write something for the Women's Chorus for next semester. I would premiere it on my recital.
Alan, the composer, and I spoke for about half an hour. I also learned a little about his musical background. He received his undergraduate degree from UGA (which happens to be one of the schools I applied to for my DMA). He sang in the men's chorus there and still knows some of the faculty members (he said it's a fairly consistent faculty). He said he would love to get in touch with one of the voice teachers (who also conducts a gospel group, perhaps?) and put in a good word for me. He said it's been awhile since he has written for choirs, although he enjoyed writing before and is excited to do it again. He said he spent a few years in Whitewater Wisconsin and became composer-in-residence there for a few years.
So the conversation about the piece was fascinating. He asked me about any technical limitations (I gave him ranges). I also said that I would prefer 3 part, but they could do 4 part pretty easily as long as the harmonic language was a little more traditional and predictable at those moments if they were extended. A few measures of difficult 4 part is fine, but it should be brief. We spoke about tempo, tonality, text. Of course, neither of us had set ideas. This was a meeting to conjure up some guidelines. Tempo doesn't matter- my recital set is flexible enough for that almost anything will fit. There maybe be one or two more moderate/fast pieces, but I wouldn't want too many slow. Tonality doesn't matter, as long as it's not full of things that do not make sense to the ear. He said that many composers tend to "tame down" their harmonic language when writing for choirs, but he hasn't really been one to do that. That's not a big deal, as long as the stuff is singable to the girls. As far as text, it also didn't matter much to me as long as it wasn't a Slavic language. He said he normally uses dead languages anyway, since the text is then not likely to be under copyright. We talked about what the song might be about (nothing with pirates). It could be sacred or secular. I thought about jokingly suggest a text using just binary code, but then I thought he might take me seriously. And I'm kidding about that.
He asked about my preferences. He asked if I want to see drafts (yes). He also asked about when I would want the piece finished (he said to lie by two weeks- so I did and told him February 15. He wrote down February 1).
I think this is a great opportunity for me and for the women. I feel bad we can't pay him. But I also thought- we might use his work in the future. Maybe with a future choir. Maybe when I have a job someday, I will commission a piece from him. I think this could be beneficial for all involved.
It was thrilling. And it's very exciting to think about.
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