Here at UNT we have a rather large composition program and I have had
the fortune/misfortune of hearing and performing world premieres more
than once. Here is some gratuitous advice for young composers of
vocal music.
Don't write your own text. You've spent years training as a composer
and probably none as an author/poet. If you're worried about
copyright/royalty issues, set some public domain texts. Shakespeare,
Blake, the Bible. It will better than what you can do, I promise.
Ask the singer (s) about the difference between range and tessitura.
Yes, a good tenor can sing a high C. He probably doesn't want to sing
sixteen of them in a row, however. Also, don't ask a singer to sing
the lowest note in his/her range FFFF. Not gonna happen.
Put the accent on the right syllable. Is that too much to ask?
If you insist on conducting your own compositions, make sure you know
how. Having a beat that people can follow is a start.
Unless the singer has absolute ("perfect") pitch, you're going to
have to help him/her find his/her note from time to time.
Write things in the way that makes the most sense tonally, even if
it's atonal. For example, write a-flat to d-flat rather than g-sharp
to d-flat. Singers hate that, trust me.
Give the singer a chance to breathe. Really. I mean it.
I'm sure the group has other suggestions. All of these are based on
real experiences I've had!
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