Singing new music
As well as being a composer, I’m a singer, and I especially love choral singing. One of my favourite things is getting to sing new music, and especially getting the chance to sing commissions. There is something so special about being the first to perform a work.
I’m singing a concert this Saturday with the Durham University Chamber Choir, which we have called ‘Footsteps on a small island’. It is essentially a musical journey through the British Isles, with works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries from all corners of the country. I love singing new music by contemporary composers, so it’s exciting to be performing a whole concert of contemporary music. I’ve had the privilege of singing several world premieres of choral works, and every time the feeling is just as special. I think it’s really helped me to see as a composer just how much love, care and energy goes in to performing a piece, and how key it is for us to be writing with the performer at the front of our mind. Ultimately, the performers are the first people you need to win over with your music, not the audience.
As a singer, one of the most important things for me when performing new music is having a clear idea of the concept, and a good sense of what the composer wants. Unless you have the privilege of working with the composer to prepare a piece, which is unusual, the only material you have got to go off in preparing a performance of a brand-new work of music is the score.
Therefore, by being involved in performing other composer’s music I have learnt a lot myself about the role of the score, and what information it can be helpful to include. As a singer, I firstly want to know what the text I am singing is, and ideally it will be well laid out at the front of my score, potentially with a description of where it came from and why it is being used. I also ideally like clear performance directions. These don’t always have to be incredibly specific, but I do appreciate when a composer gives you a few words at the start of the piece which might describe the mood or style, as they immediately give you a feel for what the composer has intended.
One of the contemporary works we are featuring as part of our concert programme is ‘Footsteps’ by Owain Park. I love that this piece was written for a professional choir, but with an educational focus in addition, as it includes a semi-chorus parts intended to be sung by local youth choirs. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to sing the semi-chorus part of the piece with the Ulster Youth Chamber Choir alongside Tenebrae. It’s a real privilege to now be singing the full work with my university chamber choir. Owain’s piece is potentially one of my favourite contemporary choral works to sing. He has such an instinctive sense of story-telling in his writing, which is so captivating as a performer or listener. ‘Footsteps’ tells the story of a lonely traveller, who journeys through time searching and seeking, finally settling under the blanket of the sky and the stars. The journey story is portrayed through multiple snippets of musical ideas. As soon as you get used to one or it seems to settle, the music moves on into another different idea. I love how the music portrays the unsettled journey which matches the story of the text.
Another piece we are singing in our concert on Saturday is a new commission by Lizzy Hardy, who is studying a Masters in Composition at Durham University. I think it’s so great that we get to sing some of Lizzy’s music, as we have the real privilege of having her here with us, working with us to create the first performance of her piece. Lizzy’s piece is called ‘Hear the mellow wedding bells’, based around the poem ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allen Poe. The onomatopoeia of this text gives it a real joyful and energetic quality, which I think Lizzy has really brought to life in her music. Throughout the piece, you can clearly hear the bells, portrayed in pounding, repeated homophonic chords. The piece becomes more frantic and gains momentum as it goes along, with added syncopation and interesting textural development creating a real sense of anticipation which culminates in a unison final flourish phrase. Lizzy’s piece is really good fun to sing, and I think she has so clearly captured the mood of the poem in her writing.
These are just two of the relatively recently composed works I have the privilege of singing on Saturday, but there are many more.
I would strongly encourage you to listen to as much new music regularly as you possibly can, especially live. Hearing and performing new commissions is such a privilege, and it feels like you’re really a part of an important moment in history. It’s so important that we continue to add more and more contemporary repertoire to the standard canon of choral music, and come to see the incredible diversity of music that there is to be discovered, because there is such a wealth of new music that has never been heard! Speaking of new music, ORA Singers are frequently singing new choral music, and they have even committed as an ensemble to aim to commission 100 new works in 10 years. I think this is an incredible target, and I think that many other choirs and ensembles should follow their example, in committing to performing more contemporary music regularly. If you don’t know much contemporary music, or are keen to gather more ideas or inspiration, I would really encourage you to have a listen to ORA’s recordings, and in particular to look out for their new album, called Desires: A Song of Songs Collection, which will be released on 8th March – I can’t wait!
Have a listen to…
Written by Stephanie Devlin.