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Words & Music:  A Conversation with Poets and Composers






          voice and imagery, while leaving room for the music to  Bock: I’ve written a few texts that have been set to mu-
          paint some of the colors as well as elaborate on what   sic, and a few that have not. All of them have been
          the text introduces. Language with open vowels, espe-  poems that come from their own place without any as-
          cially at climactic moments, is crucial and I often work   signment. I don’t know if I could produce under an
          with my collaborator to achieve this. If there are too   assignment/commission structure. I’ve never done it.
          many details or there is too much “music” in the text
          itself, the pairing with sound can make the resulting art
          too busy.                                           Runestad: I will happily work within a general theme
                                                              for a commission but prefer freedom in choosing the
                                                              specific direction and text/poet. Not all texts can and
          Cordero: Even though it sounds obvious, I like a text I   should be set to music!
          can understand. I fall in love with texts that speak like
          we speak today when having a conversation or speak-
          ing over the phone with a loved one. I like texts that are  Cordero:  Hard  question!  I  like  to  have  specific  de-
          short, direct, and vulnerable because I feel safe coming   tails so I can be creative within my limits. A few years
          in and interacting with the text. I become a bridge to   ago, when I was in college, I had a commission where
          bring it to more people. I believe that our audience is   they told me I could do whatever I wanted, and what
          not only that one that comes to the concert but is also   I  wanted  was  to  cry.  The  piece  I  did  was  too  diffi-
          everyone who comes in contact with your voice, and   cult  because  I was doing things because  I “could”
          your voice is everything that we do!                instead  of writing  for  the  ensemble.  When  I failed
                                                              on this first piece, I decided to write an “I-am-sorry-
                                                              I-wrote-such-a-hard-piece  piece”  and that’s how
          Pederson:  To  start,  some texts  just  seem  to  present   “Salve Regina” came to life! Then, I was writing for
          melodic or rhythmic ideas to me; I’ll sit down at the   the people and not for a made-up set of choral tools.
          piano to  noodle  on the  text  and a  musical idea  will
          emerge. I love when a text says something in a new way  Flanders: What a great question! I find that a gener-
          and paints the picture in a way that is fresh or evoca-  al direction, theme, guidance, and sense of what the
          tive. Also, finding the internal rhymes (inside the phras-  shared intentions are is helpful. But when directions get
          es rather than at the ends of them) and figuring out a   too specific, they can be limiting. For Carlos, he gets to
          way to highlight those is a fun challenge. Brian’s writing   consider many musical factors: instrumentation, how
          is full of interesting internal rhymes. I’m also drawn   many singers, time, and whatever else the musical pa-
          to texts that allow people of various backgrounds and   rameters are. For me, that information is also helpful
          experiences to enter in and find something meaningful.   as it can set tone. But for me, when a piece is coming
          So, I often look for texts that can serve as a springboard   fresh to the world, it’s not about rendering it. It’s about
          for conversation.                                   finding it! About exploring the territory from which the
                                                              song emerges. Too much direction in the assignment
          How specific (or not) do you like your assign-      can stunt the exploratory process.
          ment to be?


          Powell: I prefer that the commissioning organization  Newhouse: I like two things in a commission:  One,
          provides  specifics  on  the  purpose  of  the  work,  the   crystal clarity on the approximate length of the piece,
          theme of the occasion or concert, mood, tempo, and   deadline, special occasion or commemoration, and of
          general style. If they have a poem in mind, I will want   course as much as possible about who’s singing it. I also
          to read it and determine if it is one through which I   like to inquire what the commissioner hopes the piece
          can find inspiration before agreeing to the commission.   might accomplish, what effect it might have on the au-


          12      CHORAL JOURNAL  March/April 2023                                              Volume 63  Number 7
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