FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Lorelei Ensemble Releases
David Lang’s love fail

Out Friday, June 19, 2020 on
Cantaloupe Music
Press-Only Media Page (Password: CANTA2020)
www.cantaloupepress.net/love-fail-lorelei

“impeccable musicality” – The Boston Globe

www.LoreleiEnsemble.com

Boston, MA (May 19, 2020) – On Friday, June 19, 2020, nationally acclaimed, Boston-based Lorelei Ensemble releases David Lang’s love fail (2012, revised for women’s vocal ensemble in 2016) on Cantaloupe Music. love fail is a meditation on the timelessness of love that weaves together details from medieval retellings of the story of Tristan and Isolde with stories from more modern works by Lydia Davis, Marie de France, Gottfried von Strassburg, Béroul, Thomas of Britain, and Richard Wagner. Originally written for vocal quartet performing on simple percussion instruments, Lang’s love fail was arranged for women’s chorus in 2016 and the new version was premiered by Lorelei at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA.

Lang says, “A few years after writing [love fail] I heard a great recording by Lorelei that included my music and I immediately thought of making a larger version of the piece, just for them. I want to thank them for their musicality, their passion and their commitment.”

Lorelei Ensemble Artistic Director Beth Willer is thrilled to be working with Lang on the project: “We have an affinity for David’s music, and have been performing it since our early years together as an ensemble. This piece is particularly striking—David’s brilliant use of silence and direct delivery of text, the intimacy and immediacy of Lydia Davis’ poetry, the ancient tale of accidental and all-encompassing love—it draws you in, and its gripping.”

After almost 1000 years, the story of Tristan and Isolde is still being told in many different versions and considered one of the greatest love stories ever. Lang says, “I think the main reason why people love this story is because the love of Tristan and Isolde begins by accident—they drink a love potion. They didn't mean to drink it, and they didn't mean to fall in love. They drink and—BAM!—it starts. It is almost a laboratory experiment into what love might be like without any of the complications of how real love begins or works—without the excitement, embarrassment, frustration, guilt or competition present in the courtships of ordinary people.

“I thought I might learn something about love if I could explore this in a piece, putting details abstracted from many different retellings of Tristan and Isolde next to texts that are more modern, more recognizable to us, more real. First I scoured the literature and took my favorite weird incidents from the originals; for example, in Marie de France's version Tristan carves his name on a stick for Isolde to find, she sees it and immediately knows what message Tristan means to convey, and that message—incredibly—is many many pages long. Another example: Tristan and Isolde drink the potion, thinking it is wine, and Gottfried von Strassburg writes, dramatically, that it isn't wine they are drinking, but a cup of their never-ending sorrow. I compiled the oddest incidents from these versions of their romance, took out all the names or technological information that would make the texts seem ancient, and put them next to stories by the contemporary author Lydia Davis. These stories are oddly similar to the Tristan stories—they are also about love, honor and respect between two people, but they are much more recognizable to us.”

About Lorelei Ensemble
Heralded for its “warm, lithe, and beautifully blended” sound (The New York Times), “impeccable musicality” (Boston Globe), and unfailing display of the “elegance, power, grace and beauty of the human voice” (Boston Music Intelligencer), Lorelei Ensemble is recognized across the globe for its bold and inventive programs that champion the extraordinary flexibility and virtuosity of the human voice. Led by founder and artistic director Beth Willer, Lorelei has established an inspiring artistic vision, curating culturally-relevant and artistically audacious programs that stretch and challenge the expectations of artists and audiences alike. Comprising nine women, the ensemble is celebrated for its rich and diverse vocal palette, and enticing delivery of Willer’s “exact, smooth, and stylish” programming (The Boston Globe).

Driven by its mission to advance and elevate women’s voices, and to enrich the repertoire through forward-thinking and co-creative collaboration, Lorelei is committed to bringing works to life that point toward a “new normal” for vocal artists, and women in music. The ensemble frequently collaborates with composers from the U.S. and abroad, delivering more than 60 world, U.S. and regional premieres since its founding in 2007. Collaborating composers include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, George Benjamin, Kati Agócs, Lisa Bielawa, Kareem Roustom, Jessica Meyer, Christopher Cerrone, Sungji Hong, Reiko Yamada, Peter Gilbert, Scott Ordway, James Kallembach, and John Supko. Recent recordings include David Lang’s love fail (Cantaloupe, 2020), and Impermanence (Sono Luminus, 2018) featuring the premiere recording of Peter Gilbert’s Tsukimi, motets of Guillaume Du Fay, and selections from the Turin Manuscript and the Codex Calixtinus.

Lorelei Ensemble maintains a robust national touring schedule, including recent collaborations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, A Far Cry, and Cantus, and performances at celebrated venues across the country, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tanglewood Music Center, Boston's Symphony Hall, Trinity Wall Street, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Education is an important and integral part of Lorelei’s work, including residencies with young artists at Harvard University, Yale University, Duke University, Bucknell University, University of Iowa, Cornell University, Luther College, Vassar College, Macalester College, Mount Holyoke College, Connecticut College, Hillsdale College, Keene State College, Gordon College, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, and the Connecticut Children’s Chorus.

In 2020-21, Lorelei Ensemble proudly presents the world premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story, in performances with five co-commissioning orchestras: the Nashville Symphony (Giancarlo Guerrero), the San Francisco Symphony (Guerrero), the Chicago Symphony (Marin Alsop), the National Symphony Orchestra (Gianandrea Noseda), and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Guerrero). Written for Lorelei Ensemble to commemorate the centennial of the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, Her Story is the latest in a series of Wolfe's compositions highlighting monumental and turbulent moments in American history and culture. Additional appearances in 2020-21 include The National Gallery, Eastman School of Music, Princeton University, Duke University, and a performance of Holst’s The Planets at the Tanglewood Music Center with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Thomas Adès). Learn more at www.loreleiensemble.com.

love fail Track List
David Lang – love fail (Version for Women’s Chorus)

1. he was and she was
2. break #1
   Clare McNamara, mezzo-soprano
3. dureth
4. a different man
   Carrie Cheron, mezzo-soprano
5. the wood and the vine
6. right and wrong
   Sonja Tengblad, soprano
7. you will love me
8. forbidden subjects
   Sarah Brailey, soprano
9. as love grows stronger
10. break #2
11. the outing
    Emily Marvosh, alto
12. i live in pain
13. head, heart
14. break #3
15. mild, light

Lorelei Ensemble
Beth Willer, artistic director and conductor
Elizabeth Bates, soprano
Sonja Tengblad, soprano
Sarah Brailey, soprano
Carrie Cheron, mezzo-soprano
Christina English, mezzo-soprano
Clare McNamara, mezzo-soprano
Stephanie Kacoyanis, alto
Emily Marvosh, alto

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