Death of Classical presented the Ekmeles ensemble in David Lang’s “the little match girl passion” in the crypt of the Church of the Intercession in Manhattan in December. Photo by Steven Pisano.
In Friday’s (12/20) New York Times, composer David Lang writes, “Whether it’s chestnuts roasting on an open fire or a white Christmas, many of our classic Christmas images are drawn from songs written by Jewish composers and lyricists. Why are so many great artists drawn to making art about a holiday that isn’t theirs? Every Christmas, I ask myself this question, because accidentally I—a Jewish composer—have also written something of a Christmas classic: ‘the little match girl passion.’ [The work won the Pulitzer Prize.] The cynics among us may think that these artists make Christmas music because they’re chasing the market. I believe there is something deeper at work…. In classical music, the world I live in, the relationship between religion and culture is a little easier to see, because Christian content is so foundational to Western classical music…. Composing can be a chance to dig deeply into who you are, to examine your strengths and weaknesses, your hypocrisies, your hopes. One of the things I think about … is my relationship to my own religion. Even though my faith is important to me, in truth, I am only intermittently observant … But I believe the power of religion, mine and anyone else’s, is to help a community envision how to live in a better world, together.”
