'Waiting for the Angel' finale at the Rockwood Music Hall

Music

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Since 2010, Hajdu has been increasingly active as a songwriter and librettist for concert music. Songs he has written or co-written have been recorded on nine albums by a variety of artists. Stephen Holden, longtime critic for The New York Times, described Hajdu's collaborations with the composer Renee Rosnes as "the coming together of Joni Mitchell and Stephen Sondheim with a 21st century perspective." Along similar lines, veteran critic and author Will Friedwald wrote, "The music of Renee Rosnes and the lyrics of David Hajdu are simply perfect for each other and come together to produce something greater than the product of any single mind I know."

The first album of songs with Hajdu's lyrics (and some co-written music), Waiting for the Angel, was released in August 2015 for Miranda Music. It has 11 songs with music composed by Renee Rosnes, Fred Hersch, Jill Sobule, and Michael Leonard, along with music co-composed by Sobule and Hajdu. The album features the singers Jo Lawry, Karen Oberlin, and Michael Winther, the pianists Renee Rosnes, Fred Hersch, and Tedd Firth, and other musicians. (A digital-only release on iTunes includes a bonus track with music by Renee Rosnes.) A concert of the music was performed at the Rockwood Music Hall.

A full album of songs by Renee Rosnes and Hajdu was released on the SMK Jazz label in October, 2018. Titled Ice on the Hudson, the album features the singers Rene Marie, Karen Oberlin, Janis Siegel, and Darius De Haas, with musicians including Steve Wilson, Rogerio Boccato, Erik Friedlander, Ken Peplowski, Seamus Blake, Sean Smith, and Carl Allen. Rosnes was musical director, arranger, and pianist, with Rosnes and Hajdu co-producing.

After Ice on the Hudson, Hajdu produced and wrote the libretto for a nonfiction concept album, The Parsonage: True Tales of Love and Anarchy at 64 East 7th Street. Released by Sunnyside Records in April, 2023, the project features original music by eight composers: Darcy James Argue, Theo Bleckmann, Regina Carter, Ted Hearne, Kirk Nurock, Renee Rosnes, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Dan Tepfer. A premiere concert of The Parsonage was performed at the Museum of the City of New York on April 27, 2023.

More recently, Hajdu produced and wrote the libretto for Lives of the Saints, a song cycle of portraits in words and music. With music by the composers Dave Douglas, Aubrey Johnson, Renee Rosnes, and Helen Sung, it pays tribute to heroic women from history such as Hypatia, Ada Lovelace, Lena Horne, and Hajdu's late sister Barbara Ann. A recording of the cycle was released by Sunnyside Records in April, 2025, featuring Johnson on vocals, Helen Sung on piano, Dave Douglas on trumpet, and a stellar seven-piece ensemble. A concert of the work was presented at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 10, 2025.

In addition, Hajdu co-conceived and co-produced Jill Sobule’s concept album Dottie's Charms, which includes lyrics by Jonathan Lethem, Lucy Sante, Mary Jo Salter, Sam Lipsyte, Rick Moody, and others. The project was released on vinyl LP in April, 2014, and presented on the website for Harper's magazine. The Harper's presentation includes illustrations by the artist Molly Crabapple and links to several short films inspired by the songs. In addition to develop the project with Sobule, Hajdu co-wrote two of the songs: "I Swear I Saw Christopher Reeve" and "Women of Industry."

Hajdu is currently working in collaboration with composer Dave Douglas on a concert-length work about the life of Cassie Chadwick, a notorious con artist of the Gilded Age.