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A SUMMING UP Choral Composition Through Nine Decades

Personal Values an old woman whose only child was lost in miscarriage.
I said at the beginning that I would describe how She believes that the child will miraculously return.
philosophical, personal values affect my music. I wrote When she learns that in Bethlehem a child has been
a long essay for the Choral Journal in November 2003 born who will bring love and comfort to the world, she
that dealt with that subject, as well as my views about believes it must be her child. She flies on her broom to
the relationship of words and music. The title is “The greet him, but she has spent so much time sweeping
Text Trap,” which refers to a double trap for compos- and cleaning, she is too late. Every Epiphany, through
ers: all eternity, she seeks the baby, carrying gifts to every
child. The finale, sung by all, gives the moral: “Put off
If we obsess on the text, squeezing disparate your toiling and let love in.”
musical imagery and emotion out of every line, Canons, Quotes and Musical Jokes consists of fifteen
the listener may hear only disjointed musical very short pieces—canons and catches alternating with
episodes. If we pay little attention to the text, funny quotes from Aristotle to Oscar Wilde: “If Cin-
focusing on the creation of a satisfying musi- derella’s slipper was such a perfect fit, why did it fall
cal form, the result may be a disappointing off?” So I am going offstage in a befitting way—with a
disconnect between words and music. Today’s dramatic story and a laugh.
composers are more liable to fall into the first
trap—obsessing on the text. I hear too many
new choral pieces that lack musical organiza- Conclusion
tion… For younger composers, and also for ex- To sum up “A Summing Up,” why have I written so
perienced choral composers who may suspect much choral music? I asked this question at the begin-
that words have been bullying their music. I ning, and hope that the reader now knows the answer.
am not advocating that you try to pour your It is because choral music has been the genre in which
text into a conventional musical form such as I could best express my feelings, my interests, my per-
sonata, rondo, or ABA. 2 sonality, and my beliefs through that most fundamen-
tal, expressive instrument: the human voice. My wish
If you are a composer, how do you tell a good poem is that this description of one composer’s journey has
for choral music from a bad one? First, you have to love some value for those who conduct, sing, or compose
it. Poems and music live in the emotions. If you feel no choral music. I have been blessed and inspired by all
emotion for a poem, neither will singers or listeners. of you.
But not every poem you love will make a good cho-
ral piece. Difficult philosophical poems are not good
candidates. But choosing poetry is highly subjective. In NOTES
“The Text Trap,” I quoted a poem by Sara Teasdale,
“Let It Be Forgotten,” and guided the reader through 1 Kirke Mechem, “The Choral Cycle,” Choral Journal 10, no
an analysis of the poem as a way to explain my method 7 (April 1970): 8-11.
of setting a poem to music. 2 Kirke Mechem, “The Text Trap,” Choral Journal 44, no 4
The two pieces I have just finished are probably my (November 2003): 23-27. The full text of this article
last, and they are emblematic of my entire choral cata- can also be found in Composers on Composing for Choir
log. The first is a choral-theater piece, Befana, which can (GIA, 2007) and in Believe Your Ears: Life of a Lyric Com-
be sung either as a cantata or staged as a one-act opera. poser by Kirke Mechem (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).
The second is Canons, Quotes and Musical Jokes, which is
a cycle of rounds interspersed with quotes from famous
people.
Befana’s text is based on a touching Italian fable about

48 CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6