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Lang: composition as explanation / Eighth Blackbird
Cedille
Grammy Nominated

Lang: composition as explanation / Eighth Blackbird

Contemporary Virtuosic Energetic Playful Dramatic
$9.99
$19.99 Save 50%

Details

Composer
David Lang
Artist
Eighth Blackbird
Format
CD
Label
Cedille
Released
Aug 09, 2024
Catalog #
CDR 230
UPC
735131923026

About

Four-time Grammy-winning sextet, Eighth Blackbird (8BB), "one of the smartest, most dynamic contemporary classical ensembles on the planet" (Chicago Tribune), presents the world premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang's composition as explanation, based on Gertrude Stein's seminal 1926 lecture of the same name. Called "Super Chamber Music" by David Lang, this multidisciplinary work incorporates elements of chamber music, theater, and performance art; it has the groundbreaking ensemble not only performing the music, but also speaking and singing Stein's text.

For the performance, the 8BB players committed themselves to a rigorous education process, including lessons in acting, diction, and the art of theater. Musical America praised 8BB's live performance of Lang's work as "every bit as witty, circular, and self-referential as Stein's own prose; it's rare, not to mention utterly satisfying, to hear a work that so completely embodies it's text. To invoke Stein, one suspects Composition as Explanation will be a work of our time for many times to come."

In 2016, 8BB asked David Lang to propose a project that they could perform at the Chicago Arts Club in conjunction with the Club's centennial year. In his research, Lang discovered that Stein had spoken at the Club in 1934; this led him to employ Stein's text as the basis for the piece.

Tracklist 11 tracks

  1. 1 there is singularly nothing 08:05
    Track
    1
    Title
    there is singularly nothing
    Duration
    08:05
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  2. 2 those who are creating 04:16
    Track
    2
    Title
    those who are creating
    Duration
    04:16
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  3. 3 of course it is beautiful 04:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    of course it is beautiful
    Duration
    04:34
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  4. 4 beginning again and again 04:19
    Track
    4
    Title
    beginning again and again
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  5. 5 it is understood by this time 03:49
    Track
    5
    Title
    it is understood by this time
    Duration
    03:49
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  6. 6 and now to begin as if to begin 05:43
    Track
    6
    Title
    and now to begin as if to begin
    Duration
    05:43
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  7. 7 and after that what changes 04:14
    Track
    7
    Title
    and after that what changes
    Duration
    04:14
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  8. 8 intertext 04:51
    Track
    8
    Title
    intertext
    Duration
    04:51
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  9. 9 the problem from this time on 09:12
    Track
    9
    Title
    the problem from this time on
    Duration
    09:12
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  10. 10 this then 03:08
    Track
    10
    Title
    this then
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird
  11. 11 the time in the composition 07:17
    Track
    11
    Title
    the time in the composition
    Duration
    07:17
    Composer
    David Lang
    Ensemble
    Eighth Blackbird