Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music ... - NewMusicBox

NewMusicBox May 2003
11. Sage Advice for Emerging Composers
AUDIENCE QUESTION: I would like to ask a question from perhaps another place on the
wheel and that is, from this stage in your development as a composer, what do you suggest as
ideal components for developing? And maybe that will be a bridge to the question about the
future. What would you suggest a composer get in their ears? If you notice a singer in your choir
who seems to have that gift, how would you suggest developing that gift?
LIBBY LARSEN: That is a great place to be on this wheel. I have begun to make it possible for
young people to take their first steps. I think confidence in yourself as a mentor, as a guide, but
not as an instructor in how to do it, is very important. To provide an opportunity for someone
whom you think has a spark that is appropriate for that level, number 1. I see many young
composers crash and burn because they were given too many opportunities too soon, and then
that was followed up by another big opportunity that was too big, too soon. I have seen some
bright lights be snuffed out because of that. Too much, too soon and the craze takes over and the
rush to commission that composer. I think that appropriate opportunities for the composer's
talent is a good way to start, but then also a mentorship relationship, which is always hardest I
think with the newest composers; meaning, that so many young composers will put everything
but the kitchen sink into a piece, and a way of working with that composer to guide them into
choosing the best idea in the piece. Developing a process of checking in on the piece, and dealing
with the uncertainty of a developing talent. Most of us are very uncertain when we begin to
compose; you can feel your brain growing. You really can. And to have a person giving you an
appropriate opportunity, mine was an anthem, just an anthem was my first opportunity, and
was very carefully mentored all the way along the line, without that person telling you what to
write. I chose my own texts. We had conversations about how I might set that text, but no
prescription about how to do it. We had conversations about range, but that person didn't say,
"My sopranos wobble on the G." So no practical limitations set on the piece. You have to let the
imagination soar, within the appropriate opportunity.
LINDA HOESCHLER: How old were you when that happened?
LIBBY LARSEN: That first anthem? I think I was 20.
MOSES HOGAN: I agree with everything that you say and I guess maybe I should just add—I
will put in proper perspective what a commission does for me. It serves as encouragement first
of all. That is the bottom line. It serves as encouragement. It is important recognition. I don't care
who you are. If you had the resources of Beethoven to write, it probably would have meant
something to you. When we have this opportunity, it's because you have recognized something
that we have chosen to do in our creative life. And I have found that when these compositions are
presented or we have the opportunity to perform them, that they touch somebody, some person
on a different level. And so, when these compositions are feeding naturally the inspiration of
others, once you give us the opportunity, we're inspired. We are inspired by the music we heard
of the person who has been documented—Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, all the composers.
Composers’ Dialogue #1, 08/06/2002