Born in Budapest, Láng studied composition there from 1950 to 1958 at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, first with János Viski and later with Ferenc Szabó (Boronkay and Willson 2001).
He has twice been awarded the Erkel Prize (in 1968 and 1975), was made Artist of Merit in 1985, and has won the Bartók-Pásztori Prize in 1994 (Boronkay and Willson 2001).