Corey Dargel

Photo: L. Gabrielle Penabaz

Well, it will be hard for me to compete with superstar Hilary Hahn, who has just started a great new series of video interviews with composers on the Sequenza 21 website, but I hope readers might be interested in a series of composer interviews on this blog as well.

After seeing the premiere of his strange and beautiful piece, Thirteen Near-Death Experiences, I felt compelled to ask Corey Dargel some questions. Here goes...


Dufallo: Who are a few of your musical influences?

Dargel: Probably Conrad Cummings, Eve Beglarian, Robert Ashley, Meredith Monk, and Pamela Z -- for the ways they commingle words and music. And John Luther Adams because his epic, ninety-minute pieces do exactly what I think epic pieces should do -- but I can't explain what that is.

Dufallo: What comes to you first -- the subject matter or the song? Can you describe your creative process?

Dargel: I usually start projects with a general theme or concept, but for individual songs I almost always start with the music. I write the instrumental parts first, not the vocal part, just the "accompaniments." I don't like that word, "accompaniment," because, to me, the instrumental parts are just as important, if not more important, than the vocal part... Anyway, then I write the lyrics -- writing lyrics is the hardest part for me -- but I don't think about how the lyrics will fit with the instrumental parts. So when I try to put the lyrics and melodies on top of the pre-existing accompaniments, there are these interesting problems about how to make them work together. Sometimes I'll rewrite one or the other, but more often I'll try to come up with odd ways of forcing them to fit together, which usually results in the vocal parts sounding kind of peculiar and lopsided.

Dufallo: What is it about voluntary amputation and hypochondriasis that makes you want to sing?

Dargel: Nothing. I almost always start a project by coming up with a challenging subject matter. Some topic that makes me think, "How the hell am I going to make music about that?" This was the case with Removable Parts and Thirteen Near-Death Experiences, and it was also the case with my most recent album, Other People's Love Songs, custom-made love songs for real-life couples whose relationships I was charged with portraying in a meaningful way.

Dufallo: Do you have any advice for young composers?

Dargel: Yes: Pyramid schemes! If anyone wants to know more, give me a call.

Dufallo: Seriously, though, what's your advice?

Dargel: Focus on cultivating your relationships with individual musicians, and write music for them and with them. Try to do this for a while, before working your way up to groups/ensembles where the personal relationships are less intimate. Perform your own music, if possible. Try to only write music that you know will be performed. If and when it gets rough, don't be discouraged. If you are discouraged, don't despair.