Monday, November 13, 2006

Composing Opera

My interest in teaching composers to write for opera singers was aroused by listening to the singers in Sophie’s Choice struggle with their parts. It was not too hard for them to sing, it was too easy. In fact, the composer probably composed it for himself to sing.

I’m going to write only about composing an opera to be performed by an opera company made up of trained opera singers. I am making a possibly absurd assumption--that you are composing for the ages, that you want your opera to be performed in 10, 20 or maybe even 100 years.

Dear composer,
If you don’t really like to listen to opera singers, if that sound makes you cringe, then please don’t compose an opera. Please. Do a musical instead.

If you are still reading, perhaps you still want to compose an opera. Print a large sign and hang it near your keyboard: “I am not an opera singer.” It doesn’t matter how it sounds when I sing it.

Then move on to the list of Fachs. I’m printing an abbreviated list here, together with ranges and tessituras. The ranges are from Wikipedia, but I made up the tessitura for each Fach, so feel free to criticize. Within each big category based on range, lyric and dramatic specialties will be based on sound.

Coloratura soprano.
Range: From middle C to the F two-and-a-half octaves above middle C.
This Fach divides into lyric and dramatic coloratura, but the ranges are the same. The tessitura is E above middle C to high C. The other notes are extensions.

Soprano
Range: From middle C to the C two octaves above middle C.
This Fach divides into lyric and dramatic sopranos, The tessitura is E above middle C to G above the treble clef. The range of a dramatic soprano can go below middle C and the tessitura goes down to middle C. The other notes are extensions.

Mezzo soprano
Range: From the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C
This Fach divides into mezzo and contralto. The tessitura is middle C to F at the top of the treble clef. The other notes are extensions. Contralto roles will extend down to F.

Countertenor
Theoretically the same as a contralto. Britten wrote for a countertenor in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and you can too if you want. Traditionally these are roles that were written for castrated men who had voices that were similar to the female voices described above, except I am not aware of a castrato who achieved the true coloratura range. Today they are normal men singing falsetto. I suggest selecting a specific singer to compose for this.


Tenor
Range: From the B below low C to the C an octave above middle C (C to c'). This Fach also divides into lyric and dramatic, and the tessitura is E to G. A high C is a much bigger deal for a modern tenor who is forbidden to go into falsetto than it is for a soprano. Don’t think of them as exactly an octave apart. If you want a lot of very high notes, compose for a Rossini tenor, if you can find one.

Baritone
Range: From the A below low C to the Ab above middle C (A to ab' )
There are buffo, lyric and dramatic baritones, and the tessitura low C to E.

Bass
Range: From the E one-and-a-half octaves below middle C to the F above middle C (E to f'). The tessitura is A to E.

Go to your list of characters, and put each one into one of these classifications. Decide if the sentiments of the character are mainly lyric or dramatic.

Compose most of the notes within the tessitura, but place the notes all over. Write up and down in the voice. When you want a heavy dramatic effect, write a note in the upper extension, but clearly distinguish how high to make it based on Fach. A mezzo will begin to sound dramatic at a lower pitch than a soprano. Emphasize the upper part of the tessitura for sopranos and tenors. Put in low notes for mezzos, baritones and basses. Be sure the singer gets to use all of their voice, possibly omitting only some of the highest extensions, since this will make the role easier for them to sing. This will make the role easier to sing. They are trained to use all of their voices, so you should, too.

I won’t say what the specific style should be. Pointillism, singing with a lot of giant leaps, popular with the Second Viennese school, is not hard to sing if you know what you’re doing and the notes obey the outlines shown above. Compose whatever you want, but don’t just stick to the five little notes you can sing.

If you have particular singers you want to compose for, by all means do. Begin by asking them which Fach they belong to, and then look it up. If they don’t know, reconsider using them. Don’t compose an opera for Sting.

Traditionally certain Fachs play certain types. The heroine is a soprano, the hero a tenor and the villain a baritone. If you are composing for specific singers, you may want to rearrange the traditional setup and make the heroine a mezzo, for instance. By all means do.

The Ghosts of Versailles is a modern opera that is very well written for singers. Britten had a lyric tenor who lived in, so his operas all feature a lyric tenor. This lyric tenor knew what made his voice sound good and made sure the roles suited it. Your job is to make the singers sound good. Modern composers are able to imagine a high lyric soprano like Dawn Upshaw and seem to compose everything for them. Try to branch out. Learn to like fatter voices, too. Please.

I have kept this very basic because that’s how bad it is.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ohime! Sohpie's Choice KILLED ME!

They gave away free tickets and still couldn't fill the place. I know, I had a free ticket.

-A

Anonymous said...

I happened upon this fach list while doing some research through Google and found it very helpful. However...

The two types of Coloratura Soprano are Dramatic Coloratura and Lyric Coloratura. Though it has some similarities to Lyric Coloratura, Soubrette is a separate fach.

I realize the incorrect information probably came from Wikipedia, which has a tendency to be somewhat inaccurate. I also realize this article is over a year old, but, being that it shows up in Google results, I thought I would clarify anyway. :)

Nicholas Boyd-Vaughan said...

Any readers should research slightly more about the fach system as there are many different types of Mezzo, Tenor, Baritone and Bass voices, each with different tones and more suited to certain operatic characters;

e.g. Sarastro (Die Zauberflote)should ideally be sung by a Basso Profundo but is occasionally sung by Bassi Cantanti who are less secure in the lower register.

One of my prefered books that explains the fach system is 'The art of auditioning' by Anthony Legge (Head of Opera, RAM) this has a section at the back devoted to the fach system and detailing repertoire suited to each voice.

I stumbled upon a website once that gave definitions of each fach using pop singers which was quite amusing, but alas I cannot find you a link!

Dr.B said...

I am afraid that my advice to composers was dumbed down considerably. It would represent progress if they seemed to know which singers were basses and which were tenors.

Anonymous said...

This is not very helpful. It sounded more like complaint than instruction. Advice on matching voice phrases with instrument phrases would have been helpful. Obviously, if you're not inclined to write much on theory then the appropriate objective of your article should have been to point fundamental sources--a list of reputable hand-books. I should not be surprised, at any rate, it would seem you have a greater understanding of acquiring credentials than of composing music. It's nothing to be ashamed of, credentials and creativity rarely go together... then again, it's nothing to be proud of either.

Dr.B said...

So you were thinking someone who carefully writes only about singing was going to tell you how to compose? Curious.