performed by the inimitable American pianist William Masselos

(1920-1992). Loosely divided into foursections, the work opens

ona ten-tone row that is powerful and shattering. Sections of

great lyrical beauty lead to a tightly rhythmic, almost jazzy jaunt.

About his fantasy, Copland wrote:“[It] belongs in the category of

absolute music, making no use whatever of folk or popular music

materials. My purpose was to attempta composition that would suggest the quality of fantasy, that is, a spontaneous and unpremeditated sequence of‘events’ that would carry the listener (ifpossible) 

from the first note to the last, while at the same time exemplifying

clear, ifsomewhat unconventional, structural principles.”

IValdszenen (Forest Scenes), Opus82, consists ofnine intimate pieces

that are far from Schumann’s early virtuosic piano style, and are

more an exploration ofsome interesting new sounds, such as the

major/minor shifts in the fourth scene, Verrufene Stelle (Haunted

Spot), and the impressionistic atmosphere in Vogel a/s Prophet

(ProphetBird). Lucid, naive melodies, reminiscent ofSchumann’s

Kinderszenen (Scenesfrom Childhood), Opus 15, pervade the work. Each

miniature was originally prefaced bya poetic motto, but as the

work was eventually published, only Verrufene Stelle is preceded by a dark poem about death by Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863), a

German playwright and poet.

French writer Heuwell Tircuit, in his review ofRachmaninoff’s

two books of Etudes-tableaux (Opera 33 and 39), states that they

were Rachmaninoff’s“farewell to the medium of the small, virtuoso piano piece [having published previously seven such sets].”

That they are small or virtuosic is onlya part of the equation, for 

within these miniature tone-poems are housed some of

Rachmaninoff’s most powerful and kaleidoscopic mood state­

ments. To render them properly and authoritatively requiresa

peerless technique adjoined toa mental acuity reserved for the

elite of pianists. Opus 39, No.8 is one example ofRachmaninoff’s

vacillating moods; it is contemplative and bittersweet, using chro­

maticism and modality freely.

Scriabin’s Verslaflamme is perhaps his most manic and improvisa­

tory work, with layers ofsound built one upon another.A tonepoem in an almost literal sense, it has been described by theAmerican music critic Faubion Bowers as “crackling like lashing flames,

sputtering and sparkling...a Roman candle of increasing, magni­

fying blazes, until it becomes consumed in its own flames.”

-Program notes by Peter Vinograde

Adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

The Fifty-seventh Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and E LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2304th Concert

PETER VINOGRADE, pianist

Sunday Evening, March 28, 1999

SevenO’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach

(1650-1785)

Nine Little Preludes

C Major, BWV 924; C Major, BWV943; F Major, BWV 928

D Minor, BWV 926; A Minor, BWV 942; E Major, BWV 937

E Minor, BWV 938; D Major, BWV 936; D Major, BWV 925

Aaron Copland

(1900-1990)

Piano Fantasy

(1955-1957)

INTERMISSION

Robert Schumann Waldszenen(Forest Scenes)

(1810-1856) Opus 82 (1848-1849)

Eintritt (Entrance)

Jager auf der Lauer (Hunter in Ambush)

Einsame Blumen (Lonely Flowers)

Verrufene Stelle (Haunted Spot)

Freundliche Landschaft (Friendly Landscape)

Herberge (Wayside Inn)

Vogel als Prophet (The Prophet Bird)

Jagdlied (Hunting Song)

Abschied (Departure)

Sergey Rachmaninoff Etude-tableau, Opus 39, No. 8

(1873-1943) (1916-1917)

Alexander Scriabin

(1872-1915)

Vers la flamme: Poeme

Opus 72 (1914)

A native ofIowa who now lives and works in NewYork City, Peter

Vinograde has established himself as an outstanding interpreter

of works by J.S. Bach and those of twentieth-century composers.

His annual tours of, and the United States, Canada, andTaiwan

invariably feature music ofliving composers, particularly in his regular

recital appearances on New York’s Saint Andrew Keyboard Series.

Among his numerous awards are first prize in the Washington, DC,

International Bach Competitions; East-West Artists’ presentation

of his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall; and a National

Endowment for the Arts recital in Alice Tully Hall, featuring Bach’s

Goldberg Variations and works of American composers. A previous

National Gallery of Art all-Bach program by Vinograde was broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today and subsequently featured on CBCTV’s The Journal. Highlights of Vinograde’s 1998-1999 season included the world premiere of Hal Campbells’ Piano Concerto (1998),

and recitals in Toronto, Winnipeg, and New York. Vinograde’s CD

releases currently include a CBC recording of works by Canadian

composers Michael Matthews and Alfred Fisher, coupled with the

RachmaninoffFtudes-tableaux and Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 7, and

an Albany Records recording ofsolo and chamber works of Nicolas

Flagello. Future recordings will include J.S. Bach’s seven keyboard

toccatas and an all-Schumann CD. As a chamber musician,Vinograde 

has collaborated with the Saint Luke’s Players at Caramoor, New

York, the North Country Chamber Players ofCanada, the Canadian

Chamber Ensemble, and cellist Zara Nelsova at the Great Music

West Festival. Dr. Vinograde studied piano with Zenon Fishbein at

the Manhattan School of Music, and in 1981 became a member of

its piano faculty, a position he currently holds.

Most ofBach’s shorter preludesfor the harpsichord were written during his early years as a teacher. They were compiled by later editors

into a collection of nineteen preludes, labeled “Little” in order to distinguish them from his more expansive works bearing the same title.

These beautiful miniatures contain strains that are fully developed in

Bach’s later works, including the Italian Concerto in FMajor (BWV928),

theZ)MinorPrelude from the Well-TemperedClavier, Book1(BWV926), and

the DMajor Toccata (BWV925). Mood swings in these preludes cover a

wide range, from the beautiful and serene PraeambuluminCMajor(BWV

924) to the eerily contemporary Prelude inA Minor (BWV942), and the

festive but complex Prelude in CMajor (BWV943).

Commissioned by the Juilliard School of Music for its fiftieth anniversary, Copland’s Piano Fantasy is dedicated to the memory ofthe

brilliant American pianist William Kapell (1922-1953). It received

its premiere performance in 1957 at the Juilliard School of Music,