The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

unrw.ngfl.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development

office at (202) 842-6450 or circle@nga.gov for more information.

The Seventy-second Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

3,011th Concert

National Gallery ofArt Chamber Players

June 29, 2014

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Orchestral Suite in B Minor, bwv 1067 (c. 1720)

Ouverture

Lentement

Rondeau 

Sarabande 

Bouree 1

Bouree 11

Polonaise

Menuet

Badinerie

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)

Trio no. 6 in C Major (1771)

Allegro

Menuet

INTERMISSION

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Quintet in A Major, kv 581 (1789)

Allegro

Larghetto

Menuetto 

Trio 1

Trio 11

Allegretto con variazioni

This concert is made possible by The Gottesman Fund

memory ofMilton M. Gottesman.

The Musicians

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART CHAMBER PLAYERS

Consisting primarily ofsmall ensembles from within the National Gallery

ofArt Orchestra, members ofthe National Gallery ofArt Chamber Players

have provided chamber music in conjunction with a number ofrecent

Gallery exhibitions, including music by nineteenth-century French and

Belgian composers in honor of The Darker Side ofLight: Arts ofPrivacy,

1850-1900 (2009); Renaissance Spanish music to accompany The Art of

Power: Royal Armor and Portraitsfrom Imperial Spain (2009); Music by

Gershwin, Joplin, and Milhaud in celebration of From Impressionism to

Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection (2011); and music for silent films

from Catalonia in honor ofJoan Miro: The Ladder ofEscape (2012). In 2013

the ensemble performed new works by Jeffrey Mumford that were composed during his residency at the Gallery and subsequently featured in

the 2013 and 2014 Month of European Culture concerts. Chamber players

participating in this afternoon’s concert are:

Claudia Chudacoff and Bruno Nasta, violinists

Francis Sheih, violist and violinist

Marcio Botelho, cellist

Greg Watkins, bassist

Sara Nichols,flutist

David Niethamer, clarinetist

Steve Silverman, harpsichordist

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Program Notes

Bach composed four orchestral suites, which he called “ouvertures,” a

general term used in baroque Germany to describe a suite of dance pieces

in the French style preceded by an overture. Though it was an incredibly 

popular genre in Bach’s day, he showed less interest in it than many ofhis

contemporaries, and did not make an effort to have the suites published.

The Suitefor Orchestra no. 2 in B Minor, bwv 1067, was probably written

around 1720, certainly before 1723, when he began work at Leipzig and

turned his full attention to church music. A vibrant and fast-paced work, it

contrasts with Bach’s more lofty, intellectual creations in its aspiration to

entertain the listener. The solo instrument he had in mind was the transverse flute, which had just come into fashion. The influence of French 

music, which was also very much in vogue, can be heard in the Badinerie,

the paired Bourees, and the Rondeau. Bach’s ear, however, seems to have

been drawn to the music of Italy, especially that ofAntonio Vivaldi (1678-

1741), Alessandro (1660-1725) and Domenico (1685-1757) Scarlatti, and

Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751). Hints ofthe brilliant tone colors and dramatic

harmonic changes that characterize Italian baroque music are present in

the Sarabande and the Menuet.

One ofthe earliest composers ofthe First Viennese School, which also

included Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (born

August Carol Ditters) composed around one-hundred-twenty symphonies,

forty concerti, and numerous chamber works, and his light operas established the form ofthe Singspiel (opera with a good deal ofspoken dialogue).

A child prodigy on the violin, as he grew to adulthood and musical maturity

he associated with Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) and Joseph Haydn,

and was even known to play in string quartets with Mozart. In 1764 Gluck

became Kappellmeisterin the court of Hungarian nobleman Adam Patachich.

A year later he was introduced to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, who was in

the process of creating a cultural center around his court in Johannesberg

(today part ofthe Czech Republic). There, he became court composer in 1771,

and began the most fruitful compositional period of his life. In 1773, in order

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to entice Dittersdorfto remain in his somewhat isolated bishopric, the

prince-bishop appointed him Amtshauptmann (civil service director) of a

nearby jurisdiction. In this capacity, he was sent to Vienna to receive the 

noble title “von Dittersdorf,” which became his full surname.

After having enjoyed much adulation in Vienna in the early 1780s,

Mozart saw his popularity as a composer and a performer plummet in the

waning years ofthat decade. Primarily occupied with producing and conducting operas for far inferior composers who happened to rank among the 

social elite, he faced both professional and financial doldrums. Most of his 

teaching jobs and commissions had dried up, the bills were accumulating,

and his wife, Constanze, was not only chronically ill, but also in the middle 

ofher fifth pregnancy. In June 1789 he received some reliefin the form of

a commission for an opera, which became the great Cosifan tutte. Around

the same time, he composed the Clarinet Quintet, kv 581. Out of one ofthe 

most challenging and unhappy periods ofhis life came the most sublime

music, in the radiant key of A major and full ofwarmth. It is not known for

what occasion the work was written, but it was premiered by the celebrated 

clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812). Mozart was inspired to write a number

ofworks for Stadler, who was especially noted for his ability to exploit the 

low register ofthe clarinet. He used a special extension for the instrument,

invented by Theodor Lotz (1748-1792), which allowed it to play lower notes. 

Mozart was quick to exploit the new possibilities for the clarinet’s range.

Program notes by Danielle DeSwert Hahn

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The Seventy-third season of Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

September 2014-May 2015

U.S. Air Force Strings

Music by Chadwick, Faure, and other composers

Presented in honor of Degas/Cassatt

September 7, 2014

Sunday, 12:00 and 1:00 pm

National Gallery ofArt Sculpture Garden

Ricardo Marlow and Ensemble

Music and Dance in the Flamenco Tradition

Presented in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

September 14, 2014

Sunday, 12:00 and 1:00 pm

National Gallery ofArt Sculpture Garden

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Seldom Scene

Bluegrass Concert

September 21, 2014

Sunday, 12:00 and 1:00 pm

National Gallery ofArt Sculpture Garden

National Gallery ofArt Wind Ensemble

Music by J. S. Bach, Beethoven, and Gounod

Presented in honor ofAndrew Wyeth: Looking Out, Looking In

September 28, 2014

Sunday, 12:00 and 1:00 pm

National Gallery ofArt Sculpture Garden