THOMAS C. LANG

I couldn’t wait to share this!  Here’s a pdf of the first 7 pages of the “Glam Bugs” movement.  I finished the manuscript on Saturday, and I started engraving yesterday.

Nuez wrote up a nice little paragraph on his website about how excited he is to hear of his art being used in a slide show during a performance of the sonata I’m writing for Brett Keating.  Brett and I, too, are very excited, and I can’t wait to share my music with Xavier!

(On a side note, you’ll find the same link in a comment he left in my 28 December blog post.  I’m terribly bad at going through and approving comments in a timely fashion.  But, I finally got around to approving his from 1 March.  Also, I get so many spam comments that I might accidentally delete a legitimate comment.  So sorry if that happens to you!  You can always send an email to let me know that I did this at lang.thomas.c@gmail.com.)

Just an update on the sonata (for euphonium, four trombones, and two percussionists) I’m writing for Brett Keating.  I’m nearly finished with the “Glam Bugs” movement, and I can’t wait to “engrave” the manuscript in Finale so I can send it to him.  I’m really terribly excited to continue on with the other movements.  I’m thinking I’ll be writing the “Alleys and Ruins” movement next.

It’s also looking like the sonata will receive its premiere in Luzern, Switzerland this fall.  I’ll post updates again as plans start to solidify.  Also, early plans to get the sonata published are under way.  More on that, too, as things progress.

I’m pleased to announce that yesterday I started working on a commission from Brett Keating, a sonata for euphonium, four trombonists, and two percussionists.  This is rather a quite neat work, as the sonata itself is inspired by the work of photographer Xavier Nuez.  We’re titling each of the three movements after a collection of Xavier’s photographs: Glam Bugs, Crystals, and Alleys and Ruins.

This is a May 2012 deadline, and Brett just informed me that he’s planning a summer recital in Luzern.

(Yes, the UW system officially conferred upon me the Doctor of Musical Arts.  I couldn’t resist using my well-earned title in at least one headline!)

Go to YouTube to listen to and watch a performance of my first work for Pierrot ensemble, which premiered in Madison, WI on 24 September 2011 at my second and final DMA lecture recital.  You’ll also get a chance to see me conduct the ensemble.  Morgann Davis, Rosemary Brumbelow, Peiyun Lee, Christine Liu, Emily Gruselle, Sean Kleve, Brett Walter, and Jennifer Hestrom perform.

Here’s just a glimpse at the first page of the last movement of my dissertation symphony, Music for Orchestra in However Many Incarnations. This movement is for T.B. (not the disease… the actor…)

Here is a link to a live stream of the lecture recital for this Saturday 24 September.  This is the first time Gabe and I have tried something like this, so we’re hoping all will go well.  The stream should start at 6:00pm.  The recital starts at 6:30pm, and the stream will continue until the very end of the recital.

If you can’t make it to Morphy Recital Hall in the Humanities Building in Madison, WI, then I hope you’ll at least be able to tune in!

Just another formal announcement that my second (and final) DMA lecture recital is 24 September 2011 at 6:30pm in Morphy Recital Hall in Madison, WI.  Gabriel Pionkowski’s installation will be up 21-28 September in the Dvorak Gallery in the Humanities Building.  Also joining us are:

Morgann Davis, flute & piccolo
Rosemary Brumbelow, clarinet & bass clarinet
Peiyun Lee, violin
Christine Liu, viola
Emily Gruselle, cello
Sean Kleve, marimba & vibes
Brett Walter, glockenspiel, crotales & triangle
Jennifer Hedstrom, piano

We had our first rehearsal just this past weekend, and it was absolutely fabulous!  I think this performance’ll be quite a show!  Come if you can!

I just now finished my newest work, music for Pierrot ensemble and two percussionists, called “Via the Void.”  (In fact, I just finished printing off the score a couple minutes ago, having spent the better part of this past week “engraving” the manuscript in my notation program.)  The music will feature on my second (and final) lecture recital on 24 September in Morphy Recital Hall in Madison, WI.  This recital also features the work of Gabriel Pionkowski, whose ideas inspired this music, and whose work will feature as an installation in the first-floor lobby of the Humanities Building.

As always, more details to follow…

I noticed that I haven’t written in awhile, so I thought I’d post a quick update.

I’m now fully re-located to St. Paul and I absolutely love it.  I’ve been working on some music for Pierrot ensemble.  Right now I’m just calling it Void Music but I’m also toying with the idea of calling it Music Crossing a Void or Music through a Void or something like that.  This is music that I’m writing in collaboration with visual artist Gabriel Pionkowski, and I’ll present it at a lecture recital in Madison this September.

I also decided that I’m going to turn in not eleven movements for my dissertation, but seven.  I think seven is much more manageable and it will yield a more solid piece.  I think I’ll some day write for the remaining four, though.

As it stands, I think the order of the movements for the symphony (now titled Music for Orchestra in Seven Incarnations) will be:
I. The First: W.H.
II. The Second: P.T.
III. The Ninth: C.E.
IV. The Seventh: S.M.
V. The Third: J.P.
VI. The Fifth: P.D.
VII. The Fourth: T.B.

The remaining four, then, will make a fabulous symphony on their own, too.  Possibly:
I. The Tenth: D.T.
II. The Eighth: P.M.
III. The Sixth: C.B.
IV. The Eleventh: M.S.

Anyway, as it stands, I’ve got 1-1/2 more movement to complete, and I’ll be finished with the dissertation in time for a December 2011 graduation.