Workshops
Following on from my blog post about studying Music at University, I thought I would talk about one of the specific ways I’ve received composition tuition, which is through workshops…
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to workshop some of my music with contemporary vocal ensemble, EXAUDI. The piece I have written for them will form a part of the final project portfolio I am submitting for my degree in May. As a choral composer, working alongside professional singers in a workshop format is a very rare and exciting opportunity. EXAUDI frequently perform new commissions by contemporary composers, and so they could give us relevant and helpful advice. As each of us presented our pieces to them, firstly they performed them to us as written, and then we had the opportunity to get feedback from the singers that was specific to us and our own individual work. When you are writing with a specific ensemble in mind, you must make sure to carefully consider the individual requirements of each performer, and for a vocal ensemble that meant being aware of each singer’s ranges, voice types and capabilities. The singers were quick to demonstrate what different phrases sounded like in different parts of their voice, and could give us suggestions on whether to change octaves or change the notes between parts.
The piece of mine that they workshopped is entitled ‘Below’, and it explores the theme of the depths of the ocean. My whole portfolio has an ocean theme running throughout it conceptually, with each individual piece exploring a different aspect of the concept. When I was looking for a text to set for this piece, I came across several poems that explored different conceptual aspects surrounding the bottom of the ocean, and so I decided to combine elements of each of these. Seeing as my text was now a combination of snippets of ideas, musically I also decided to structurally sculpt my piece around several musical ideas, that flow together in one entity. The piece has three loose sections, that connect naturally together, and each reflect the mood and tone of their piece of text. Throughout the whole piece, I have based my musical material around this idea of a war between whole tone intervals and semi tone intervals. I use a lot of sustained chords under freely sung solo, recitative-like phrases, to create an ethereal and ominous atmosphere. The singers really helped me to see the need for more space in my piece, by practically loosening and changing my use of metre and time signature. They also helped me to realise how expressive the music could be, and how I could more clearly mark where I intended the phrases to build to and relate to each other. The natural unity and cohesiveness of the group was clear from the way they blended so well together and created a gradual intensity in their sound that drew the listener in. It was a challenge for me to think how best to communicate what they so instinctively did in the way that I notate my piece.
If you are an aspiring composer like me, I would encourage you to find any opportunities that you can to work closely with performers in this workshop type way, and to take the opportunities that do come up and run with them!
Sometimes you can feel vulnerable or exposed in having your work openly picked apart and discussed, but it’s all part of the learning experience to get criticism and to grow and develop because of it. I’m very thankful to EXAUDI for giving me honest and direct advice, and for pointing me to new ideas in my writing that in the long run will make my work a better piece!
Written by Stephanie Devlin