Thank the Romans. They’re the ones who marked the summer solstice for June 24 – hence, the discrepancy between the longest day (June 21) and Midsummer. But the Romans liked nothing if not a good party, so why split hairs? Let the good times roll!
The Church, though fashionably late, was quick to comprehend it would probably be best to divert the stream of paganism rather than attempt to dam(n) everything outright. To this end, June 24 was designated the Feast Day of St. John. This worked out very nicely, since St. Luke implies the birth of John the Baptist took place six months before that of Jesus.
On the eve of this blessed anniversary, the night of June 23, good Christians celebrate as only reformed pagans can, in the understanding that everyone will be up to fulfill their religious obligations on the morrow.
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll have music for St. John’s Eve.
The eve of St. John is a time for the harvesting of St. John’s Wort, with its miraculous healing powers. It’s a time to seek the fern flower, which can bring good fortune, wealth, and the ability to understand animal speech. It’s a time for the lighting of bonfires against evil spirits, and even dragons, which roam the earth, as the sun again pursues a southerly course. And it’s a time when witches are believed to rendezvous with powerful forces, such as the demon Chernobog, who emerges from the Bald Mountain on St. John’s Eve at the climax of Disney’s “Fantasia.”
Leaping over a bonfire is seen as a surety of prosperity and good luck. Not to light a bonfire is seen as offering up one’s own house for destruction by fire. The bigger the fire, the further at bay are kept evil spirits. The further the evil spirits, the better the guarantee of a good harvest.
We’ll have music inspired by some of these Midsummer customs, as we listen to Modest Mussorgsky’s “St. John’s Night,” an earlier, less-familiar incarnation of his popular musical picture “A Night on Bald Mountain,” as heard in his opera, “Sorochinsky Fair.”
Also featured will be Alfred Schnittke’s impish rondo, “(K)ein Sommernachtstraum.” The root of the title is German for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but the postmodern inclusion of the “K” in parentheses modifies the meaning to “NOT a Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Indeed! Schnittke sets up the listener with a soothing notturno in the style of Mozart or Schubert, but very soon the atmosphere begins to shift.
Finally, we’ll hear selections from the ballet, “St. John’s Eve,” by the Swedish composer Gunnar de Frumerie. Not surprisingly, after a long, hard winter, the Scandinavian countries are crazy for Midsummer. The allegorical ballet features appearances by John the Baptist, Salome, the Seven Deadly Sins, Angels, and the Devil, all tied up in Swedish Midsummer traditions.
Leap high, friends, and join me for “Midsummer Night’s Fiends,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
