Anonymous 4 @ the Bang on a Can Marathon, Brookfield Place, NYC
A month after David Lang's newest release, love fail, the chatter still abounds, most recently with a gushing statement by The New York Times on Anonymous 4's "radiant" performance at the Bang on a Can Marathon, and a sizeable official review on iTunes, which offers a glowing recommendation.
Mr. Lang had been represented by sections of his medievally inflected “love fail,” its radiant harmonies captured by the vocal quartet Anonymous 4 – The New York Times
American composer David Lang's works are often conceptually tailored to a particular and unusual ensemble that matches the thematic content of the work. He has composed a piece ("Crowd Out") for 1,000 voices, inspired by the sound of soccer crowds in Britain. Nevertheless, Love Fail marks something of a milestone for him: he has never before written for a group with the chops of the medieval-oriented, female vocal quartet Anonymous 4. ("Shelter," composed for Trio Mediaeval, is a pale comparison.) For Anonymous 4, too, the recording is a milestone: around the time it was released in 2014, the group announced its retirement after the 2015-2016 season, and it perhaps points the way to a future in contemporary music for its supremely talented members. "Love Fail," like many of Lang's other compositions, is somewhat unclassifiable, and in this lies its appeal. It's not a cantata, song cycle, or opera, although it was originally presented on-stage. The work is a rumination in 15 short sections on the medieval idea of love, and specifically on the story of Tristan and Isolde. Wagner's Liebestod makes an appearance at the end. Mostly the work sets translated fragments (Google-translated, the composer says) of medieval poetry, along with some modern interpolations by poet Lydia Davis; the latter are effective riffs on the basic idea, and some are even humorous (try "Forbidden Subjects," track eight). Lang's music falls in between minimalism and a quasi-medieval style appropriate to the subject, with elements of pastiche and some hair-raising interludes. What sets it apart from the norm is the care with which it is shaped to take advantage of the multiple colors and sharp edges of Anonymous 4's voices, and at times the sounds heard achieve the grail of being simple and uncanny at the same time. Like Lang's other works, it will get your attention immediately, but it also has a real economy that is new and growing. Highly recommended. – iTunes
David Lang's "love fail" by Anonymous 4 at the Bang on a Can #marathon2014 https://t.co/M1nwbUi4AD
— I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (@icareifulisten) June 22, 2014
(Vine video c/o I Care If You Listen)