It had hit me while practicing the piano part to the mighty, neglected, and extremely difficult Violin Sonata, Op. 6: Korngold was a truly brilliant composer. He has often been regarded as one of classical music's great prodigies, but I was still astounded at the sophistication of this early work, written at 15, and premiered by none other than Carl Flesch and Artur Schnabel. After all, being a prodigy circa 1912 was becoming quite a task: Korngold working in turn-of-the-century Vienna had a bit higher a learning curve than Mozart or Mendelssohn did in their respective eras. Chromatic harmony is complicated business, but young Korngold's knowledge of it seemed absolute.

More remarkably, the boy somehow captures the emotionally saturated spirit of his time, or, as Nicolas Slonimsky puts it, "the last gasps" of Viennese Romanticism. Yet if these works give off a strong whiff of nostalgia, a nostalgia that for some borders on the excessive, they still remain true to themselves and provide some positively glorious musical moments.

Known first and foremost for his film scores, Korngold's stock beyond these works seems to continually rise. The Violin Concerto is played the world over, "Die tote Stadt" is frequently produced, and his lieder have begun to enter the song recital canon. Unfortunately, his early instrumental works have been given short shrift, and for no good reason, since the trademark Korngold style can be heard to full effect in these exuberant, intricate canvases.

In presenting these programs, I hope to honor this wonderful composer by highlighting different stages of Korngold's compositional output, as well as the divergent paths taken by a few of his contemporaries.

-Daniel Schlosberg