Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen. We all know the carol, which tells of the good king’s generosity – how he brought flesh and wine and fuel to a needy peasant, his faltering page literally treading in his master’s footsteps.
What the carol doesn’t tell us is that, with all the snow lying round about, deep and crisp and even, Wenceslas could pack a wicked snowball, as seen in this medieval fresco. Woe betided the lord or lady who caught one of the king’s frigid projectiles.
On this St. Stephen’s Day, the second day of Christmas, I hope that you too are continuing to enjoy your midwinter festivities. If you find yourself in the vicinity of a radio or are able to do a little online streaming, consider joining me for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, which will consist of performances from the Lake George Music Festival.
On the program will be Ralph Vaughan Williams’ early Piano Quintet in C minor, from 1903 (revised 1905). The first movement strikes a Brahmsian tone, yet there are intimations in the slow movement of the world of Hubert Parry (Vaughan Williams’ teacher) and RVW’s contemporaneous song, “Silent Noon.” Interestingly, the composer would return to the theme of the finale, put here through five variations, fifty years later, in 1954, for another set of variations for the last movement of his Violin Sonata.
Also featured will be a brand new work – and a Lake George commission – by Philadelphia composer Sheridan Seyfried. His Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra was composed for the festival’s resident artists, brothers Nikki Chooi and Timothy Chooi. Seyfried, 32, is a product of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Manhattan School, where he studied with Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, and Ned Rorem.
Then stick around. Later in the afternoon, we’ll hear another highly listenable piece of new music by Kenji Bunch, 44 – his ballet, “The Snow Queen,” after Hans Christian Andersen. The recording, a two-CD set issued on innova Recordings, was made in Eugene, Oregon, by Orchestra NEXT. Orchestra Next gave the work its premiere in collaboration with the Eugene Ballet Company. Bunch, who is also a violist, studied at the Juilliard School. He has since returned to the land of his birth and now makes his home in Portland.
As the afternoon progresses, we’ll drop in a few more surprises for the season. It’s a feast of music for St. Stephen’s Day, this Tuesday from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Detail from “Winter” (before 1407), by Master Wenceslas of Bohemia