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Composers on Composing for Choir Wine, Tom (editor) GIA Publications, Inc., 2007 251 pp. ISBN: 13-978-1-57999-664-2 (Hardcover) @$24.95 GIA Publications, Inc. (G-7110)
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It was the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams who wrote that one's indebtedness to a teacher cannot be computed in terms of what he said to you or what you did for him, but in terms of the intangible contact with his mind and character. He was referring to his composition professor Charles Stanford, and what occurred between them during their private lessons, but something not unlike his experience may happen through the medium of Composers on Composing for Choir; for the reader has the opportunity to reflect upon the mind and character, as embodied in the answers to specified questions, of ten contemporary creators of choral music: David N. Childs, René Clausen, Libby Larsen, Morten Lauridsen, Kirke Mechem, James Mulholland, John Rutter, Z. Randall Stroope, André Thomas, and Gwyneth Walker.
As requested, the composers submitted information about their biographies, their creative processes, and the relationship between text and music; they gave advice on performing their music, securing commissions, and mentoring young composers; and they named those persons who influenced their development and careers, cited particular works that all choral conductors should know, commented on the future of choral music, and supplied a list of their output for choir (in the case of Mechem, some of his answers are derived from two articles he published in the Choral Journal in March 1973/reprinted in March 1998 and in November 2003, respectively). Thus, the composers and the subject matter they provided comprise the ten chapters of the book, which the editor, Tom Wine, patterned after a series published by GIA Publications that features composers of band literature, i.e., Composers on Composing for Band, Volumes One, Two, and Three. The result is a fascinating volume containing many intriguing topics.
"The first place I look for inspiration is the text," Childs writes, confirming the starting point for all of the choral composers, and adding that he personally considers "it fraudulent to set a text that does not speak to you and move you on a personal level" (p. 6). "I have to be able to choose a...