luxuriates in rich and profound emotion and can be seen as the most

significant movement ofits type written by Beethoven up to that point.

The Allegretto, with its constant use of chromatic harmony and oscillating

sixteenth-note figures, is aperpetuummobile.

The Nocturne in B-flat Minor, Op. 9, No. 1, represents the early stage of

Chopin’s creative life. It appears to have been influenced by the bel

canto style ofsinging that had become the norm for operas of the period.

Chopin s Etudes far excel in technical brilliance and aesthetic quality any

keyboard studies that predate them. Op. 10, No. 12, better known as the

“Revolutionary''Etude, is a wonderful study for the left hand, about which

concert pianistAlexander Uninsky (1910-1972) wrote: “There is a storm

ofpassion in this powerful outburst thatis unequaled in the other etudes.

Patriotic pride, defiance, and rage are given expression in avividly dramatic

fashion. Pedagogic aspects need not concern us here—to call this work a

tone poem for the piano would be more appropriate.”

TheEtude, Op. 25, No. 1, nicknamed the 'AeolianHarp"Etude, is an exercise

in the playing ofopen chords, also known as arpeggios, in the manner ofa

harp. The melody, carried by the fifth finger ofthe right hand, soars over

a heavenly reticulation of colorful harmonic fiber. Op. 25, No. 10, a legato

octave study for both hands, is fiercely energetic and demands enormous

endurance. The player receives only a brief reprieve in the form of the

beguiling and melodic middle section.

Program notes on the works by Bach and Beethoven by Stephen Ackert

Program notes on the works by Beethoven and Chopin by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts atthe Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

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

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery ofArt

2354th Concert

NORMAN KRIEGER, pianist

Sunday Evening, 25 June 2000

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

J. S. Bach

(1685-1750)

Grave

Allemande

Courante

Sarabande

Rondeaux

Capriccio

Partita No. 2 in C Minor

BWV826

Sergey Prokofiev Sonata No. 6 in A Major

(1891-1953) Op. 82 (1939-1940)

Allegro moderato

Allegretto

Tempo di valzer lentissimo

Vivace

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in D Minor (“Tempest”)

(1770-1827) Op. 31, No. 2 (1802)

Largo; allegro

Andante

Allegretto

Frederic Chopin Nocturne in B-flat Minor

(1810-1849) Op. 9, No. 1

Etude in C Minor (“Revolutionary”)

Opus 10, No. 12

Etude in A-flat Major

Opus 25, No. 1

Etude in B Minor

Opus 25, No. 10

Pianist Norman Krieger has earned high regard as an artistwith depth,

sensitivity, and avirtuosic flair. Histrainingbegan in his native LosAngeles,

under the tutelage ofEsther Lipton. At the age offifteen Krieger became

a full scholarship student ofAdele Marcus at the Juilliard School ofMusic,

receiving the bachelor and master of music degrees. Further studies

took place in London, where he was coached by Maria Gurcio and the

world-renowned concert pianist, Alfred Brendel. Krieger also earned the

artist diploma from the New England Conservatory ofMusic, where his 

principal mentorwas Russell Sherman.

The six partitas ofJohann Sebastian Bach are part ofa four-volume series

known as Cktderubung(KeyboardExercises) that he composed and published

between 1731 and 1742. In Bach’s usage, the title Partita indicates either

a suite ofvariations on a chorale tune, or, as in the case ofthis partita, a set

of baroque dances for a keyboard instrument. He took frequent liberties

with the expected norms ofthe keyboard dance suite, which was by that

time a well-established form with a standard succession of dances. The

first five movements of the C Minor Partita conform to the standard,

but the last, Capriccio, is both a departure from established practice

and a pun. The word is used in Italian to denote not only a sprightly

piece of music of free form, but also a departure from established

norms and customs.

Prokofiev’s Sixth Piano Sonata has a fearsome reputation among pianists,

at some points giving the impression that the composer was testing the

limits of what can be accomplished at the keyboard. Its performance

length (approximately half an hour) also makes it a test of any pianist’s

skill and endurance. In 1948 this sonata and most of Prokofiev’s other

intense works were branded as “formalist” by the Communist Party’s

Central Committee in Moscow and condemned as “antinational” and

“leading toward the liquidation ofmusic.” Performanceofthe sonata and all

otherformalistworkswasforbidden in theSoviet Union, and Prokofievwas

allowed to publish only pallid and noncontroversial music for the rest ofhis 

life. He died on 5 March 1953, the same day asJosefStalin.

Beethoven completed his seventeenth piano sonata in the spring of

1802 during a stay at Heiligenstadt, near Vienna. That year was fateful

for him, bringing the onslaught of increasing deafness. The mental and

emotional strain almost prevented him from continuing his life’s work.

During the same period ofintense frustration he nevertheless embarked

on a new creative path, beginningwith the Sonata,; Opus31. The upheavals

(“tempests”) of the opening movement are expressed in wide melodic

skips and sudden changes of tempo. The movement begins with a

conversation between the high and low registers, with pithy whispers

heard through the caterwaul of the wind. The emotional pitch of the

music gradually escalates to a storm, but the movement closes with a

recitative thatis cloaked in affliction.ThcAhgio (the apogee ofthe sonata)