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This Mütter Museum-commissioned song, ‘Protect Yourself from Infection,’ is eerie and perfect | Listen here

The David Lang composition, performed by Philadelphia's The Crossing choir, was part of last fall’s “Spit Spreads Death” parade. It gets a national airing on public radio on Monday.

People in the community gather at Marconi Plaza for the Spit Spreads Death Parade and walk towards City Hall along South Broad Street on Sept. 28, 2019, to commemorate those who died in Philadelphia during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
People in the community gather at Marconi Plaza for the Spit Spreads Death Parade and walk towards City Hall along South Broad Street on Sept. 28, 2019, to commemorate those who died in Philadelphia during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer
    by Ellen Gray
    Published 

What could be more of the moment than a choral piece that reminds listeners to “avoid being sprayed by the nose and throat secretions of others,” and to avoid crowds, interspersing such advice with the names of those for whom it comes too late?

The advice, and the names of the unfortunate dead from more than 100 years ago, is from "Protect Yourself from Infection,” written by composer David Lang and performed by Philadelphia’s Grammy-winning choir The Crossing. It will be broadcast to a national audience Monday, on public radio’s Performance Today.

» Listen now on YouTube, in this link from crossingchoir.org

Commissioned by the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in conjunction with its exhibit on the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, “Spit Spreads Death,” the piece was played on cell phones by participants in last fall’s “Spit Spreads Death” parade.

The composer describes it as “kind of musical motto,” inspired by a health manual the U.S. government issued during that earlier epidemic. Individual singers from The Crossing sing solo melodies layered on top of the manual’s medical advice, naming individual Philadelphians who died from the epidemic and individual health-care workers who cared for the sick.

» READ MORE: A mournful parade commemorates epidemic that killed 20,000 in Philly

The Crossing, meanwhile, has released a short accompanying film by Brett Snodgrass, which features artwork by Crossing tenor Steven Bradshaw and a recording produced by Paul Vasquez. The Crossing’s Donald Nally conducts.

You can listen to “Protect Yourself from Infection” on Performance Today on the WHYY Plus streaming service, where the series airs at 8 p.m. weekdays, or watch the accompanying short film on YouTube, which is linked to from crossingchoir.org.