David Lang - MEN - Extracts - LIVE by European Music Project

MEN
written by David Lang
comissioned by "neue musik im stadthaus ulm" & EMP
performed by EMP & Mike Svoboda (trombone)

"men is about men and their history. It is a theatricalization of the ritual struggle between a soloist and his own very human limitations - a solo trombonist is given a part that is so simple, so pure and so painfully slow that it cannot be performed completely. The trombone part is a solo not because it is musically in front of the others but because the struggle to perform it is in some way tragic and deserving of special attention. It neither leads, nor follows, nor fights against, nor is supported by the ensemble; rather, it is almost as if the soloist embodies the inner life of the ensemble itself. men is a sad march for the hopes and dreams of men.
It is intended that men should be staged very simply, in near-darkness, with a spotlight on the trombone and the three locations to which the percussionists move during the piece. The staging itself should be ritualistic and very restrained - all that is needed is stand-lights for the ensemble, a bit of light for the trombone and percussion, some room to walk for the percussionists. In this way, Men may be performed in a concert hall, in a theater, in a factory, in a church." (David Lang)

men was commissioned by the Stadthaus Ulm for the European Music Project and was premiered 18 October 2001, in Ulm. I want to thank solo trombonist Mike Svoboda and Jurgen Grozinger, the Artistic Director of the European Music Project, for their help in making this piece happen." David Lang