miracle ear by David Lang
Watch the new video of David Lang's 'miracle ear', played by Matt Evans (Bearthoven, TIGUE) on his soda can-equipped toy piano. The film, produced by Evan Chapman (Four/Ten Media), marries the colorful, textured architecture of Red Hook, Brooklyn with the polyrhythms of Lang's piece.
“The whole piece was shot in various locations around my neighborhood—Red Hook,” said Evans in an interview with I CARE IF YOU LISTEN. "I’ve lived there for about four years and I’m obsessed with a number of bare warehouse walls. They read like paintings: each one has its own character.” The whole process took about 15 takes—on the same day.
"In 2011, I heard a performance of the piece by the percussionist Matt Evans, in which he cleverly played the united melody notes and percussion strokes with the same hand," writes David Lang in a program note update for his 1996 work 'miracle ear', "since then, I am no longer sure if this is really a piece for a toy pianist playing percussion or a piece for a percussionist playing a toy piano."
Passionate, prolific, and complicated, composer David Lang embodies the restless spirit of invention. At the same time, Lang is deeply versed in the classical tradition and committed to music that resists categorization, constantly creating new forms.