DAVID LANG’S

the little match girl passion

A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE

JOHANN JACOB VAN NIEKERK

Johann Jacob Van Niekerk

Assistant Professor of Music
Centre College
[Link]@[Link]

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 David Lang’s the little match girl chorus version in 2008, published
passion is an unusual piece on many by Red Poppy Music and available
levels. Lang (b. 1957) combines the for rent from G. Schirmer Inc. It is
story of Christ’s crucifixion—based most suitable for professional choirs
on Bach’s treatment thereof in his and more experienced university and
St. Matthew Passion (1727) —with the community groups.
story of “The Little Match Girl,” a The passion genre is a genre that
fairytale by Hans Christian Ander- extends back more than seven cen-
sen that tells the harrowing tale of turies, and Lang reworks this format
a little girl who freezes to death on into a vehicle that allows the audience
a cold New Year’s Eve in Denmark. to not only witness the slow demise
The music for the little match girl pas- of the innocent girl but more impor-
sion is equally unusual. Lang’s use of tantly to feel as if they were somehow
minimalist cells, expanded over fifteen part of this injustice. It is this sense of
movements, is unlike any other stan- complicity that has largely contrib-
dard piece in the choral repertoire. uted to the work’s universal success.
The composition, while tricky at first Reactions have been astounding: on
sight, effortlessly weaves these cells a critical level it has been lauded since
into an approachable and relatable its premiere and was awarded the
idiom for singers and audiences alike. Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2008; both
Amateur, university, and professional critics and audiences have been af-
choirs have performed the little match fected by its stark, relentless narrative
girl passion all over the United States and otherworldly music. Reporting
since its world premiere in 2007. It on these performances tend toward
was originally written for four soloists, utter praise and astonishment at the
but the composer created an SATB impact of such an ambitious work
of art.
Critics have lauded the piece for
its originality, innovation, and “raw
emotionality.” 1 American choral
composer Joshua Shank accurately
states: “[W]hat is interesting to note
is that, despite the somewhat robotic
way in which Lang sets the text…
the reception of this work is almost
universally spoken about in viscerally
emotional terms… [T]he work has
obviously made a tremendous impact
on its audience.”2 In music reviews,
Jayson Green calls it “breathtakingly
spare…icily gorgeous…a haunting
and evocative hall of echoes”3; Molly

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion
Sheridan claims that “even reading just the poetry of the forms a metaphysical commentary on their role in the pro-
libretto…is chilling”4; while Reed Johnson mentions the tagonist’s demise. The format of the passion furthermore
work’s “sublime austerity.”5 Los Angeles Master Chorale encourages and facilitates retrospection and a call-to-
Conductor Grant Gershon confirms: “When I listen to action to learn from these events and apply it in daily life.
the recording, it’s impossible to get through the piece Lang is not the first composer to contextualize the pas-
without weeping.”6 The emotional impact of the piece sion genre in this way. Recent projects have highlighted
was largely responsible for its Pulitzer win, as confirmed the adaptability of the passion genre, such as the comPAS-
by juror Tim Page: “I don’t think I’ve ever been so moved SION project by Conspirare (2014), with passions by John
by a new, and largely unheralded, composition as I was Muehleisen, Robert Kyr, and the Balliett brothers; and
by David Lang’s the little match girl passion, which is unlike Helmuth Rilling’s Passion Project 2000 (2000), a commission
any music I know.”7 that tasked Tan Dun, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ernst Rihm,
The composition is a welcome addition to the choral and Osvaldo Golijov to compose passions reflecting on
repertoire that is bound to move those who perform and currently relevant social issues.
listen to its unique sound and grapple with its unusual Lang’s composition consists of recitative-like move-
protagonist and narrative. With a vast array of recent ments that advance the plot and chorale-like movements
and upcoming performances by ensembles such as the that engage audiences into the narrative while providing
Latvian Radio Choir, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Vir- a moment to reflect on its events. The combination of
ginia Chorale, The Crossing, PSU Choirs, and Seattle these two kinds of movements tells the story “while si-
Pro Musica, this increasingly popular piece may well multaneously commenting upon it.”10 It has the effect of
become a standard in the choral canon for years to come. “placing us in the middle of the action, and it gives the
This conductor's guide, designed to assist the conductor’s narrative a powerful inevitability.”11 Although Lang places
preparation, investigates the little match girl passion’s textual the emphasis on the death of a fragile little girl instead of
content, musical content, and contextualization of the the expected figure of Christ, the girl’s own experienced
passion genre and includes suggestions by the composer suffering and rejection resonates strongly with the mar-
related to interpretation, rehearsal, and performance. tyred messianic figure of Christ. In an interview with the
composer, he reflected on his choice of the passion: “The
reason the story works is because I was looking for some-
Context thing that would allow me to be an observer of what the
Lang’s work received its world premiere in 2007 at passion is traditionally, so I was looking for something that
Carnegie Hall by the vocal quartet Theatre of Voices, would highlight what to me seemed to be the paradox of
conducted by Paul Hillier. The National Chamber Choir the passion, which is that you are supposed to notice the
of Ireland, again conducted by Hillier, premiered the suffering of Jesus. But you know, we live in New York—
choral version one year later. David Lang had won several people are suffering all over the place—we live in a world
awards previously, but in the words of The New Yorker, it where if we actually noticed everyone’s suffering it would
was “with his winning of the Pulitzer Prize …[that] Lang, be impossible to live.”12
once a post-minimalist enfant terrible…solidified his stand-
ing as an American master.”8
Lang was drawn to the passion genre because it allowed Analysis
for interpolation from texts outside of the narrative. The As is to be expected, the main reason for the piece’s
texts serve as “guideposts for our own responses to the emotional impact on audiences lies in the use of “The
story,”9 elevating the audience from spectator to partici- Little Match Girl” narrative. Lang concurs: “My loyalty
pant. The passion genre thus represents multiple layers lies completely with the text… and if I have a choice
of performer, participant, and meaning. Traditionally, the between telling the story better and making a beautiful
passion narrative, that of the inevitable death of Christ, sound, I’m always going to choose telling the story bet-
places the audience in the middle of its development and ter.”13 It follows that closer inspection of the text could

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 A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE
elucidate some of the reasons for this reaction and the The chorale movements contrast the recitatives and are
piece’s international popularity. Furthermore, Lang more lyrical in nature. The first and last movements are
features a secular, disenfranchised protagonist, instantly unified through the use of the “Daughters of Zion” im-
relating the work to a wide audience while referencing agery and the use of a similar musical motif.
the concepts familiar to Christian audiences and those
familiar with other works in the passion genre. The even-
numbered movements feature Andersen’s prose, while Movement I
free translations of Picander’s poetry are employed in the The first movement of Lang’s passion setting is a play
odd-numbered movements. on the very first line of text in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion,
The little match girl passion is scored for SATB chorus “Come ye daughters of Zion.”
with soloists playing percussion instruments, including a
brake drum, sleigh bells, crotales, glockenspiel, bass drum, Come, daughter
and tubular bells. The piece is approximately thirty-five Help me, daughter
minutes long. Some choirs have opted to have an SATB Help me cry
quartet sing the recitative-like movements, with the entire Look, daughter
choir joining in on the chorale movements. Lang achieves Where, daughter
coherency throughout the piece through the intentional What, daughter
use of tonal centers and consistency in tempo (quarter Who, daughter
note = 72), form (alternating recitative and chorale Why, daughter
movements), and unifying musical motives and harmonic Guiltless daughter
relations. Patient daughter
Lang was adamant that he wanted to create a continu- Patient daughter
ous piece from start to end. He was inspired by fellow Gone
minimalist composer Arvo Pärt’s Passio, a continuous
seventy-five-minute passion setting: “Now THAT is a Whereas the Picander text asks the daughters of Zion
courageous composer, one who says that I don’t want you to behold the central figure—Jesus, also called bridegroom
dropping in; I don’t want you thinking which parts are or lamb—Lang’s adaptation omits those references.
your favorite. The point is not to make a series of move- Bach’s cori spezzati call-and-response passages (“see, who?”
ments that could be extracted, or a series of movements —the bridegroom; “see, how?” —as a lamb) turn into
that had their individual values, but to make something “look,” “where,” “what,” “who,” and “why” followed by
that goes from start to finish without stop.”14 This relent- the single word “daughter.” At first glance, these utter-
less forward motion combined with the dark subject ances are without object, as it is not specified what the
matter of its narrative might well explain the helplessness daughter should look at or ponder about, turning her into
audiences and critics experience when listening to the little both the subject and the object and compelling the listener
match girl passion: “helpless at metaphorically watching this to look at and ponder the “daughter,” the “guiltless one,”
little girl freeze to death…and not being able to do a thing the “patient” one, one who will soon be “gone.”
about it.”15 The first movement introduces one of the unifying
The form of the little match girl passion centers on alter- figures used throughout the piece: the so-called “shivering
nating chorale-like and recitative-like movements. Recita- motif ” that portrays the sense of urgency and desperation
tive movements see the alto as storyteller (Evangelist in that characterizes the passion from start to end. (Figure 1)
the traditional passion) with other voice groups singing As could be expected from a minimalist composer,
some of the text, often interrupted mid-word in repeated Lang uses a simple germinal cell consisting of four notes
rhythmic patterns. The recitatives are divided into two as the basis for his melodic writing. (Figure 2) The ger-
types: real-world recitatives consisting of six pitches and minal cell is first stated in the opening measures, albeit in
imagined-world recitatives with an added seventh pitch. lower transposition by a whole step. (Figure 3)

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion
Movement II with bare head and naked feet, roamed through
In the second movement, the germinal cell (this time the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers
in F minor) is adapted to include a fourth and fifth when she left home, but they were not of much
pitch—most notably in the recurring motif set to the text use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that
“so the little girl went on”—another device that is used they had belonged to her mother, and the poor
throughout to propel and unify the piece. This germinal little creature had lost them in running across
cell is used in different modulations and permutations the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling
throughout the piece, most notably in the soprano line along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she
but also in augmentation in the male voices. (Figure 4) could not find, and a boy seized upon the other
This second movement, the first recitative, describes and ran away with it, saying that he could use it
the utter poverty of the little match girl, a figure of rela- as a cradle, when he had children of his own. So
tive social insignificance in relation to her surroundings. the little girl went on with her little naked feet,
which were quite red and blue with the cold.
It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last
evening of the old year, and the snow was falling The word little is repeated, reinforcing the concept
fast. In the cold and darkness, a poor little girl, of timidity and insignificance in her “title”—the little

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 A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE
match girl. The recitatives from this movement onward tener’s own “heart” or sense of conscience and morality, a
depict the narrative in a very non-emotional, subjective concept that develops throughout the piece. This concept
way, reminiscent of the neutral spitting out of news on a derives from the function of the chorale in the traditional
telegraph machine. The second movement introduces the passion as an opportunity for reflection on humankind’s
concept of injustice that prevails through the piece and own complicit part in the events and serving as a kind of
that will ultimately lead to the protagonist’s death. The “time warp” into the present time to draw the audience
first event describing this injustice is the theft of her left into the narrative as active participants.
shoe. The repeated words “so the little girl went on” draw
the audience further along in the narrative.
Movement IV
The fourth movement, the second recitative, continues
Movement III the depiction of the cycle of poverty and injustice that has
The third movement features a play on words from defined the girl’s life to this point.
Bach’s chorale Herzliebster Jesu, literally translated “heart-
dearest Jesus,” becoming “Dearest heart.” In an old apron she carried a number of
matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands.
Dearest heart No one had bought anything of her the whole
Dearest heart day, nor had any one given her even a penny.
What did you do that was so wrong? Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along;
What was so wrong? poor little child, she looked the picture of misery.
Dearest heart The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which
Dearest heart hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded
Why is your sentence so hard? them not.

The repetition of the word dearest establishes affection Her earnest attempts at making a living remain un-
and empathy toward the protagonist. Lang further plays rewarded, and she is largely ignored. The falling snow
with the succeeding text from the chorale, turning “what signifies a dramatic shift: the audience experiences the
have you done wrong” (already in the informal “du” case dramatic irony of knowing that the girl will perish (as in-
in the original German) into “what have you done that was dicated by the word gone at the end of the first movement
so wrong?” implying the unspoken sentiment “that you and the fact that protagonists in the passion narrative
deserved to die for it?” The text is ambiguous in terms inevitably die at the end); the vehicle for her forthcoming
of whom it is addressed to; “heart” could either be an death is introduced in the form of falling snowflakes.
endearing term for the little girl or a reference to the lis-

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion
Movement V there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it
The fifth movement’s chorale, “Penance and remorse,” was new year’s eve—yes, she remembered that.
implicitly states the listener’s own role and guilt over the In a corner, between two houses, one of which
events in the narrative, as evidenced by the use of the projected beyond the other, she sank down and
pronoun “my.” huddled herself together. She had drawn her
little feet under her, but she could not keep off
Penance and remorse the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had
Tear my sinful heart in two sold no matches, and could not take home even
My teardrops a penny of money. Her father would certainly
May they fall like rain down upon your poor face beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home
May they fall down like rain as here, for they had only the roof to cover them,
My teardrops through which the wind howled, although the
largest holes had been stopped up with straw
Here, daughter, here I am and rags.
I should be bound as you were bound
All that I deserve is Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.
What you have endured Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.

Penance and remorse The recitative focuses on the differences in prosperity

Tear my sinful heart in two and opportunity between the freezing, hard-working girl
My penance and the seemingly effortless, love-filled lives of those with
My remorse enough money for such relative luxuries as heat and food.
My penance She finds herself in a predicament, as she cannot return
home without the fear of punishment for not having
The imagery of falling snow from the previous move- sold enough matches. It is clear that the nature of this
ment is extended, and as the snow starts falling on the punishment is severe enough that the little girl prefers the
little girl, the observer’s tears start falling, linking the two pain and discomfort of the cold outside. Dramatic irony
settings together. The second stanza is a play on Chris- returns in the words “her little hands were almost frozen
tian ideology, also evident in Bach’s setting, wherein the with the cold.” The audience knows they will soon be
observer, moved by compassion and remorse, wishes to completely frozen, yet she does not.
take the place of martyred one. The vulnerability of the
girl also resonates with the Catholic intention in the Stabat
Mater, in which the speaker wishes to take the place of the Movement VII
weeping mother of the crucified Jesus. Lang expresses this The discomfort of watching the little girl’s demise is
in simple yet effective words: “All that I deserve is what you highlighted by the uncomfortable silence of the seventh
have endured.” Any remaining question as to the guilt of movement titled “Patience.” While it feels reminiscent
the observer is eradicated in the final lines: “my penance, of John Cage’s 4”33’ with its ultimate statement on the
my remorse, my penance.” nature of silence, the two repeated utterances of the word
patience brings the worlds of the little girl and the audi-
ence together. In a sense the audience is told to be patient
Movement VI in waiting for the little girl to die—an uncomfortable and
The theme of injustice returns in the sixth movement. incongruous feeling as the audience members are made
aware of their desire to hasten through this uncomfort-
Lights were shining from every window, and able process.

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 A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE
Movement VIII most emotional and moving moment of the passion. The
A flicker of hope is presented in the eighth movement, movement’s excruciatingly sad text is emphasized by the
the first of the three “imagined world recitatives.” In these musical setting of the repeated lulling “God have mercy”
recitatives, the girl sees fantastical visions and is eventually motif with the anguished “see my tears” countermelody,
introduced to the afterlife. all the while continuing the metaphorical imagery of the
never-ending falling of snow and tears.
Ah! Perhaps a burning match might be some
good, if she could draw it from the bundle and Have mercy, my God.
strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. Look here, my God.
She drew one out—“scratch!” how it sputtered See my tears fall. See my tears fall.
as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a Have mercy, my God. Have mercy.
little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was My eyes are crying.
really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little My heart is crying, my God.
girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, See my tears fall.
with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. See my tears fall, my God.
How the fire burned! And seemed so beautifully
warm that the child stretched out her feet as The concept of begging for mercy is familiar to choral
if to warm them, when, lo! The flame of the audiences, e.g., the Kyrie Eleison movement in the liturgical
match went out, the stove vanished, and she had mass. “Have mercy, My God” focuses on the observer’s
only the remains of the half-burnt match in her own admission of guilt and participation, with the word
hand. She rubbed another match on the wall. It “my” repeated throughout for emphasis.
burst into flame, and where its light fell upon the
wall it became as transparent as a veil and she
could see into the room. The table was covered Movement X
with a snowy white tablecloth, on which stood The return in the tenth movement to the lighter, more
a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast whimsical imagination of the girl is a welcome one. The
goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And second imagined world recitative contains imagery of
what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped aesthetically pleasing things such as toys, expectations,
down from the dish and across the floor, with a and the illusion of hope, in stark contrast to the sadness
knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then of the preceding movement.
the match went out, and there remained nothing
but the thick, damp, cold wall before her. She lighted another match, and then she found
herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas tree.
In the first of these, the desire for comfort is combined It was larger and more beautifully decorated
with a humorous depiction only conceivable by the imagi- than the one which she had seen through the
nation of a child. The observer sees a glimpse inside the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of
imagination and memory world of the protagonist for the tapers were burning upon the green branches,
first time and experiences empathy for a little girl who is and colored pictures, like those she had seen in
using her imagination to dream up better alternatives than the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The
what reality is offering her. little one stretched out her hand towards them,
and the match went out. The Christmas lights
rose higher and higher, till they looked to her
Movement IX like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall,
The ninth movement could arguably be seen as the leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Some

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion
one is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old The imagery of the sixth hour from the traditional passion
grandmother, the only one who had ever loved narrative signals the inevitable impending death, and the
her, and who was now dead, had told her that soprano’s vulnerable cry of “Eli, eli,” the Hebrew word
when a star falls, a soul was going up to God. for “God,” immediately evokes the completed thought
from Jesus’s last words on the cross: “Why have you
Her deceased grandmother arrives at the end of forsaken me?” In this moment the girl is forsaken by the
the movement, and the girl unknowingly experiences a world, those who were meant to love and protect her; she
premonition of her own death, yet another instance of is about to transcend into the afterlife, and the audience
dramatic irony: she understands that the shooting star is powerless to prevent it.
signals someone’s death but does not realize it is referring
to her own.
An interesting musical relationship exists between the Movement XII
tenth and eleventh movements. As the narrative starts its The twelfth movement sees the girl’s final return to
relentless acceleration to an unhappy end, musical mo- her imagined world, and she finally meets death and
tives from the two respective movements are combined transcends into the light.
to create a larger five-note pattern—Ab-Bb-C in move-
ment ten, expanding to D and Eb in movement eleven. She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the
(Figures 5 and 6) light shone round her; in the brightness stood
her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild
and loving in her appearance. “Grandmother,”
Movement XI cried the little one, “O take me with you; I know
The eleventh movement is connected to the seventh, you will go away when the match burns out; you
as it also features spoken text: “In the sixth hour there will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose,
was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And and the large, glorious Christmas-tree.” And
at the ninth hour she cried out: Eli, eli.” As the soprano she made haste to light the whole bundle of
sings “Eli, eli,” the spoken text immediately creates the matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother
expectation of something dramatic and different to follow. there. And the matches glowed with a light

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 A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE
that was brighter than the noon-day, and her her grandmother, on new-year’s day.
grandmother had never appeared so large or so
beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and This feels similar to the way news is divulged after
they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far the fact in tragic works for the stage, such as the closing
above the earth, where there was neither cold monologue from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God. The narrative also comments on humankind’s inability at
large to recognize the full extent of the value of the pro-
In her final moments, she obtains apotheosis, becom- tagonist’s experiences and her contribution to the world.
ing godlike with the imagery of surrounding haloes and
ascends to be “with God.”
Movement XV
While the fourteenth movement shows that the people
Movement XIII in the little girl’s world might not fully understand the
The thirteenth movement expresses the sense of loss value of what has happened, the observer responds with
and death with the innovative use of juxtaposing ideas. clear, shell-shocked sadness in the fifteenth movement.
The imagery of the daughters of Zion returns (similar to
When it is time for me to go Bach) and brings the composition “full circle.”
Don’t go from me
When it is time for me to leave We sit and cry
Don’t leave me And call to you
When it is time for me to die Rest soft, daughter, rest soft
Stay with me Where is your grave, daughter?
When I am most scared Where is your tomb?
Stay with me Where is your resting place?
Rest soft, daughter, rest soft
In this movement, the observer is lamenting the pro- Rest soft
tagonist’s death and expressing the helpless vulnerability Rest soft
experienced thereafter. Rest soft
Rest soft
Rest soft
Movement XIV You closed your eyes.
The passion returns to the real world in the fourteenth I closed my eyes.
movement, a recitative that announces the girl’s death in Rest soft
a very informal way.
Picander’s original text “here we sit with tears” be-
In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little comes “we sit and cry.” The phrase “rest soft” is repeated
one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning and serves as a universal phrase, devoid of religious
against the wall; she had been frozen to death on or social connotation. Similarly, the little girl does not
the last evening of the year; and the new-year’s have a final resting place: she could be anywhere, even,
sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The metaphorically, in the listener’s own world. The universal-
child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the ized connection between the little girl and the listener is
matches in her hand, one bundle of which was achieved in the phrase “you closed your eyes… I closed
burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. my eyes,” which could either imply that the listener re-
No one imagined what beautiful things she had fused to see the events and chose ignorance instead or
seen, nor into what glory she had entered with that the listener is finally able to fully empathize with her

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion
and experience her pain with her—all differences have At the conclusion of this investigation of the little match
been eliminated and assimilation has been achieved. On girl, another genial aspect of the piece’s macrostructure
a musical level the “full circle” is achieved in two differ- becomes apparent. While the first movement sets off in
ent ways. First, the germinal cell is presented once more the tonal area of E, the piece actually centers on a tonal
in its most basic form, tying the first and last movements center of F, which expands through an ascending aeolian
together as a whole. (Figure 7) scale by an octave over the course of the successive move-
Lang comments: “It seemed that at the end we are ments. Two possible contours for tonal development can
back to observing her, she’s dead and her purification thus be suggested. (Figure 10)
is over, so that’s why I went back to the beginning, the The second contour, with a “false start” on E before
same way Bach did.”16 The musical units of the two last settling on F in the second movement, was unintentional
movements are also combined to create another expanded on the composer’s part: “I’m sure I tried to start it in the
five-note unit—similar to that in the tenth and eleventh ‘right’ key, and ended up transposing it to keep it in a
movements—with F-G-Ab-Bb in movement fourteen better range, depending on what it was I needed.”17 The
continuing into Bb and C in movement fifteen. (Figures scale continues its upward expansion to Db (movement
8 and 9) six), Eb (movement eight), and finally, after straining
More than a mere musical unifying device, the sense throughout the tenth movement to resolve to a high F,
of connection between the last two movements on a mu- resolves in movement eleven. The tension built by this
sical level signifies a much deeper connection between ascending scale is finally released in a rapidly descend-
the modern audience and the onlookers’ ambivalence in ing F minor scale in movement fifteen, m. 25. The final
the fourteenth movement. This amplifies Lang’s ultimate moments of the passion consist of the fading of the vo-
statement: that we are the same as these spectators staring cal parts, with the original germinal cell played by the
at the little girl and also complicit in allowing and accept- percussionists: “Just the skeletons of their voices…a kind
ing indifference to the plight of those classes of people of ghostly abstracted community…which I found a really
she represents. beautiful idea.”18

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Conclusion enhanced by the use of dramatic irony and metaphorical
By investigating the text of the little match girl passion, it imagery, effectively linking the listener’s world to that of
becomes apparent why audiences have been moved to the protagonist.
such an extent by the narrative. First, the tale of the little Musically, the little match girl passion is an organic mar-
match girl and the depiction of her vulnerability—and riage of several components, all of which serve to provide
the sneak peeks into her mind and its deepest wishes for a unique and harrowing investigation of one relatively
a better life—build empathy and connection between insignificant and overlooked figure’s apotheosis and
the listener and the protagonist. Secondly, the interpola- passing from this world. The timbre of the piece is cold
tion of reflecting chorales—where the words have been and austere and unforgiving with short, interrupted, and
manipulated to imply the listener’s own participation and deconstructed motives accompanied by sparse instrumen-
guilt—truly bring home this message and highlight the tation—“cold and bleak” by the composer’s own admis-
sadness and injustice of the events. Finally, the forward sion.19 The expansion upward of an octave from F to F
propulsion of the narrative to its inevitable, sad climax is musically depicts this journey and transfiguration while

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 DAVID LANG’S the little match girl passion

building dramatic tension before a final resolution back NOTES

to the lower F. The use of tempo and of these tonal cen-
1
ters to achieve coherency is largely successful, and Lang Lawrence Schenbeck, “Innovative new American sacred works:
creates a linear narrative that is relentless in its forward David Lang, the little match girl passion; Phil Kline, John
progression. His use of the germinal cell in the recitative the Revelator; Kile Smith, Vespers,” Choral Journal 50, no. 7
movements further serves to create this coherency and (February 2010): 76.
2
Joshua Shank, “David Lang’s the little match girl passion: Reportage
suggest a sense of timelessness.
and Emotionality” (paper presented at Contemporary Styles
In the chorales, Lang’s adaptation of Picander’s texts
and Techniques Class, University of Texas, 2012).
effectively draws the listener into the narrative while 3
Jayson Green, “David Lang—Little Match Girl Passion,” Pitchfork
stripping away the religiously specific terminology of the (January 15, 2010). Accessed October 28, 2014. http://
Christian faith. If Brahms strove to deliver a “Human [Link]/reviews/albums/13775-the-little-match-girl-
Requiem,” Lang strives to deliver a “Human Passion” passion/
like so many others before him. The response from audi- 4
Molly Sheridan, “Sounds Heard: David Lang—The Little Match
ences and critics the world over would suggest that he has Girl Passion,” New Music Box (June 8, 2009). Accessed October
succeeded in this task. 28, 2014. [Link]
Lang’s work most importantly confronts audiences Heard-David-Lang-the-little-match-girl-passion/
5
with difficult themes in a compelling way that renders Reed Johnson, “David Lang’s Divine Pursuit: ‘The Little Match
them impossible to look away. In the current societal and Girl Passion,’” Los Angeles Times (January 16, 2011). Accessed
political climate with its renewed emphasis on issues of October 28, 2014. [Link]
entertainment/la-ca-little-match-girl-20110116/
inequality, inclusivity, and social justice, the little match girl 6
Ibid.
passion stands apart as a choral composition that effectively 7
Tom Huizenga, “David Lang wins Music Pulitzer,” NPR Music
addresses these issues in a thoughtful way. It might further
(April 7, 2008). Accessed October 28, 2014. [Link]
inspire conductors to seek other ways to engage singers org/2011/01/24/89442735/david-lang-wins-music-pulitzer/
and audiences with these important themes, be it through 8
David Lang Music. Official website. Accessed October 28, 2014.
intentional pairing decisions with Lang’s composition or [Link]
other unrelated programming choices. Furthermore, the 9
David Lang, “program note: the little match girl passion (for
little match girl passion has a proven track record of moving chorus),” (2008). Accessed October 28, 2014. http://
those who encounter it—across various demograph- [Link]/music/little-match-girl-passion-for-
ics—with its unique message. The increasing amount of chorus/
10
performances of the little match girl passion, nearly a decade Ibid.
11
after its premiere, might be an indication of its potential David Lang, CD liner notes, the little match girl passion, Harmonia
for prosperity and inclusion in the hallowed choral canon Mundi, HMU 807496, 2009.
12
David Lang, interview with the author, SoHo, New York City, NY,
in future years. In the meantime, it should certainly be
March 18, 2014.
recognized and celebrated as one of the twenty-first cen- 13
Ibid.
tury’s foremost choral works. 14
Ibid.
15
Joshua Shank, “David Lang’s the little match girl passion: Reportage
and Emotionality,” 5.
16
David Lang, “program note.”
17
Ibid.
18
David Lang, CD liner note.
19
Ibid.

20 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 2