cheating, lying, stealing (1993, rev. 1995) 11'
bcl,vc,pf,perc,and 2 antiphonal brake drums
Meet the Composer/Readers Digest Commissioning Program for Present Music, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and Collage
program note
A couple of years ago, I started thinking about how so often when classical composers write a piece of music, they are trying to tell you something that they are proud of and like about themselves. Here’s this big gushing melody, see how emotional I am. Or, here’s this abstract hard-to-figure-out piece, see how complicated I am, see my really big brain. I am more noble, more sensitive, I am so happy. The composer really believes he or she is exemplary in this or that area. It’s interesting, but it’s not very humble. So I thought, What would it be like if composers based pieces on what they thought was wrong with them? Like, here’s a piece that shows you how miserable I am. Or, here’s a piece that shows you what a liar I am, what a cheater I am. I wanted to make a piece that was about something disreputable. It’s a hard line to cross. You have to work against all your training. You are not taught to find the dirty seams in music. You are not taught to be low-down, clumsy, sly and underhanded. In ”cheating, lying, stealing,” although phrased in a comic way, I am trying to look at something dark. There is a swagger, but it is not trustworthy. In fact, the instruction in the score for how to play it says: Ominous funk.
—David Lang
score preview
first performance:
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![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/lang-untitled-500x500.jpg)
Music from the film (Untitled)
![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/lang-pierced.jpg)
pierced
![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/lang-bang-on-a-can-classics_0.jpg)
Bang on a Can Classics
![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/lang-round-nut-tool.jpg)
Round Nut Tool
![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/lang-rogues-gallery.jpg)
![](https://redpoppymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/31dj6ca6mql._sl500_aa300.jpg)