We speak to ORA Singers’ Artistic Director and Founder, Suzi Digby OBE, on her experience of commissioning, directing and programming choral music.
You’ve been commissioning new works for over 30 years, what do you think the secret is to a good choral composition?
It all stems from the text, and also the usability of the piece for the circumstances of the performance! It’s very important, in order to get a top quality piece, that there is a new voice. Composers, who are able to really climb into the text and bring to the audience, at first listening, something powerful and beautiful…
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I’ve commissioned such a range of compositions; some of them are atonal, some very tonal, and some cross-genres, but there are still basic elements that still comprise a good piece of music, and until you’ve tried it out with the singers it is hard to make that assessment.
When I look at a work for the first time, I can usually get a sense of the ‘singability’ of the piece, in other words, has it been written well for the voice? Does it lie within the voice well? Is it going to be a piece that needs an undue amount of rehearsal? The ideal piece is a piece that is challenging, because I think that if there is something new to say, something implicit in that is the technical and musical demands. But this does need to be within the allocated rehearsal time.
When you are then rehearsing it with the singers, the feedback from them is most interesting and valuable. A top quality commission tends to be one that the singers enjoy and they recognise the quality of it, but also a work that we know the audience is going to appreciate, and bring them something that will resonate and stay with them. If I premiere a piece and an audience member, two months later, says that they don’t remember anything about it, that’s not necessarily a good sign! But if a composer can find a voice that is individual, accessible, and speaks something very profound with respect to the text, that to me is a successful commission.
What advice would you give to a young aspiring choral composer?…
What final advice would you give to those writing for choirs?
When a composer is looking at a piece of text, they need to work out where the real kernel of that line is, so that the listener is really guided to the centre of that line. How are you going to achieve that, and balance that in the piece? What is the fundamental message or emotion, and how are you going to portray that in your writing? I think simplicity is sometimes undervalued. Sometimes to write a beautiful melody is the hardest thing!…
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Every composer has their strengths. Some composers are brilliant at writing melodies, but they might not have the equipment or technique to write a whole Opera. Some are brilliant at writing miniatures, but for a more extended work they don’t have the ability or even desire to. It’s very important to analyse composers, particularly those prominent in certain areas, and find out what is it that really makes that piece of music successful. Are you a composer that is very good at using harmony to evoke emotions, or to tell a story, or to get to the heart of the text? Or are you a composer that is very good at using texture, or dramatic moments? Every composer must find what they are good at, which can be trial and error. Composers can change their styles, particularly over long periods, and so it really can be a process of evolution.
A final thing could be to go to the choir you are writing for, and listen to them! When you are writing you should have them in mind, so that is it something that they can manage technically, they can enjoy and that they will be able to communicate. One of the great pleasures of commissioning is being able to match the composer with the forces that they are writing for to create a harmonious pairing and to produce the highest quality of work.
An experienced commissioner…
Suzi has worked with hundreds of choirs, composers and singers in her career. And one of her favourite things to do is to speak to the composer about their process. In many of ORA Singers’ concerts, we hold pre-concert Q&A’s with the composers, to show the audience a little ‘behind-the-scenes’ preview into the mind of the composer and what inspired the new choral work.
Check out this clip of a recent interview with Suzi, talking to Sir James MacMillan about his commission for ORA Singers…