compositional erudition in the form of an extended fugal opening (he

was an enthusiastic student of the music of J. S. Bach). Soon, however,

the music moves into a more expansive, heroic mode, more suitable to

the final moments of this exuberant work. The combination of

contrapuntal and heroic modes brings the quintet to a satisfying

conclusion.

Program notes by Jonathan Bagg

Adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

February and March 2002

February

24 Babette Hierholzer,

pianist

Music of Robert and Clara

Schumann

March

3 The Jerusalem Trio Ben-Haim: Variations on a Hebrew

Melody

Mendelssohn: Piano Trio, Op. 49

Shostakovich: Trio, Op. 67, No. 2

10 Earl Wild, pianist Mozart: Sonata in F, KV. 332

Beethoven: Variations in C Minor

Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso

Chopin: Various works

17 Amsterdam Loecki

Stardust Quartet

Music for recorders by Merula,

Locke, Sammartini, Pachelbel, and

other composers

During the months ofJanuary and February,

recent performances by the National Gallery Orchestra

can be heard Wednesday evenings at 9:00 p.m. on WET A, 90.9 FM

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2410th Concert

THE CIOMPI STRING QUARTET

ERIC PRITCHARD, violin HSIAO-MEI KU, violin

JONATHAN BAGG, viola FRED RAIMI, cello

with

WILLIAM RANSOM, piano

Sunday Evening, 17 February 2002

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Maurice Ravel

(1875-1937)

String Quartet in F

(1902)

Allegro moderato 

Assez vif

Tres lent

Vif et agite

Mark Kuss

(b. 1960)

“Elegy” for String Quartet

(2000)

Washington premiere performance

INTERMISSION

Camille Saint-Saens Piano Quintet in A Minor

(1835-1921) Op. 14 (1855)

Allegro moderato

Andante

Presto

Allegro assai

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please be sure that all

electronic devices are turned offduring the performance.

Praised by audiences and critics worldwide, the Ciompi Quartet has

established itself as one of the nation’s leading chamber ensembles. At

Duke University, its home base in Durham, North Carolina, its

reputation for performances of the highest standard has earned the group

a place of central importance to the region’s cultural life. With many

years of collective experience on the concert stage, the Ciompi Quartet

brings rare insight to its performances. It dedicates its efforts to

projecting the heart and soul of masterpieces ranging from Haydn,

Mozart, and Beethoven to works by this generation’s most

communicative composers.

Pianist William Ransom has appeared in recital, as soloist with

orchestras, and as a chamber musician in Eastern and Western Europe,

Japan, Korea, South America, Mexico, and throughout the United States.

In New York City he has performed in Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and

Merkin Hall. The orchestras with which he has appeared include the

symphonies of Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia,

Boston, Miami, Dallas, and Los Angeles. He has participated in chamber 

music festivals throughout the United States, including the Spoleto,

Marlboro, and Monadnock Music Festivals. Ransom was a scholarship

student of William Masselos at the Juilliard School of Music, receiving 

both the bachelor and master of music degrees. In further studies with

Theodore Lettvin at the University of Michigan he earned the doctor of

musical arts degree. William Ransom is the Mary L. Emerson Professor

of Music at Emory University in Atlanta and the artistic director of the

Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina.

Eric Pritchard joined the Ciompi Quartet in 1995, after having been

first violinist of the Alexander and Oxford Quartets. He was the winner 

of the National Federation of Music Clubs Award in violin and the first

prize winner at the Portsmouth (England) International String Quartet

Competition and the Coleman and Fischoff National Chamber Music

Competitions. He has performed with the Boston Pops and orchestras in

Europe and South America. He holds degrees from Indiana University

and the Juilliard School of Music.

Second violinist Hsiao-mei Ku joined the quartet in 1990, prior to

which she was the associate concertmaster of the North Carolina
Symphony Orchestra. She came to the United States in 1979 from China

to earn the master of music degree and a performer’s certificate from the

Indiana University School of Music. In China, Ku earned a reputation as

one her country’s leading violinists and toured as a solo recitalist. She

has been a visiting professor at conservatories in China since 1999.

Before joining the Ciompi Quartet, Jonathan Bagg was the principal

violist of the New Hampshire Symphony, appeared often with the

Boston Symphony, and was a member of several of New England’s

leading musical organizations. An active recitalist, he has introduced

many newly composed or neglected works for his instrument, including

several works that are dedicated to him. His solo CD recordings are on

the Centaur and Gasparo labels. He is a graduate of Yale University and

the New England Conservatory of Music.

Cellist Fred Raimi became a member of the Ciompi Quartet in 1974.

He began his studies in Detroit and later graduated from the Juilliard 

School of Music. He earned the master of music degree from the State

University of New York at Binghamton, where he also performed as a

member ofthe Amici Quartet. In 1971 Raimi won the International Cello

Competition in Portugal and participated in Pablo Casals’ (1876-1973)

final master class. He has participated in chamber music festivals

throughout the country, including the Spoleto, Marlboro, and

Monadnock Music Festivals.

Ravel wrote his String Quartet in F Major, his only work in this genre,

when he was twenty-seven years old. The quartet is the work of a

composer in complete control of his resources, rich in subtle and original

ideas. It displays a breathtaking diversity of textures, tempi, and

sonorities, and enjoyed immediate success among listeners who were

open to new trends. The second movement is famous for its hard-driving 

pizzicato opening, which owes much to the 'Scherzo ofClaude Debussy’s

earlier and equally famous quartet. In spite of the fact that Ravel spoke

of Debussy’s string quartet with some disdain, the latter defended the

Ravel quartet against the criticisms of Ravel’s teacher, Gabriel Faure,

saying: “In the name of gods of music, and in mine, do not touch a note

of what you have written.”

Composer Mark Kuss is a graduate of the New England Conservatory 

and Duke University and teaches at Southern Connecticut State

University in New Haven. His works appear frequently on the programs

of Washington’s Twentieth Century Consort and have won awards from

the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the National

Education Association, the Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, and

the Copland Foundation, among others. About his lElegyi for String

Quartet, Mark Kuss writes: “When the Ciompi Quartet asked me to

write a piece for them, I knew that I wanted to write music that in some

way engaged the idea of traditional expressive musical ‘archetypes’— 

patterns found throughout the Western art music tradition over its long

and tumultuous history. For me, this meant sequence, suspension,

motive, development, and repetition—elements that seem to be

fundamental regardless of changing historical epochs. I think there is

something about the beauty of patterns and ideas that is greater than any

ofthe individual contexts in which they appear. This interests me.”

Saint-Saens wrote his Piano Quintet in A Minor, Op. 14, when he was

twenty years old and still under the influence of Schumann. Like Ravel,

he blossomed early, and his quintet testifies to his youthful skill. The

piano part is one of the strengths of the work, demonstrating SaintSaens’ ability to write virtuosically and imaginatively for that

instrument. The music travels easily between simple lyricism, well-timed

dramatic moments, and spirited frivolity, with a light touch and the

benefit of a sophisticated harmonic palette.

The opening piano chords of the first movement declaim immediately

that the piano and the strings will form two primary and often opposing

personalities as the work progresses. Saint-Saens saw the opportunity to

place the piano in high relief, almost as in a concerto, but with the

flexibility and intimacy of chamber music. The second movement 

unfolds gracefully with restrained textures, often limited to one or two

voices, resulting in a tender, understated beauty. The quietness of the

slow movement is interrupted by the Presto, which builds immediately 

to a thrilling climax. Its lightning-quick theme is taken from one of the

slow movement’s seemingly forgettable ideas, but here it blossoms into a

flurry of virtuosity. In the last movement, Saint-Saens indulges in some