David Lang - note to a friend (Theo Bleckmann; Attacca Quartet)

Information

Composer: David Lang

1. note to a friend: prelude
2. note to a friend: people who kill themselves
3. note to a friend: my mother had lost her mind
4. note to a friend: I had a sister
5. note to a friend: amen
6. note to a friend: my father ran a store
7. note to a friend: my mother, my sister, my father
8. note to a friend: I wanted to die
9. note to a friend: long silence

Theo Bleckmann, baritone

Attacca Quartet

    Amy Schroeder, violin

    Domenic Salerni, violin

    Nathan Schram, viola

    Andrew Yee, cello

Date: 2026

Label: Cantaloupe Music

_____________________

David Lang’s note to a friend, commissioned by the Japan Society and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, draws inspiration from a farewell letter by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Conceived as a chamber opera for solo voice and string quartet, the work explores themes of mortality, intimacy, and existential reflection. It is performed by Theo Bleckmann alongside the Attacca Quartet, whose collaboration yields a haunting and emotionally resonant monodrama. The piece examines enduring human concerns—love, death, family, and inner turmoil—with striking immediacy and psychological depth.

David Lang (b. 1957) is a leading contemporary American composer whose works are widely performed internationally. His composition the little match girl passion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award, and has been recognized among the most significant 21st-century classical works. His film score simple song #3, written for Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth, received major award nominations. Lang’s opera prisoner of the state premiered in 2019 through major international co-commissions. He is a professor at the Yale School of Music and co-founder of Bang on a Can.

High Resolution 24-bit / 48 kHz