Painfully slow and achingly beautiful, The Passing Measures - for bass clarinet, amplified orchestra, and women's voices - is an ambient and emotionally charged meditation on the passing of time.
"This heartfelt, mournful piece, a wordless, 45-minute quasi-concerto for women's chorus, bass clarinet, and amplified orchestra, is a welcome surprise from a composer whose always deft and subtle work has often seemed ironic and arch. The clarinetist Marty Ehrlich, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, conducted by Paul Herbert, provide a dignified performance, giving gentle life to the work's lustrous waves of color. [This is one of the] best classical albums of 2001."
- Russell Platt, The New Yorker
"Sits and shimmers gently, like a jeweled pendant turning very slowly in the light."
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
"Lang has created a moody, moving 43-minute experience."
- Bradley Bambarger, Billboard |