violent octaves continue the tension that is built up during the musical

bridge that connects the two subjects. Brahms foregoes a development 

section, preferring to elaborate on the first theme and the bridge passage. 

A radically new recapitulation and a powerful and brilliant coda close

the work.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

3 February

The Debussy String Quartet

with James Dick, pianist

10 February

The New England Spiritual

Ensemble

17 February

The Ciompi String Quartet

with William Ransom,

pianist

Quartets and quintets by Franck,

Shostakovich, and Haydn

Traditional American Negro

Spirituals

Quartets and quintets by Ravel, 

Saint-Saens, and Mark Kuss

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience of concert goers

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

During the months ofJanuary and February,

recent performances by the National Gallery Orchestra

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

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

iS

2407th Concert

THE ICELAND TRIO

SIBBI BERNHARDSSON, violin

SIGURDUR BJARKI GUNNARSSON, cello

NINA-MARGRET GRIMSDOTTIR, piano

Sunday Evening, 27 January 2002

Seven O'clock

West Building, East Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Atli Heimir Sveinsson

(b. 1938)

Piano Trio No. 1

(1985-2001)

I. (T 45")

II. (O'40")

III. (T 20")

IV. (4' 00")

V. (2'00")

United States premiere performance

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in D Major (“Ghost”)

(1770-1827) Op. 70, No. 1 (1808)

Allegro vivace e con brio

Largo assai ed espressivo 

Finale: Presto

INTERMISSION

Johannes Brahms

(1833-1897)

Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major 

Op. 8 (1853-1854)

Allegro con brio

Scherzo: Allegro molto; Trio: Meno allegro 

Adagio

Finale: Allegro

Founded in 1998 in New York by three musicians who are natives of

Iceland, The Iceland Trio presents both chamber music by Icelandic

and Scandinavian composers and the standard classical trio repertoire.

While some of the Scandinavian compositions have been commissioned 

by the Iceland Trio, others are premieres of previously unknown works

that its members have discovered. During the 2000-2001 season, the trio

performed concerts in the United States, Canada, and Iceland, drawing 

full houses and receiving laudatory comments from critics and audiences 

alike. The trio has performed in New York City, Washington, DC,

Seattle, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Calgary. It has been a

featured ensemble at the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Azalea

Festival in Norfolk, Virginia, and the prestigious Kirkjubaejarklaustur

Festival in Iceland.

Violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson began his studies at the age of five in

Iceland. After graduating from the Reykjavik College of Music, he

continued his education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, receiving

a bachelor of music degree and election to the honor society. He also

obtained the master of music degree from Northern Illinois University.

He has performed internationally in such prestigious venues as

Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Northwestern University’s Pick—

Staiger Concert Hall and has collaborated with such artists as Michael

Tree, Ursula Oppens, and Paul Katz. He has received several awards and

prizes, including the Icelandic Lindar award, and has received critical

praise for the release of his solo CD on the Icelandic label Skref.

Bernhardsson also performs with the Pacifica String Quartet.

Cellist Sigurdur Bjarki Gunnarsson graduated from the Reykjavik 

College of Music in 1995 and continued his studies at the Manhattan

School of Music in New York under the instruction of David Soyer. He

received the master of music degree from the Juilliard School of Music

in 2000, studying under Harvey Shapiro. In addition to solo appearances 

with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and on BBC Radio, Gunnarsson 

has performed in chamber music recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln

Center, and venues in the United Kingdom and Canada. He currently 

resides in New York City.
Nma-Margret Grimsdottir, one of Iceland’s most acclaimed pianists of

the younger generation, performs regularly on Icelandic television and

radio, participates in festivals, and gives master classes. Grimsdottir 

graduated in 1985 from the Reykjavik College of Music with a soloist

diploma. She holds the master of arts degree from the City University of

London, the performance diploma from the Guildhall School of Music

and Drama in London, and the professional studies diploma from the

Mannes College of Music in New York. Grimsdottir is currently 

completing the doctor of musical arts degree at City University of New

York’s Graduate Center.

Composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson studied piano at the Reykjavik 

College of Music and composition with Raphael and Bern Zimmermann 

in Cologne, Germany, from 1959 to 1962. In addition, he worked with

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henri Pousseur, and Gottfried Michael Koenig,

with whom he studied electronic composition. Upon completion of his

studies, Sveinsson returned to Iceland and became active as a composer 

and teacher. His works include nine solo concertos, Hjakk (1979) for 

symphony orchestra, an opera, Silkitromman (1982), Gloria (1981) for 

solo piano, and the choir suite Haustmyndir (1982). President of the

Icelandic Society of Composers from 1972 to 1983, Sveinsson is a

member of the Swedish Academy of Music.

Beethoven’s Piano Trios, Op. 70, Nos. 1 and 2, are dedicated to

Countess Anna Marie Erdody, whom he admired. The opening 

movement of Op. 70, No. 1 {.Allegro vivace e con brio) presents themes

that are as dramatic as they are contrasting. The vigorous first theme is

played in octaves by the three instruments, after which the cello plays a

second theme that is resplendent in its lyricism. The commodious use of

both subjects in proximal imitation injects a feeling of hopelessness 

without salvation. A lengthy development section that explores diversity 

by means of sudden shifts in dynamics and texture is followed by the

closing coda, which adopts octave scales from the opening theme.

A continuation of this solemn mood prevails in the second movement 

CLargo assai ed espressivo), which has the distinction of being perhaps

the longest slow movement in all of Beethoven’s chamber music. The

violin and cello open the movement by playing in octaves. A seven-note 

theme conjures a ghostly motif that is repeated without interruption

throughout the entire section. In the trio of this movement, weightless

tremolo chords from the piano accentuate the eeriness, prompting an

editor to add the subtitle, Geister-Trio (“Ghost Trio”), to the published

score. The third movement {Finale: Presto), wrapped in the sonataallegro form, distances itself in spirit and emotion from its preceding 

companions with a sunlit exterior that quickly expunges the aftermath of

a lugubrious night and brings the trio to a convivial and extroverted 

conclusion.

Brahms had just turned twenty when he wrote the first version of his

Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8. Almost forty years later, at age fifty-eight, 

he published a revision. The Iceland Trio plays the latter version, which,

according to the distinguished English music scholar, pianist, and

composer Sir Donald Francis Tovey (1875-1940), is essentially a new

piece of music. The first movement {Allegro con brio) unfolds in the

sonata-allegro form. The protracted and euphonious opening melody

indulges in meter changes and contains turbulent triplet figures. The

contrasting second subject is shorter and more relaxed. Upon revisiting 

this theme, Brahms evidently found it to be more suitable for 

development than he had the first time around. In the later version of the

trio, the development section incorporates the second subject and

reconciles it and the first subject amicably. The recapitulation, which is

also new in the revised version, is freer than the original and includes a

coda that is radiant, ingenious, and focused.

The second movement {Scherzo and Trio) remains almost identical to

the original version. The third movement {Adagio), on the other hand, is

completely rewritten. A melancholy dialogue between the piano and the

strings is followed by the entrance of an ardent melody for the cello. The

dialogue resumes in a sublime modulation with a charismatic piano part.

The opening dialogue is repeated once more, with even greater effect, in

the recapitulation. Brahms also saw fit to revise the Finale {Allegro), and

did so more drastically than in any other movement. The original

elongated opening subject is retained, but the second subject is new. Its