Record of the day: David Lang, “The passing measures”

David Lang, “The Passing Measures” (Cd Cantaloupe CA 21003)

The American composers who arrived on the scene after the advent of minimalism metabolized that aesthetic experience by adding the influence of European authors such as Andriessen and Messiaen; this is particularly noticeable in the use of time, considered by them to be a parameter in all respects, exactly like notes or orchestration. The musician calculates interventions, silences, dynamic contrasts, volumes, relationships between sound masses within the temporal flow, measuring out tensions and resolutions with the skill of a pharmacist, in order to always keep the listeners’ attention alive.

David Lang belongs to that group of musicians gathered around the project entitled Bang on a Can; generally their music is aggressive, full of rock and funk influences, played at very high volumes, but David also has a more secret side of his artistic personality, more inclined to reflection and to meditate on a few elements, breaking them down into a thousand different acoustic perspectives, often carried out over very long time spans; “The Passing Measures” is one of his masterpieces.

The reference model is another great contemporary score, “De Tijd” by Louis Andriessen: an immense “Adagio” of over forty-five minutes, which develops with glacier-like slowness a progression of chords using a sound continuum in which infinite harmonic iridescence shines in a dimension of absolute stillness that is at the same time sober and monumental. The same characteristics are found in Lang’s composition, but the harmony used is much less chromatic, although continually dirtied by the sound of anvils rubbed with metal rods which bring an “industrial” flavor and lead the atmosphere of the piece more in the direction of New York than near Dante’s Paradise (as it was for Andriessen).

The choir, which continuously sends waves approaching and retreating to the audience, acts as a counterpoint to the infinite melody supported by the cellos in the high register for over forty minutes without interruption (with great effort from the poor instrumentalists). The performance of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group directed by Paul Herbert was admirable. A record that requires a lot of attention, but also capable of taking you to a place with unknown coordinates, where it’s nice to get lost.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.