Thanks to all who advised me, front and back
channel, on this. (Incidentally, I got the name of the choir wrong - it's
Cantamus.) The message seems to be, just write a good poem and let the
composer do the rest, though unmellifluous words like rinderpest and Strathmiglo
are probably out. The composer also tells me that 'conversational tone' is
difficult to set so bang goes most contemporary poetry then. One or two
mentioned the work Michael Symmons Roberts had done with James Macmillan.
I'm a bit of a fan of MSR, but when I reviewed his latest book, Raising Sparks,
for TLS, I had to note that the pieces written for choral works were the weakest
in the book, because I felt there was a dilution which was no doubt compensated
for by the music. Maybe the trick is to write a good poem, with the part
of the composer in mind, but not then to publish it?
Roddy
