Main divisions of ch 3
Writing for the voice
Setting words to music
Recitative vs Aria
Musical form and the text
Composing for choir
Personal reflections on ch 3
I composed a 20-min piece for soloists, choir, and instruments called “Cantata for Lent”. A cantata is (usually?) religious in nature and is like an opera but without costumes or action. There are actors, monologues, dialogues, and reactions from a crowd. Some sections are like opera recitative (exposition) and others are like aria (“I’m going to stand here and emote for a few minutes”)
In my cantata, most of the lyrics were taken from a modern translation of Psalms and other passages from the Bible. The melodies followed the rhythm of normal speech. I often used “word painting” (voice raises in pitch when joyful, lowers in pitch for grief).
I had been a member of this choir for several years while working on the composition and so I knew what the choir was capable of. Ex. splitting the choir into male and female sections singing an octave apart was a lovely way to change the timbre without taking up a lot of rehearsal time.
I used a variety of textures:
solo voice
unison choir
unison in octaves (women, men)
3 parts — soprano & alto, male
4 voices, homophonic (” 4 part harmony”)
rarely — 4 voices, polyphonic (voices moving with complete independence)
I wrote for 4 soloists:
“Wisdom” — a “matronly” alto
Prophetic voice — a soprano with dramatic, brassy timbre
The Devil — a spoken role
Jesus — a tenor
When I wrote the parts I conferred with the soloists and changed things to suit their voices.
There are many more things I would love to write about this experience. I feel very grateful to have been given the opportunity. It was terrifying, and joyful, and included moments of skin-crawling humiliation which I still shudder to recall. Afterward I was completely burned out and did a 90 degree turn away from church music and was seduced by a bamboo flute that I found at a Rennaissance fair. This led to several years of Irish Trad music. But that’s another story 😉