Coincidentally, at about the same time the obituary was published, I was thanked (thanked!) by a singer for paying attention to words and writing music that allows the singer to best express art in a natural way. I was puzzled by this, and the singer explained that not every composer seems to be working with the voice.

So this quote of Hoiby really struck me:

“Singers, you can’t fool them,” he said. “When they hear a song, they can tell right away if it’s going to make them sound good. And mine do.”

One can appreciate the confidence with which such a statement is made! But it is also worth considering the merit behind this idea. Instrumentalists, especially in an ensemble, can simply play the notes in front of them and trust that there is some internal logic in whatever the composer has written. (That’s not always true, by the way.)

But there is so much more at stake for a singer. Singers are much more sensitive to the natural rise and fall of language and the inherent drama in the music. They have to “get it” if they are to stand in front of an audience and successfully offer a musical experience. When any of this fails, the singer is not likely to sound good, however polished the performance.

I would suggest that Hoiby should have taken the quote a step further: Audiences can easily be fooled, but are less likely to be fooled by a song.

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Lee Hoiby

“For me, composing music bears some likeness to archeology. It requires patient digging, searching for the treasure; the ability to distinguish between a treasure and the rock next to it and recognizing when you’re digging in the wrong place. The archeologist takes a soft brush and brushes away a half-teaspoon at a time. Musically, that would be a few notes, or a chord. Sometimes the brushing reveals an especially lovely thing, buried there for so long.”

I wonder, though. Isn’t that being a little too careful? I understand his point of view, but it’s okay to be messy when you are being creative. In the end, I think the composer does have to reign in his messiness and give shape and form to his ideas.

It reminds me a little of sculpture. With marble, you chip away until the form is revealed. With clay, you add and shape until the piece is finished.

Which kind of composer are you?

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