Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

December 2001

2 Stefan Vladar, pianist Chopin: Four Ballades

24 Preludes, Op. 28

9 Yale Russian Chorus To he announced

Mark Bailey, artistic director

16 Havard Gimse, pianist Grieg: Norwegian Peasant Dances

Sibelius: Kylliki, Opus 41

Chopin: Nocturne No. 1

Scherzo No. 2

Prokofiev: Sonata No. 8

23 Alessandra Marc, soprano Christmas Concert

Joseph Holt, pianist

30 James Tocco, pianist Brahms: Sonata No. 1

Corigliano: Etude-Fantasy

Rachmaninoff: Moments musicaux

For the convenience of concertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can he heard on the second Sunday of each month

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

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2398th Concert

JUDITH INGOLFSSON, violinist

RONALD SAT, pianist

Sunday Evening, 25 November 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, East Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Arnold Schoenberg Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment 

(1874-1951) Op. 47(1949)

Grave; piu mosso; lento; lento; grazioso; tempo I

Scherzando; meno mosso; tempo I

Richard Strauss Sonata in E-flat Major

(1864-1949) Op. 18 (1887)

Allegro ma non troppo 

Improvisation: Andante cantabile 

Finale: Andante; allegro

INTERMISSION

Johann Sebastian Bach Partita No. 1 in B Minor for Solo Violin

(1685-1750) BWV 1002 (1720)

Allemande

Double

Courante

Double (Presto)

Sarabande

Double

Tempo di bourree 

Double

Maurice Ravel

(1875-1937)

Tzigane

(1924)

A native of Reykjavik, Iceland, and a former pupil of Jascha Brodsky,

David Cerone, and Donald Weilstein, violinist Judith Ingolfsson won

the 1998 gold medal of the quadrennial International Violin Competition 

of Indianapolis, one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for violinists. 

In the same year she also received the Concert Artists Guild’s Nathan

Wedeen management award. In response to her Carnegie Hall debut

recital in April 2000, one critic affirmed her status as a rising star by

giving notice of a virtuoso of extraordinary technical command,

sensitivity, and compelling presence. The music magazine Strings

described her artistry as “effortless, her tone ravishingly beautiful, pure

and adaptable, her sense of style unerring, and her expressiveness 

simple, direct, and strongly felt.” She has appeared as soloist with

numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra under

Wolfgang Sawallisch, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Jesus

Lopez-Cobos, the Indianapolis Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony

under Gerard Schwarz.

Judith Ingolfsson was awarded the 2001 Chamber Music

America/WQXR Record award for her debut recording on Catalpa 

Classics. She performs on the 1683 Stradivarius formerly owned by the

late Josef Gingold (1909-1995), which is on loan to her from its present 

owner, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Judith 

Ingolfsson appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with Herbert 

Barrett Management of New York City.

Pianist Ronald Sat, a doctor of musical arts candidate at the Cleveland 

Institute of Music, has received high praise for his impressive musicality,

technique, and refined interpretation. The Philadelphia Inquirer cited his

“elegant sonorities,” the Reykjavik Morgunbladid recounted his “deeply

emotional interpretation,” and the Washington Post praised him as an

“excellent musician.” Sat has appeared in many prestigious venues, 

including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Hong Kong

Chamber Music Hall. He has collaborated with such distinguished artists

as violinist Elmar Oliveira, clarinetist Alex Fiterstein, tenor Warren

Mok, and sopranos Xiu-Wei Sun and Indra Thomas. A graduate of the

Eastman School of Music and the University of British Columbia and a

former pupil of Anne Epperson, Warren Jones, Jean Barr, and Rena
Sharon, Sat has taught at Centenary College of Louisiana and the

University of Akron and is currently a member of the coaching staff at

the Manhattan School of Music.

The Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47, is the

last instrumental work by Arnold Schoenberg. It was commissioned by the

Canadian violinist and conductor Adolph Koldofsky (1905-1951),

whose interest in contemporary music drew him to the work of the

master of the twelve-tone system. Schoenberg originally conceived the

Phantasy for the violin alone, but added a piano accompaniment at

Koldofsky’s request. In a tight structural format, Schoenberg develops a

high degree of unity in the composition through avoidance of repetitions 

and exploration of new musical forms for greater contrast among the

various sections of the work.

Discreetly hidden in this remarkable Phantasy are some of the same

characteristics that are exhibited in fantasies dating as far back as the

seventeenth century: sectionality, capriciousness, and, to a large degree, 

a feeling of improvisation. However, in-depth study of the work reveals 

a more profound and composite structure than might appear on first 

hearing. Underlying the multisectional fagade is the outline of a

condensed sonata-allegro form. Taken as a whole, the Phantasy

embodies the epitome of Schoenberg’s compositional technique, making

it one of the most significant examples of its genre from the twentieth 

century.

Violinist Vincent Skowronski, a champion of Richard Strauss’ only

violin sonata, writes: “From the outset, [the] opening movement bursts 

forth with a glorious Straussian statement of the principal theme. Then,

by means of tonal colors, grandiose thematic arching, and some

Brahmsian patches of dramatic impact, incorporated with unorthodox yet

rich harmonic blends, Strauss twirls and molds the elements of this

movement into a cohesive mixture of impassioned splendor.” This high

voltage of raw energy is replaced in the second movement by a quiet

reserve of suppressed emotion that launches Strauss into one of his most 

lyrical and expressive moods. The third movement segues from a solemn

introduction into the joyous and irresistible optimism of the allegro, and

climaxes in an energetic and muscular scherzando.

It has been said that in writing his partitas and sonatas for solo violin,

Johann Sebastian Bach was at the summit of his achievement. Although 

he was an accomplished violinist, the very foundation of his musical

style was his skill as an improviser at the keyboard. The resulting highly

polyphonic textures present special challenges to players of the violin

and other sustaining instruments, on which it is difficult to play the

music as Bach put it on the page. The intrinsic musical value of Bach’s

solo violin works was not recognized or appreciated by subsequent 

generations of string players. Although violin teachers used them as a

pedagogical aid, the partitas were not brought to the concert stage until

the end of the nineteenth century, when the great Hungarian-born 

violinist Joseph Joachim began to play them in his program. The Partita

No. 1 in B Minor, BWV1002, with its characteristic four dance movements, 

Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Tempo di bourree, is an anomaly

among Bach’s three solo violin partitas because each movement is

extended by the addition of a double, or variation.

Ravel’s Tzigane (Gypsy), an exotic and rhapsodic composition for

violin, can trace its musical lineage back to Paganini and Liszt. A

bravura adaptation of the Hungarian rhapsody, Tzigane presents

extraordinary technical challenges for the violinist. It is filled to the brim

with rapid harmonics and pizzicati, quadruple stops, and brilliant 

passages in perpetual motion. The many subtle changes in tempo, the

rhythmic figures, the straightforward harmony, and the frequent use of a

four-note Gypsy motif (E, F, G#, A) give Tzigane an authentic folk

flavor, but the clarity of Ravel’s workmanship raises the work to a

sublime level.

Programs notes by Elmer Booze