Composition

This year’s theme is word setting, which is the art of capturing in music the natural rhythms and sonorities of spoken language. This makes life easier for singers, and may give the composer ideas that she or he might not otherwise discover. Good word setting requires an awareness of strong and weak beats in language, as well as short and long vowels, and single and double consonants.

When you sign up for the course, you will be sent a handout with further comments on word setting, and three poems, one of which you will be invited to set as a song.

Participants should have a reasonable ability to write sheet music. You will be asked to send compositions to the tutor in advance, so they can be commented on before the course.

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