the writings (2019) 55'

program note

In 2005 I wrote a piece based on a few lines from the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is called again (after ecclesiastes) and both the writing of it and the thinking about it were very powerful experiences for me. One of the most powerful was the recognition that this Old Testament book has a liturgical function, that it is read publicly in many Jewish congregations in conjunction with the fall harvest holiday Sukkot. Somehow it seemed very poignant to me that Judaism might link together such a dark and philosophical text with a joyous religious festival celebrating abundance. I asked my rabbi about it and he encouraged me to look at the other Old Testament writings that have been incorporated into the Jewish liturgical year. So I did.

The Hebrew Bible is divided into three parts – The Five Books of Moses, The Prophets, and The Writings – and of course all of these texts play a role in Jewish worship. Over the centuries, however, five books in particular from The Writings became associated with particular holidays, and it is possible to chart the course of a year following them: Ecclesiastes, Esther, the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations. It seems to me that the point of connecting each book to its holiday is that these books are very human, very personal. Much of religion is mysterious and unknowable, but these books are all about people and their emotional lives – life and death, courage, love, companionship, regret. Incredibly, some of these books don’t mention God or religion or spirituality at all; rather, they underline what is human in us, and what is universal. One way to think of these five writings together is as a catalog of human emotions, repeating endlessly, year after year.

I thought that if I took some of the language that seemed most universal in each of these writings and set it to music I might be able to make my own emotional catalog, and that I would be able to use the music to get to the humanity that is at the core of these very human texts.

the writings begins and ends with the movement again (after ecclesiastes). The score instructs the performers to sing it differently, the second time it is sung. The cycle, like the year, may repeat, but never exactly.

The complete set of the writings and of the movement if I am silent, taken from the Book of Esther, were co-commissioned by the Carnegie Hall Corporation and the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Tido Visser, Director, and were premiered on 20 March 2019 in Zankel Hall, NY, by the combined forces of Theatre of Voices and the Yale Voxtet, Paul Hillier conducting.

The other movements were premiered over the course of 14 years:

• again (after ecclesiastes) was written for the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble and premiered in 2005, conducted by Kristina Boerger.
• for love is strong was written for Paul Hillier and Ars Nova Copenhagen and premiered in 2008.
• where you go was written for the 75th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center and premiered in 2015, with an ensemble of their opera fellows, conducted by Ruth Reinhardt.
• solitary was written for Cappella Amsterdam and premiered in 2016, conducted by Daniel Reuss.

Libretto

the writings
words and music
by david lang

1. again (after ecclesiastes)
people come and people go
the earth goes on and on
the sun rises, the sun sets
it rushes to where it rises again
the wind blows round, round and round
it stops, it blows again
all the rivers run to the sea
but the sea is never full
from where the rivers run they run again
these things make me so tired
I can’t speak, I can’t see, I can’t hear
what happened before will happen again
I forgot it all before
I will forget it all again

2. if I am silent
If I am silent
I cannot think
that I will be saved
if I am silent
If I am silent
help will come
from somewhere else
but not for me
if I am silent
everything I have
everything I am
everything I know
everything I feel
maybe everything I have I have for such a time as this

3. for love is strong
for love is strong
like wine.
like oil, pouring
like wine
like the tents of Kedar
like the curtains of Solomon.
like one who wanders by the flocks
like women
like the horses of Pharaoh’s chariots.
like perfume in the vineyards of Engedi.
like doves’ eyes.
like the rose of Sharon
like the lily of the valleys.
like the lily among thorns
like the apple tree among all other trees
like leaping upon the mountains
like skipping upon the hills.
for love is strong
like a roe
like a young hart
like my dove
like the foxes
like the little foxes
like our vines
like tender grapes.
like a roe
like a young hart
like the roes
like the hinds of the field
like pillars of smoke
like silver
like gold
like love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.
like doves’ eyes
like a flock of goats
like a flock of sheep that are newly shorn
like a thread of scarlet
like a pomegranate
like the tower of David, where hang the shields of mighty men.
like two young roes, which feed among the lilies.
for love is strong
like the mountain of myrrh
like the hill of frankincense.
like one chain of your neck.
like wine
like all spices
like the honeycomb
like honey and milk
like the smell of Lebanon.
like a garden enclosed
like a spring shut up
like a fountain sealed.
like a fountain of gardens
like a well of living waters
like streams from Lebanon.
like my garden
like the spices thereof
like his garden
like his pleasant fruits.
like my garden
like my myrrh
like my spice
like my honeycomb
like my honey
like my wine
like my milk
like my dove
like myrrh
like my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh
for love is strong
like another beloved
like women
like another beloved
like ten thousand.
like the most fine gold
like a raven.
like the eyes of doves
like a bed of spices
like sweet flowers
like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
like gold rings set with beryl
like bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
like pillars of marble
like fine gold
like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
like women
like his garden
like the beds of spices
like the gardens
like lilies.
like the lilies.
like Tirzah
like Jerusalem
like an army with banners.
like a flock of goats
like a flock of sheep
like a piece of a pomegranate
like my dove
like the morning
like the moon
like the sun
like an army with banners
like chariots
like the clash of two armies
like jewels
like a worker’s skillful hands
like a round goblet
like new wheat set about with lilies.
like two young roes
like a tower of ivory
like ponds
like the tower of Lebanon, looking towards Damascus.
like Carmel
like purple
like a palm tree
like clusters of grapes.
like the palm tree
like the boughs thereof
like clusters of the vine
like apples
like the best wine, that goes down sweet, causing the lips of sleepers to speak.
like my brother, who sucked my mother’s breasts
like the juice of my pomegranate.
like a seal upon your heart
like a seal upon your arm
for love is strong
like death
like the grave
like coals of fire, with a vehement flame.
like a wall
like a door
like a wall
like towers
like my vineyard, which is mine
like a roe
like a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

4. where you go (after the book of ruth)
where you go
where you stay
where you live
where you die
don’t make me leave you
don’t make me turn away from you
don’t make me go
where you go I will go
where you stay I will stay
where you live I will live
where you die I will die
don’t make me leave you
I will never leave you
don’t make me turn away from you
I will never turn away from you
don’t make me go
I will never go

5. solitary
solitary
bereaved
enslaved
bitter
weeping
comfortless
betrayed
exiled
oppressed
endlessly enslaved
restless
overtaken
mourning
deserted
crying out
grief stricken
brought low
suffering
alone
captive
without relief of any kind
like deer
pasture-less
running on
exhausted
in flight from the hunter
I remember
the life that was mine
now
there is no one left to help me
grievous
unclean
despised
naked
moaning
ashamed
filthy
endlessly downfallen
with no one to console me
the life that was mine
is now someone else’s
crying out
starving
despised
seared by fire
deep into my bones
entangled
turned back
desolated
endlessly in misery
chained
weighed down
weakened
powerless
rejected
crushed
like grapes in a winepress
my crying eyes
streaming with tears
comfortless
courageless
shocked
beaten
unconsoled
surrounded
an unclean, filthy thing
abandoned by my lovers
distressed
churning
restless
bereaved
inside me, it is like death
comfortless
troubled
wicked
crying out
sick at heart
enveloped in darkness
cast down
forgotten
pitiless
swallowed up
broken
brought down to the ground,
cut off
powerless
without protection
caught in a flaming fire
devoured
the aim of every arrow
swallowed up
destroyed
mourning
moaning
wrecked
destroyed
forgotten
ruined
dejected
sunk into the ground
destroyed and broken
lawless
blind
eyes all cried out
everything churning
empty of emotion
wounded
fainting away in the streets of the city
starving
fainting away in the streets of the city
gasping my last breath
comfortless
downfall as vast as the sea
unhealed and unhealable
futile
guilty
mocked
hissed
jeered
destroyed without pity
gloated over
my tears stream down
in rivers
day and night!
no rest for me
no rest for my eyes
crying out
my heart poured out
like water
fainting from hunger
tormented
starving
slaughtered
lying on the ground
in the middle of the streets
fallen by the sword
killed in anger
slaughtered without pity
my terrors
from every direction
inescapable
destroyed
afflicted
beaten
walking in darkness and not in light
alone
again and again, all day
skin rubbed raw
flesh worn away
bones broken
besieged and surrounded
bitter and hard
living in darkness
like the dead
walled in
no escape
weighed down with chains
when I cry out
when I plead for help
no one can hear
my way is blocked
there’s no way forward
hunted
broken
torn to pieces
stunned
every archer aims at me
every arrow finds me
pierced
mocked
taunted, all day long
filled with bitterness
drunken on bitterness
teeth broken
pressed down into the ashes
so far from peace
I have forgotten what it is
my strength is gone
my only hope is you

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