Main content

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.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 20 Jan 2023 16:30
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Strauss’s New Dawn

Next

On the March: Pomp, Circumstance and Dam Busters

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Matthauspassion BWV.244

    Performer: St Thomas's Church Leipzig Choir. Performer: Tölzer Knabenchor. Performer: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 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
    BBC Radio 3
  • Fri 20 Jan 2023 16:30
    BBC Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?

Podcast