My first song cycle — advice and recommendations

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the planning and sketching phase of an art song cycle, my first song cycle yet, for baritone and piano. I’m expecting it will take me around six months to complete. The cycle explores themes of distance, obsession, and the inadequacy of symbols when attempting to reach an absent Other. I’m going to be writing in a post-impressionist vein, with a tonal system of my own devising. I’m planning to coordinate pitch collections and tonal centers with symbolic themes and emotional atmosphere, kind of reminiscent of Wagner’s leitmotifs but subtler.

The poems/poets I've selected are a diverse group, ranging across various genres, nationalities, and time periods, but I tried to find some organic coherence among them.

Do you have any advice about writing art songs/cycles? For instance, do you typically write the vocal line and accompaniment together, or do you write the vocal line first, perhaps with a bass line under? I know the harmony can’t be totally ignored at any stage of the process! Any recommendations? I’ll take anything I can learn!

Song Cycle Texts.pdf

Edited Thursday at 03:41 PM2 days by CrystalCanon
poems attached as pdf file

The main thing I struggle with when writing art song, is that the singer has a limited range. I think in art song it is very important to have a harmonic idea of your poems first. Then creating a melody around that. The piano does 90% of the work and the voice should get the credit. As a singer, I truly think the best art song has most phrases within the range of a 5th. From phrase to phrase you can shift this around, but the more rangey it gets, the needlessly difficult it gets. If the poem is contemplative I would hold this as a strong guideline. But if it's angry, or disjunt, maybe not worry so much.

This isn't to say that anything will be bad if written this way, but it makes it harder to execute. Also do you have a baritone in mind?

Here is a piece that conveys what I think is important: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeXlTfC7MVM

Most of the phrases are quite narrow for the voice, this allows the voice to navigate their difficult "passagios"
Also notice how as the piece gets more intense, so does the range. And pay attention to how softly the pianist is playing throughout. It should be noted that this is a VERY difficult piece for voice. Specifically the closer you get to the end. Long phrases, short breaths, extensive range, lots of dynamic variety and high soft singing. The only reason its popular is because its so pretty. However the piece is subjected to pretty much only professional singers because of its difficulty.

German Lied, is much more text driven. Generally a German Lied cycle has a lot of variety and color changes, as it was expected back then. So often times in a cylcle, piece are exaggerated in their color as much as possible. Sometimes I get annoyed at German lieder for not staying in the moment long enough, in attempt to create variety, but they are the world famous composers and I serve food to people.

So getting into tonality.
https://youtu.be/gHGYmV0frnw?si=H3MTNlnYh6iqUtvM

Previn is always a favorite example of mine. Its tonal, but never the same tone. Listen to how the piano completely shifts from texture to texture in order to convey emotions, and prepares the next phrase. This poem is very complex, but the piano and voice work together to make it fathomable. Previn switches from between three primary textures, wide complex chords, high dissonant/poignant chords, and flourishes. Each represents a specific feeling. I think the wide chords express the "setting" of the poem, the natural feel. These are about 50% of the piece. The high dissonant chords have a feeling disappointment, while the flourishes express child-like hope. Also worth noting, this piece is really hard to sing. He never "preps" the singer with a pitch, making it incredibly difficult to find a pitch, even a augmented 2nd is difficult to find.

I'm not big into non-tonal music so I can't help you much in that realm, but I think look at berg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_7OHTr400

He's just my favorite in the not-tonal world. As someone who has sung a few atonal works, and others on the cusp, my main ask is: please make exceptions to your tonal rules, to allow the words to have their impact. Art song exists to create the worlds in which poetry exists. If the poem has to be forced by the singer, it is not a good art song.