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David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion

Tom Service delves into David Lang's secular take on the Christian Passion – a work that won him the 2008 Pulitzer Prize – inspired by Bach and Hans Christian Andersen.

Tom Service delves into David Lang's secular take on the Christian Passion: The Little Match Girl Passion. Winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, the work, scored for chorus and percussion, and lasting barely more than half an hour, takes inspiration from both Bach's St Matthew Passion and Hans Christian Andersen's famous children's story, The Little Match Girl.

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29 minutes

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: St Thomas's Church Leipzig Choir. Performer: TΓΆlzer Knabenchor. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.
    • 478-2194.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Gesang der Parzen [Song of the fates] Op.89 for chorus and orchestra

    Performer: San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Performer: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
    • DECCA.
    • 430 281-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: Andreas Schmidt. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Gesang der Parzen [Song of the fates] Op.89 for chorus and orchestra

    Performer: San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Performer: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
    • DECCA.
    • 430 281-2.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 427-648-2.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Gesang der Parzen [Song of the fates] Op.89 for chorus and orchestra

    Performer: San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Performer: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
    • DECCA.
    • 430 281-2.
  • David Lang

    The Little match girl passion for soloists and chorus

    Performer: Theatre of Voices. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 807496.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Jan 2023 17:00
  • Fri 20 Jan 2023 16:30

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