‘‘The Harp” Quartet was not a title designated by Beethoven but an

acquired appellation stemming from the persistent appearance of the

harplike pizzicato passages in the opening movement ofthe Quartet, Op.

7. Following the sonata-allegro format (exposition, development, and

recapitulation), the first movement {Poco adagio; allegro) begins with a

brief introduction of four notes that are repeated before commencing 

with the principal theme ofthe exposition. The recapitulation enters after 

a brief recall of the opening movement’s theme and is followed by a

dashing coda that ends the movement. The second movement {Adagio

ma non troppo) houses a lyrical melody of sublime tenderness that

exudes a state of spiritual endowment. Its format mimics that of a rondo.

After its initial appearance by the first violin, the theme returns several

times in slightly varied forms. The third movement {Presto) is a highly

spirited Scherzo in an ABABA format, the coda of which acts as an

introduction to the fourth movement {Allegretto con variazioni). Given

the forceful nature of its predecessor, this movement appears to be

anticlimactic. However, the composer cleverly exploits the third

variation by borrowing its theme for an extravagant coda that is a

brilliantly designed finish for the work.

Program note by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please be sure that all

electronic devices are turned off.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:30 p.m.

This is thefinal concert ofthe National Gallery’s

2001-2002 season. Concerts will resume on Sunday, 6 October,

with a performance by the National Gallery Orchestra,

George Manos conducting.

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2427th Concert

NATIONAL GALLERY CHAMBER PLAYERS

STRING QUARTET

GEORGE MANOS, artistic director

CLAUDIA CHUDACOFF, violin REGINO MADRID, violin

LISA PONTON, viola DIANA FISH, cello

Sunday Evening, 30 June 2002

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Bela Bartok String Quartet No. 3

(1881-1945) Sz 85 (1927)

Prima parte: Moderato

Seconda parte: Allegro

Ricapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato

Coda: Allegro molto

Ralph Vaughan Williams String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor

(1872-1958) (“For Jean on Her Birthday”)

(1942-1943)

Prelude: Allegro appassionato 

Romance: Largo

Scherzo: Allegro

Epilogue: Andante sostenuto

(“Greetings from Joan to Jean”)

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major

(1770-1827) (“The Harp”) Op. 7 (1809)

Poco adagio; Allegro

Adagio ma non troppo

Presto

Allegretto con variazioni

The National Gallery Chamber Players String Quartet is composed

of members of the National Gallery Orchestra and appears as a regular

feature of each season of concerts at the Gallery. Under the guidance of

Gallery music director George Manos, the quartet surveys and performs

rarely heard masterpieces of chamber music.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, violinist Claudia

Chudacoff has among her credits several solo appearances with the

National Gallery Orchestra under George Manos, including a recent

performance of Brahms’ Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra.

Other guest orchestra appearances have been with the Toledo Symphony,

the Louisville Ballet, and the Ann Arbor Symphony. She has been first

violinist ofthe National Gallery Chamber Players String Quartet since its

inception.

Regino Madrid, a native of Los Angeles, received the bachelor of

music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1998. He is

currently a member ofthe “President’s Own” United States Marine Band

and plays regularly at the White House. He has played with the

Cleveland Orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic, and the Canton Symphony

in Ohio. He has participated in numerous music festivals, including

Holland Music Sessions, the Santa Barbara Music Academy ofthe West,

Musicorda, and the professional studies program at Soundfest with the

Colorado Quartet in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Violist Lisa Ponton has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in

concerts and radio broadcasts throughout Germany, Scandinavia, and the

United States. She has performed chamber music with the National

Musical Arts and Washington Musica Viva, and her interest in

contemporary music has led to numerous premieres. Ponton is currently a

member of the “President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra. She is a

former principal violist of Sweden’s Malmoe Symphony Orchestra and

former associate principal violist of the Island Symphony Orchestra. She

holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the

Juilliard School of Music in New York, and the Hochschule fur Musik in

Cologne, Germany.
Cellist Diana Fish came to Washington in 1994 as a member of the

Marine Band’s White House Chamber Orchestra. She graduated from the

Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Orlando Cole and later did

graduate work at Indiana University, where her teacher was Janos

Starker. A founding member of the Whitney Trio, she has performed 

throughout the United States, including chamber music performances at

the National Gallery and the Phillips Collection.

Bela Bartok’s “classical middle period” includes such works as the

Miraculous Mandarin, the First Piano Concerto, and the String Quartet

No. 3 in C-sharp Major. This last work won for Bartok a first prize from

the Music Fund Society of Philadelphia, an award that he shared with the

celebrated Italian composer Alfredo Casella (1883-1947).

Approximately fifteen minutes in length, Quartet No. 3 is Bartok’s

shortest, with an overall three-part construction (ABA) and a fiery coda.

The entire work is performed in one continuous movement. The first part

(.Prima parte: Moderato) uses the ternary form as well, with a slow

introduction that centers around short canonic themes, before moving

into its B section, which has a livelier tempo. The recapitulation (the

return of section A) is notably altered. The second part (,Seconda parte:

Allegro) is written using the sonata-allegro form with two main themes.

The principal theme is introduced by the violins and the second by the

viola and cello. By quoting near its end the martellato chords from the

first part, the second part gives a cyclical reference to the work as a

whole. The Recapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato reintroduces 

the Prima parte in a markedly abridged and modified form. The Coda,

with its fugato and canonic motifs, is based on music of the Seconda

parte. It closes the work brilliantly in what can best be described as a

cyclonic fanfare.

Vaughan Williams’ String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor was one ofseveral

works he composed during World War II. Arthur Cohn, author of The

Literature of Chamber Music, acclaims it as “Music of wholehearted, 

restful spirituality.” Vaughan Williams dedicated this particular quartet 

to his friend Jean Stewart, a violist and member of the Menges Quartet.

His explicit direction for this work was to have its dedication mentioned

always. In 1943, on her twenty-ninth birthday, Vaughan Williams sent to

Jean Stewart the first two movements with a message that “the Scherzo

refuses to materialize” and was prepared to have it available on her next 

birthday. He completed the last two movements, however, within a few

months, paving the way for the work’s premiere on 12 October 1944, his

own seventy-second birthday. The Menges Quartet was given the honor

of performing on that occasion. The theme for the third movement is

based on the music Vaughan Williams wrote for the 1940-1941 film

49th Parallel. A theme created for a projected film entitled Joan ofArc,

which did not materialize, is the reference point for the last movement’s

subtitle, “Greetings from Joan to Jean.”

Vaughan Williams studied both the violin and the viola as a young

student and expressed a preference for the viola. His affection for the

instrument is evident in the dominant role he assigns to it within the four

movements. Each movement’s theme begins with the violist as soloist,

and the same instrument closes the two inner movements. The emotional

drama and explosive spirit of the opening movement {Prelude: Allegro

appassionato) is implicit. The mood, which is described by writer 

Michael Kennedy as “restless and troubled,” spills over into the next two

movements. He compares this movement to Vaughan Williams’ Sixth

Symphony, in which he finds a similar mood. The second movement 

{Romance: Largo), with its vibrato-free tone, is imbued with

contrapuntal settings for each instrument, while at the same time letting

the unmuted viola take the theme. The third movement {Scherzo:

Allegro) continues the emphasis on the viola by muting the other three

instruments. The theme from the film 49th Parallel is the principal one

given to the viola; two other themes are announced as well by the viola.

The fourth movement {Epilogue: Andante) begins in the key of F major

with the theme scored for the intended film Joan ofArc. The sanguine

mood projected in the finale ofthis quartet is one ofsanctification. There

is a visionary change of key to D major that closes the work in a peaceful

manner. Again citing Cohn: “This is a reflective and serene work, the

creation of a man in his seventies, but with the fresh tones and ideas of a

young artist.”