1. Developing a melody
Have you chosen your melody? It sounds great, but now what?
Developing your melody will be crucial in creating a natural composition, one whereby ideas flow to the next. Stuck on what to write? ORA Singers commissioned composer, Oliver Tarney, takes you through a series of compositional ideas to get the creative juices flowing!
2. Word Setting
Text is important.
In choral music, the words really do matter. And how do you use the music to work with the text, not against it. ORA Singers speaks to composer, Janet Wheeler, about how approach this challenge…
3. Performance indications
We can so often have a wrong view of performance indications! You might have written a piece and then be told to ‘add in’ performance indications, or as a performer you’re told to make sure you pay special attention to the performance marking! But they’re just extras… right?
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Wrong! Performance indications are treasured and crucial compositional tools. You can transform your writing simply by the performance indications. Remember, without these you haven’t actually given any instruction on how to perform your music. What use are the notes if you haven’t conveyed the style, mood, speed, dynamic, intention or stress behind them?
Plenty of composers have repeated musical writing and kept their audiences entertained, simply by altering the performance directions. For example, in a theme and variations, often it is the style, dynamics and articulation that are altered, whilst the notes are kept the same. Perhaps the first version is broad and loud, the second short and quiet. You create an entirely new atmosphere is doing this and in turn, a whole new idea behind the music.
Have you ever tried to start your composition by thinking about the performance indications, rather than the notes?
Why not begin your composition by thinking about the mood you want to convey? Perhaps you’d like it to sound triumphant, in which case the performance instructions follow quite naturally; you’ll want it to be loud, broad, and likely a moderate speed (you can even write ‘triumphantly’ at the start!). Or perhaps you want it to be uncertain, in which case it will likely be quiet, tentative and the notes in your melody and harmony might reflect this too. It’s a great way to think about composing, mapping out an ‘emotional journey’ instead of writing your notes first.
Performance indicators, particularly in singing, mainly fall into the following categories:
1) Indicating the speed or mood of the piece.
These words usually come at the start of the piece, or section of a piece, and indicate the general mood. Musical tempo terms such as ‘Adagio’ and ‘Allegro’ can be used here, but also english words like ‘Briskly’, ‘Sweetly’, ‘Tentatively’ are also very effective.
2) Showing you how to articulate each note.
Articulation is, in essence, how to produce a note. If it has a dot over the top of the note, this means it is ‘staccato’ and you make it short in length. Lines over the top of notes are ‘tenuto’ and mean ‘to hold’/play long. These are just two example, but you can get great texture by varying these throughout a piece and even throughout a musical phrase.
3) Dynamics.
Dynamics mean how loud or soft something is. We indicate this on a scale of soft to loud. These indicators usually go underneath a musical line and you can graduate this scale by adding crescendo marking (getting louder) or diminuendo marking (getting softer) also. We generally use the scale below so that musicians globally understand how loud or quiet to sing/perform:
ppp- as quiet as possible!
pp- for pianissimo, meaning very soft
p- for piano, soft/quiet
mp- for mezzo piano, moderately soft/quiet
mf- for mezzo forte, moderately loud
f- for forte, loud
ff- for fortissimo, very loud
fff - as loud as possible!
4. Writing what you love whilst being practical!
Sometimes practical limitations can feel like your creativity is also being limited. But what if it instead, created a framework and starting point for your compositions?
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Suzi Digby, ORA Singers Artistic Director, comments: “We always provide our composers with a ‘brief’, designed to inspire their creativity, not hinder it. The concept of a reflection has given many composers the impetus to create something truly remarkable, and original.'“
Briefs for composers have been around for thousands of years. Whether you were a composer in the Tudor court commissioned to write for the King, or have simply been asked to write for choir, there are all factors to consider. For example, who are you writing for? Who will the audience be? What are the limitations of the group? Perhaps my piece is part of a bigger programme, how does it fit into that? Remember, you are always writing for people. A piece that is impossible to sing, will likely never be sung!
ORA Singers speaks to Richard Allain about some of his thoughts on practicalities, inspiration and being true to yourself.
5. ‘Choral equality’
Giving each voice their time in the sun is important! Janet Wheeler talks to us about how she tackles writing for four voices types.
It’s important to remember- is this a vocal line worth singing?!