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It might sound like the most obvious thing in the world, but it is incredibly important to consider breathing when writing music. There's a lot to be said about letting phrases breathe and about instrumentalists who don't play brass or winds breathing as if they do, but this time we're talking about actual, fill-your-lungs-with-air breathing.
When writing for vocalists, wind instruments, or brass players, composers must consider breathing, because these instruments (yes, the voice is an instrument) cannot sound without air.
Of course, choirs have the ability to stagger breathe, which means singers can take individual breaths in their own time, and as long as they're not breathing with the other people in their section, the effect is an ongoing sound as if there is no break at all. This is a very useful technique, but there's a big however--- However, some composers abuse this, not worrying about providing places to breathe because they think singers can always stagger breathe. It's important to understand that choirs/sections asked to stagger breathe for long periods of time are never going to have the same strength or quality of sound as a choir/section allowed a full ensemble breath. Part of the problem is that by definition, stagger breathing means that not all singers will be singing at the same time, and so the sound of the phrase will suffer. But a much bigger problem is that singers tend to not take the best breaths when stagger breathing, often because they're trying to hurry to come back in so as not to leave a noticeable gap, so eventually their breaths can become very shallow which builds tension in their bodies and makes it harder to even use the breath that they've taken in. Put another way, stagger breathing for long periods of time is fatiguing and does not allow for optimal vocal technique and the music itself will suffer if composers rely on it too much.
Not notating breaths in the score doesn't mean conductors and vocalists will automatically assume a phrase is meant to be staggered, of course. Not every breath needs to be explicitly notated and, in fact, it's often better if they're not---this allows for more artistic freedom by the interpreting ensembles. But when writing, be mindful of leaving space for breathing, even if you're not notating it. For instance, writing a suspension at the end of every phrase can make it difficult for everyone to breathe because everyone has to wait for the chord to resolve before taking a breath. The faster the tempo, the more difficult this becomes. Eighth note resolutions can be especially challenging, even in slower tempos.
Of course, sometimes composers write suspensions like that because they don't want a breath---they're building a longer phrase and they want the music to move through it. This is completely understandable, but make sure it's a conscious choice. Repeatedly not being able to breathe at obvious musical and textual phrase endings is frustrating for performers and can make the music feel stagnant and dull. Singers will always sing better and more expressively if they know where/when their next breath will be. Staggering breaths for too long leads to vocally taxing and expressionless singing.
The takeaway is this: to get the most out of your singers (and your music), be mindful of leaving places where they can take full ensemble breaths. Stagger breathing is useful but should be used sparingly.
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