New ground
It is time to return to the composition desk.
Over the past few months, life has been busier than I care it to be. Moving, starting school again, working etc ad nauseum.
Fortunately, things have returned to a calmer state, and I have just started a brand new project for soprano Helen Funston. She approached me a few weeks ago asking me if I’d be interested in composing something for her graduate performances, and I jumped at the opportunity.
I wrestled with what the instrumentation will be for quite some time since she specifically asked that there NOT be a piano involved. I wanted some sort of melodic support, but also something that could accentuate melodic statements with a multitude of different colors. While I was mulling this over, I had Tan Dun’s Elegy: Snow in June playing in my ears (a fantastic piece for percussion and cello, if you haven’t heard it). Eventually I decided on a modified version of Dun’s instrumentation: 2+ percussionists, cello, clarinet in A, and soprano.
There are two things that are very frightening to me about this: first is that I’ve never written for solo voice before. Second is that I’ve never written for a percussion ensemble before. I’ve written for marimba and vibraphone, and some miscellaneous percussion instruments in a chamber setting, but not a full-fledged percussion ensemble with their dozens upon dozens of instruments. I am so used to seeing one person with one instrument per stave on a score that the idea of one person with a whole arsenal is quite over whelming. If there are any percussionists that read this, we need to talk.
In dealing with the human voice, it’s a whole new can of worms. I am really going to try and tailor this piece to Helen’s unique sound, but I also want to have plenty of wiggle room to play around in. I know she’s a fantastic singer, so I’m not worried that she’ll be able to whatever I put in front of her… but still it’s quite foreboding. You have to deal with the text and it’s syllables, the sound of the consonants versus vowels, the rhythm of speech, the different colors in different parts of her range, phrase length (they like to breathe at some point)… but I think I can. Like the little engine that could.
If there’s anybody out there who has any suggestions about writing for voice and/or percussion, I would love to hear it. This is going to be an adventure for all.
