parts added. What emerges is a set of variations and a fugue in which

no virtuoso device known to Beethoven goes unexplored.

The Liszt arrangements of five Schubert songs on Barbara Moser’s

program are prime examples of repertoire expansion on the part of a

nineteenth-century piano virtuoso. A master at transcribing other 

composers’ works as well as his own, Liszt found a treasure trove in the

songs of Schubert, whom he considered the most melodious of all

composers. Of the fifty-six Schubert songs he transcribed for the piano,

this group of five gives a thorough account of the art. Liszt biographer 

Bryce Morrison states: “Lying somewhere between free paraphrase and

simple replica, [the Schubert song transcriptions] remain uncannily 

faithful to the freshness and innocence of the originals, while adding an

extra dimension of idiosyncrasy and sophistication.”

The term fantasy or fantasia, as defined by the Harvard Dictionary of

Music, is “an ingenious and imaginative instrumental composition, often

characterized by distortion, exaggeration, and elusiveness resulting from

its departure from current stylistic and structural norms.” The definition 

aptly applies to the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fantasias that

derived their inspiration from familiar operatic themes. For the likes of

such virtuoso composer/performers as violinists Paganini, Vieuxtemps,

and Sarasate, and pianists Gottschalk, Thalberg, and Liszt, the fantasy

was a “sorcerous”’ tool, with Liszt being the consummate sorcerer.

Reminiscences de Norma, based on Vincenzo Bellini’s (1801-1835)

opera masterpiece of the same title, synopsizes the musical content of the

entire opera in virtually unadulterated form.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

at 9:00 p.m. on WGMS, 103.5 FM.

The Fifty-ninth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2381st Concert

BARBARA MOSER, pianist

Sunday Evening, 22 April 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756-1791)

Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1827)

Fantasy in C Minor, K. 475

(1785)

Fifteen Variations and a Fugue

on an Original Theme

(“Eroica Variations”)

Op. 35 (1802)

INTERMISSION

Franz Schubert, arr. Franz Liszt Five Songs

(1797-1828)

Der Wanderer

Standchen (Leise flehen meine Lieder)

Aufenthalt

Der Doppelganger

Der Atlas

Vincenzo Bellini, arr. Franz Liszt Reminiscences de Norma

(1801-1835)

“Her trademarks are stylishly phrased transitions, beautifully etched

runs, and crystal clear attacks” (Salzburger Nachrichten). “Light,

dreamy, poetic, and totally engaging, Moser pulled her audience in with

conspicuous ease” (Washington Post). Such are the accolades that have

been bestowed on the gifted Austrian pianist Barbara Moser. She was

accepted at age five at the Academy of Music in Vienna, from which she

graduated summa cum laude in 1994. She also studied under Greta

Kraus at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario, and

attended master classes with Alexander Jenner, Hans Graf, and Rudolf

Kehrer.

As a young girl, Barbara Moser won several first prizes in the Austrian

competition, Jugend Musiziert. In 1987 she won the Rudolf Heydner Piano

Competition in Vienna, and in 1990 the Franz Liszt International

Piano Competition. In 1994 she was a finalist in the Busoni

International Piano Competition. She appearsregularly in Austria’s famous

concert halls, at the Salzburg and Schwetzingen Festivals, and at the

Printemps des Arts de Monte Carlo. Her concerto collaborations have been

with such renowned orchestras asthe Academy ofSt. Martin in the Fields, the

Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Graz, the

Linz Bruckner Orchestra, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Having a 

special interest in singers and singing, Barbara Moser has accompanied

such distinguished performers as Placido Domingo and the Arnold

Schoenberg Choir. Her discography includes five solo CDs featuring

works by Liszt, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Clara and Robert

Schumann, among others.

In his Fantasy in C minor, K. 475, Mozart provides an excellent

example of his extraordinary powers of improvisation, beginning with

the languishing mood and inordinately daring modulations of the

introductory Adagio. His prototype for his fantasies was the form laid

out by C.P.E. Bach. Mozart’s fantasies, in turn, presaged the

compositional style of Beethoven. Mozart customarily maintained such a

piece as concert repertoire for a period of years before writing it down,

improvising to a greater or lesser extent at each performance. This work

was produced after a period of six years in which Mozart published no

sonatas for the piano. It is assumed that he was able to improvise, to the

full satisfaction of his audiences, all of the solo programs he was called

upon to play during those years.

Beethoven’s Fifteen Variations and a Fugue on an Original Theme,

Op. 35 (“Eroica” Variations), serve as proof that an ordinary theme

placed in the hands of an extraordinary composer can transform

mediocrity into excellence. He used the theme in other works, as well,

notably the ballet, Die Geschopfe des Prometheus, Op. 43 (1800-1801),

the Contredanse, WoO 14, No. 7 (1802), and the “Eroica ” Symphony,

Op. 55 (1803). It is not heard completely until after the bass line is

played four times, first by itself and then with two, three, and four other