Radius Ensemble: Flourishes

The approach of spring Flourishes with The Stone and the Milkweed, a new piece for horn, viola, piano and narrator by frequent Radius collaborator Jonathan Bailey Holland. The title combines “A Milkweed” and “A Stone”—titles from a pithy diptych of poetry by Richard Wilbur exploring surrender and hubris respectively. Broadcasting icon Christopher Lydon will narrate. The Way of Ideas (2007) for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello by Alexandra Gardner also responds to the written word, in this case Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. The work shimmers with meter games and slides into off-kilter grooves. Luna Pearl Woolf brings back the botanical with her String Trio (Prueraria Lobata) (2000) whose parenthetical subtitle refers to the invasive kudzu vine. Plus Dance of the Moon Charioteer, a quartet for horn and strings by Longy composition student Jiashu He, recipient of the twelfth-annual Pappalardo Composition Award. A chestnut from Poulenc—the frolicking trio for oboe, bassoon and piano—closes the concert.