Program notes

Ravel seemed to recall his classical training at the Paris Conservatoire as he fashioned the first movement of his Sonatafor Violin

and Piano. There is a clear presentation of a first and second 

subject, but when the latter subject appears, the composer brings

the listener sharply up to date with parallel diminished octaves and

open fifths and a sparsely modem texture in both instruments. The

second movement {Blues), obviously influenced by American jazz,

calls upon the violinist to imitate the soft, slithering lines that are

the trademark of the jazz saxophonist. The third movement 

(Perpetuum mobile) starts modestly, but evolves into a challenging 

perpetual motion etude in sixteenth notes for the violin as the

movement progresses.

Gaspar Cassado was the leading student of fellow Catalonian 

Pablo Casals and studied composition with Maurice Ravel and

Manuel de Falla. Cassado enjoyed a thriving career in the 1920s

and 1930s, but his reputation suffered enormously after World War 

II, when Casals accused him of having collaborated with the fascist 

government of Italy, where Cassado had lived during the conflict.

Casals’ largely unsubstantiated attack had a devastating impact on

their friendship and on Cassado's career. He continued to compose 

and arrange music for cello as well as orchestral and chamber 

works, but was rarely seen or heard in public. He was also an

inventor of cello-related gadgets and an excellent pianist.

Although less well known than his first piano trio,

Mendelssohns’s Trio op. 66 is every bit its equal in musical

interest. In addition to the overriding vocal character of the main

themes, there are a number of other Mendelssohn trademarks in

this work. The delicacy of the scherzo is reminiscent of the

overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the solemn chorale

that interrupts the final movement revives a technique 

Mendelssohn had used to great effect in the last movement of his

Reformation Symphony. In the final movement of the trio, the

chorale enters reservedly and gradually combines with the first

theme to ascend to a grand climax.

The Sixty-third Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and

F. Lammot Belin Concerts

National Gallery of Art

2,526th Concert

The Washington Chamber Players

Claudia Chudacoff, violin

Nathaniel Chaitkin, cello

Marie-France Lefebvre, piano

March 6, 2005

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free

The National Gallery extends its thanks to the

Washington Chamber Players, who agreed on

thirty-six hours’ notice to replace the Takacs String Quartet.

The quartet was obliged to cancel its appearance

due to the sudden illness ofone ofits members.
Program

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Sonatafor Violin and Piano (1923-1927)

Allegretto

Blues: Moderato 

Perpetuum mobile

Gaspar Cassado (1897-1966)

Sonatafor Cello and Piano

Rapsodia (Lento ma non troppo-Allegro) 

Aragonesa (Presto ma non troppo)

Saeta (Grave)

Paso-doble (Allegro)

Intermission

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Trio No. 2 in C Minor, op. 66 (1845)

Allegro energico e con fuoco

Andante espressivo 

Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto 

Finale: Allegro appassionato

The Musicians

Violinist Claudia Chudacoff appears frequently as soloist and

chamber musician throughout the Washington/Baltimore area. She

is a member of both the National Gallery Chamber Players String

Quartet and the Sunrise Quartet, and has performed regularly on

the Holocaust Memorial Museum Chamber Series since 1995. She

is featured on a CD of chamber music of Erich Komgold, released 

by Albany Records. In addition to her position as assistant

concertmaster of the “President’s Own” United States Marine

Chamber Orchestra, Chudacoff is the concertmaster of the

National Gallery Orchestra. Prior to moving to Washington, DC,

she was the assistant concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra.

She received the master and bachelor of music degrees from the

Eastman School of Music, where her principal teachers were

Sylvia Rosenberg and Zvi Zeitlin.

Bom and raised in New York City, cellist Nathaniel 

Chaitkin graduated from the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard 

School, where he studied with Ardyth Alton. He continued his

studies at the University of Michigan, where his teachers were

Jeffrey Solow, Nina deVeritch, and Erling Blondal Bengtsson. He

received the doctor of music degree from the University of

Maryland, studying with Evelyn Elsing and David Soyer. Chaitkin

is currently a member of the “President’s Own” United States

Marine Chamber Orchestra and has appeared frequently as soloist

with that ensemble as well as the Fairfax and Alexandria

symphonies. Currently on the faculty of Georgetown University, as

of September 2005 he will become assistant professor and director 

of chamber music at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

French-Canadian pianist Marie-France Lefebvre was

appointed assistant professor of piano at Michigan State University

in 2004. From 1992 to 2004, she served as diction coach,

prompter, and rehearsal pianist for the Washington Opera and

taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She has also

worked professionally with the Santa Fe Opera, the Michigan

Opera Theater, the Wolf Trap Opera, and the Aspen Music

Festival. Lefebvre has served as director of the song integration 

program at the Banff Centre for the Arts and has taught at the

University of Maryland. She concertizes regularly with her

husband, cellist Nathaniel Chaitkin, and they have broadcast 

recitals on Radio Canada and recorded for CRI. She has also

collaborated with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Harolyn Blackwell, 

Denyce Graves, and Samuel Ramey. Lefebvre holds the doctor of 

musical arts degree from the University of Michigan, where she

studied with Martin Katz and Arthur Greene, and the master of 

music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.