Hanukkah begins at sunset. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” kick off the Festival of Lights with a little musical sustenance.

We’ll hear David Ludwig’s “Hanukkah Cantata.” Ludwig, who studied with Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, and Ned Rorem at the Curtis Institute of Music, and John Corigliano at Juilliard, is also the nephew of pianist Peter Serkin, the grandson of Rudolf Serkin, and the great-grandson of Adolf Busch. The text of his cantata, compiled by Cantor Dan Sklar, is sung in English and Hebrew. The work falls into eight movements, wholly befitting for this eight-day celebration.

We’ll follow that with Ludwig Altman’s “Theme and Variations on ‘Ma’oz Tzur,’” the Hanukkah melody also known as “Rock of Ages.” Altman was born in what was once Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). He studied at the University of Breslau, and then at Berlin’s State Academy for Sacred Music. The rise of the National Socialist Party meant that he was restricted to employment in Jewish organizations.

In 1936, he emigrated to the United States, settling in San Francisco, where he became organist and choral director at Congregation Emanu-El. For over three decades, he was also organist of the San Francisco Symphony. Altman’s variations on a Hanukkah theme will be performed with another composer of note, Barbara Harbach, at the console.

Then we’ll round out the hour with “A Klezmer Nutcracker” – with apologies to Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky – in a lively recording made by the Boston-based ensemble Shirim. Kazatsky ‘til you dropsky!

We’ll do our best to lay a sound foundation for eight days of fried food, sugar, and cheese. Join me for “Latke Tonic,” music of substance for Hanukkah. We’ve got oil to burn, this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

David Serkin Ludwig, Composer
Milken Archive of Jewish Music
Shirim Klezmer Orchestra