Vocal piece finally recorded

Last week I finally recorded my vocal piece... it was an interesting experience to have this opportunity because a lot of things appeared that I didn't expect, some of them good, some of them not so much.

The final title of the piece is Pavamana Abhyaroha (follow thelink for the recording), which is the actual name of the mantra I chose as its text. It means "prayer of purification."

Some observations:

• The singer was most of the time out of tune. This is not because he couldn't sing in tune because he was a bad singer, but because in general he didn't have any reference in the piano. This problem mainly arises, I think, from the fact that I have perfect pitch and, in writing this piece I unconsciously assumed that a potential singer would be as easily in tune as I could be singing the same thing (of course, with the great difference of voice quality). I discovered, though, that the fact that he is singing out of tune is not so annoying, but what is annoying is the fact that he is singing the wrong intervals, or not reaching the right intonation in terms of interval (singing minor ninths too high, or singing the wrong melody at the end). After this I asked him to take this into consideration, to try to sing in tune, but if this is not possible, to at least sing the correct interval.
• The performers wanted to play all the time. This is normal coming from the 19th century-based musical education most performers get at the conservatoires. The idea of not playing at all during a full section of the piece is completely outrageous and out of the question, it is not even an issue I think, it just is not a thing. I wish to change this mentality in them, to make them see that not playing can sometimes be even more powerful.
• There is actually a climax at some point of the piece, which defeats completely the purpose of it. I even wrote what for me was a very clear instruction for this, but apparently it's not so much. 
  As a general performance advice, don’t let yourself be taken away by your emotions. Even though intensity and expressivity are valuable, you should always keep things in perspective. I think maybe it was too philosophical this explanation, and I might need to be more clear. 
  
  
  I forgot the singin bowl with which the piece ends... that was my bad. :( 
  
  
  
  A tibetan singing bowl
  
  
  And I have the greater existential doubt that I really don't know up to what point does the piece work in general, I don't know up to what point it defeats its own purpose, but then again what's its purpose? Did I really have a purpose in mind other than the musical idea? I didn't want to be preachy about the message of the text, I didn't expect anybody to become enlightened by it, I just wanted to write a musical piece that explored a different area, an undiscovered territory for me. 
  
  
  Did I fail? Maybe, I don't deny that the whole piece might be a failure, wanting to do too much. But I did learn a lot of things, in terms of notation, of possibilities of combining materials, of giving more freedom to the performers and all that that entails. In that sense it was not a failure. If the music is unendurable, then be it thus, next time I shall not fail, or maybe I will, maybe I will fail my whole life, but I don't think it will be a worthless journey if by failing constantly I learn more and more about music, about myself, about the world, about the sky, about sound, about humanity. If I must fail, then let me fail again and again.