About: Writings

A Pitch for New Music
by David Lang
May 11, 2011

It’s spring and baseball season is under way again — for me, always a welcome event. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the game and its history. Which reminded me of the recent passing of the baseball legend Duke Snider. And, surprisingly, that made me think of classical music. Honest!... Read More at nytimes.com

Donald Martin Jenni (1937-2006): A Remembrance
By David Lang
July 28, 2006

Two weeks ago I received a sad email, telling me that the composer Donald Martin Jenni had died, from a long and painful cancer. My first thought was that I was sorry I had not kept in closer contact, my second was that I was surprised to read in his obituary that he had ended up in New Orleans, with a new life and an adopted family. His life had changed so much since I had known him. (...)

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Steve Reich MacDowell Colony Medal Day Speech
By David Lang
August 14, 2005

I want to begin this speech with a little aphorism translated from the Hebrew: ''Say little, and do much.'' This is from an early book of the Talmud called Sayings of the Fathers. I wish I could say that I learned it from my own Hebrew studies, but I
can’t. I learned it from Steve Reich. This little phrase — say little and do much — is the entire text of the last movement of Steve’s most recent and remarkable piece, You Are Variations. (...)

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