This
month, Clef Notes is looking at modern-day composers and new music. Many of you
are likely familiar with the composer who takes the spotlight today. David
Lang’s mountain was commissioned and
performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra during their MusicNOW concert in
2014. It also appears on their Hallowed
Ground album.
David
Lang is one of the most-performed American composers today. His music has been
heard globally, with performances by the BBC Symphony, eighth blackbird, the
Santa Fe Opera, and more. Besides composing, Lang is also the co-founder and
co-artistic director for Bang on a Can – a performing arts group in New York
City that supports new, experimental music. He also teaches composition at Yale
and is the artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton. His many awards include a Pulitzer Prize, which he won for the little match girl passion. This
creative work is based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Lang weaves the
story into his own re-writing of Bach’s Saint
Matthew Passion. What do you think?
