words and music by david lang after ecclesiastes again (after ecclesiates) is a setting of a few lines from the beginning of the Book of Ecclesiastes, freely adapted by me. Ecclesiastes is a Hebrew prophet (in Hebrew his name is Kohelet) and his book is traditionally read during the harvest holiday of Sukkot. Kohelet moves powerfully from the cycling of the seasons to other endless natural and human cycles, creating a strange equilibrium of hope and futility.
In my setting I wanted to make a piece that might convey the weariness of all of these endless cycles, concentrating on the weight of things repeating again. And again.
again (after ecclesiates) was commissioned and premiered by the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble in New York City, Kristina Boerger, Director.
