The Fourth Day of Christmas
On the fourth day of Christmas, we share Adolphus Hailstork’s dramatic “Toccata on Veni, Emmanuel,” performed by our Director of Music Eric Tuan.
A longtime professor of music at Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University in Virginia, Hailstork is one of the leading African-American composers in the classical tradition. His Toccata on ‘Veni Emmanuel’ sets the melody of the beloved Advent carol in the pedal beneath rhythmic, angular figurations in the hands.
