The
Craft of Choral Composing/Arranging: A Door to Creativity
Session
Presented at Virginia Commonwealth University by Paul Carey, March
2014
Starting
Points for a new piece
Parameters-
generally need to be chosen in advance of composing:
Often determined by who you
are writing for (is it a commission, a group you know, unknown?)
Text/Language; the tone of
the text (sacred/secular? serious/ humorous? joyful/sad? modern or
older in feel?) Length of piece; a cappella or accompanied; Voicing
and potential vocal ranges, also key; difficulty level; length of
piece; other issues.
Paramount to all of this-
does the text “speak” to you? Will it speak to others? Can you
enhance the text's artistry through a choral setting? Will people be
excited to sing it and will audiences be excited to hear it? In other
words, what is your motivation as a communicator as you start
composing?
Questions to ask yourself:
Do texts need to rhyme? What kind of texts appeal to you, especially
in regard to setting them? Do you like rhyming texts? Do you like
short or long texts (to me, I worry about this a lot- can I create a
3-4 minute piece with a poem less than eight lines?). How do you feel
about complicated texts, texts with fancy words like “declivity”?
http://paulcarey440.blogspot.com/search/label/Gregg%20Smith
More text issues in
particular: is it a commonly set text? What can you bring to it? If
you are about to create the 4,937th Ave Maria- what might
set your version apart!? Do you have something new to say?
Piano accompanied settings:
How involved is the piano? How well do you write for the piano?
Should the piano double the voice parts- anywhere from never to
always? [Give ex. of Janet Galvan's choral series].
Voicing/Key ideas: shall we
avoid certain keys such as F, C, G, etc.? What ranges are we going to
deal with? What tessituras make singers happy and how does key
selection fit into this? Shall we be homophonic or contrapuntal?
Shall we always let the sopranos have the melody? [PC: Give example
of my most responded to FaceBook comment].
Copyright issues: The magic
year of 1922. All works published prior to 1923 are public domain. To
even begin to set a copyrighted post-1922 poem you must have written
permission to set the text. You should also be requesting
permission to perform and publish the work and create an agreement
about the publishing scenario (one time buyout for use? ongoing
royalty sharing?). Likewise, to arrange a piece of copyrighted music
you must do the same as above prior to starting.
Learn the copyright laws as
well as you can- it will benefit you to know them. Visit
www.copyright.gov
also
www.fairuse.stanford.edu
Actually read the copyright law- it's quite short! What constitutes
a copyrighted work when you compose or arrange [“set in final
form”, “lifting the pen from the page”?].
What are the differences
between composing a new work and creating an arrangement? What are
your ides on this? One key question when arranging, do you have
something original you can add; can you find a “hook”, or
something else worth noting, that works for the arrangement? To me,
arranging is an art and something more composers should be doing. It
is also a great entry point for beginners! It can be very satisfying
to take something already formed and reform it with your own voice
and talents.
My
Arrangement of A City Called Heaven
Let's look at my arrangement
of A City Called Heaven. This began because of my love for
spirituals and my belief that they are an important part of our
American musical heritage. I have arranged about ten spirituals for
concert use and also included one in a recent large-scale work about
the Civil War. My starting point for A City Called Heaven was a
recording of the song by the famous African-American soprano Marian
Anderson. Her version (with piano) is very straightforward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtA6tuEhwo4
To set it for choir I would have to come up with something very
dramatic and something I could call my own as an arranger. This was
an interesting project- it was four years from start to finish
[explain why].
Opening- setting the
dramatic scene- the hummed a cappella opening is full of deep sadness,
loneliness and inner turmoil. The humming is what actually cannot be
expressed in words.
First verse- simple setting,
unison and piano. The fermatas here and there are a definite element
on the piece. They represent the sadness and turmoil- that nothing
can progress without some sort of turmoil blocking the way.
Second verse- a natural
progression to two and three part writing (in stretto).
Chorus: the first rising of
high intensity dynamics, strong use of unison (and octave) sound,
more fermatas which the choir sings through with intensity. This
section explodes, especially with my hook for this section- the
shocking A flat chord in the piano at mm. 49-50. Finding this harmony
was what unblocked finishing this arrangement for me. It was
something unique which gave the piece my signature and freed me up to
become more creative as I continued working.
Third verse- back to
introspection. This becomes very personal for the textual voice. “My
mother” painted in heavenly tessitura both for sopranos and piano;
“my father” very dissonant for altos and piano. Then more sadness
when sisters and brothers also are part of the abandonment.
Final Chorus: same material
as before but more complex, including more fermatas. The pause at m.
86 sets the stage for a very dramatic, yet quiet ending. There is a
final, a cappella few measures of music which is actually new
material as far as harmonies go (my “create something a bit new at
the ending” mantra). The song finally ends with some rather ghostly
harmonies on the word “home” which closes to a hum and thus
connects to the very beginning. The singers sing all the way through
to the end (another mantra- “keep your singers engaged” as close
to the end as possible).
This piece has had many
performances- I think for two reasons. It is very dramatic- it's
impossible to not connect to the drama and pathos of this text when
sung well. It's also a rarity in that it is a spiritual set
specifically for women's voices, not just an SATB setting rehashed
for women.
Staying
Alive?:
A Talk by a not-yet-dead serious composer about
surviving in today's pop-music world
A Talk by a not-yet-dead serious composer about
surviving in today's pop-music world
Session
Presented at Virginia Commonwealth University by Paul Carey, March
2014
A
Composer's Toolbox:
- self-confidence, even in the face of various rejections along the way
- a great business card
- a functional (or GREAT) website
- score samples in some form- whether in part or full- online, paper, etc.
- getting started: can you actually get to hear your music besides a Finale playback? Enlisting friends, colleagues, your professors, street people, etc.
- knowledge of copyright laws
- graphite or electrons? The composing process in regard to your tools of notation
- learn some counterpoint- you'll be unique!
- If you will write choral music, jump into the deep end and read a ton of poetry, collect texts
Getting
out there:
- sending out scores/recordings, targeting conductors, [does anyone want to listen to a synthesized performance?]
- attending ACDA conferences (NafMe, AGO, Kodaly, etc. conferences) What else can you learn there?
- is it schmoozing or networking?
More
getting out there- publication:
- Your view of publication: does publication through various mainstream publishers prove the value of your work? What do you think?
- Publish through mainstream publishers? Only “self-publish? Do both? What are the pros and cons to this whole situation today?
Back
it up: how
do you publish with mainstream publishers????
Submission
process with mainstream choral publishers: doing it your way or
theirs? [how it should work, and how it often goes wrong]
- are you willing to give up control of your copyrighted piece?
- Are you willing to do that for a return of 10% of the selling price?
- Can you call some of the shots about how this happens?
- Goofy stories about the publishing world [anecdotes about Oxford and James, and Reg, missing scores, POOP (Permanently Out of Print), etc.
- what are realistic sales goals?
Can
you make a full-time living as a “classical” composer today?
My
advice, start this as a part-time venture with the goal of getting
better and better at it, then see how the world responds to your
work. Give it time and be patient. Endure rejection (I save my
rejection letters!). Try to be an eclectic composer/arranger- why
limit yourself to, say, just sacred music, or some other self-imposed
limitation? Consider other types of composing- music for films, video
games, etc. Other than teaching music in K-12 or college and side
supplemental music jobs like conducting, judging festivals, giving
music lessons, etc. here are your possible income streams as a
composer:
Commissions
(once they become fairly consistent for you this will be your largest
income)
Consider writing film music, video game music
Royalties from mainstream publishers
Consider writing film music, video game music
Royalties from mainstream publishers
Sales
of your own “self-published” music through your website
Giving
talks/residencies at high schools and colleges
(I
view my 10% royalties from publishers as a promotional item, in other
words, even though I resent the low royalty rate, I consider them as
my hired help for publicity).
Conclusion:
If you think you have something to say to the world through your
music, go for it. It sure as heck will be an interesting life! Doing
this part-time makes a lot of sense, but that doesn't mean you can't
be artistic, serious, and proud of your work.
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