with African influences. The Impressoesset'esteiras from the Brazilian Cycle

is essentially a popular composition similar to a lover’s serenade, a theme

with variations marked in the tempo of a waltz. The piece contains a

synthesis of Brazilian popular song and polyrhythms, with salon-style 

cadenzas. Danso do indio banco combines modes of Brazilian, Indian,

and popular music. The polyrhythms and instrumental virtuosity are

trademarks of Villa-Lobos at the peak of his creativity. Powerful and

savage, the dance calls to mind one of his credos, “I study the history,

geography, speech, and custom that are the whole background of our

people. That’s what I’ve always done, deriving my art from those sources,

spiritual as well as technical.”

Astor Piazzolla wrote AdiosNonino (Good-bye; Grandpa), a tango-rhapsody, 

in memory ofhis father. It is a deeply personal, intimate, and declamatory

work. Adios Nonino has become a classic of the modern tango. Jeni

Slotchiver creates her own introduction and improvises freely within her

performances of this tango, in homage to the great improvisational style

ofPiazzolla’s quintet, Quinteto mumtango.

Ginastera’sDoomsargenthmare composed ofelementsthat are decidedly

Argentine. The three movements paint a magical portrait ofthe pampas

(the Argentine flatlands similar to the American “Wild West”). The first

dance is lively and steady in 6/8. The second has the feel of a Zamba, an

Argentine folk dance originally played on the violin with strummed guitar

accompaniment. There is a broad romantic lyricism here, a frequent trait 

in nationalistic folk music ofthe 1930s. The third dance stars the virtuoso 

cowboy of the pampas. The form of the dance is the malambo, with its

characteristic rhythmic energy. This dance is often performed withwhips,

stamping boots, and vividly dyed banderos.

Programnotesby Jem Slotchiver;

adaptedandeditedbyElmerBooze

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

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

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2329th Concert

JENI SLOTCHIVER, pianist

Sunday Evening, 26 December 1999

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach Chaconne

from Partita in I) Minorfor Solo Violin

(Transcribed by Ferruccio Busoni)

Busoni Intermezzo: Turandot’s Frauengemach

(1866-1924) (The Boudoir ofTurandot)

from Seven Elegies (1907)

Busoni Sonatina No. 6

(Chamber-fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen)

(1920)

Charles Gounod Faust Waltz

(1818-1893)

(arranged by Franz Liszt, with the cadenza

by Busoni “nach Gounod”)

Heitor Villa-Lobos

(1887-1959)

INTERMISSION

Two Pieces from Ciclo brasileiro

(1936)

1. Impressoes seresteiras (Minstrel Impressions)

2. Danso do indio branco (Dance of the White Indian)

Astor Piazzolla

(b. 1921)

Adios Nonino (Good-bye, Grandpa)

(A Tango Rhapsody, arr. by Slotchiver)

Alberto Ginastera

(1916-1983)

Danzas argentinas

(1937)

1. Danza del viejo boyero (Dance of the Old Ox-herder)

2. Danza de la moza donosa (Dance of the Beautiful Girl)

3. Danza del gaucho matrero (Dance of the Cunning Gaucho)

American pianist Jeni Slotchiver began her musical studies at an early

age and won the first of her numerous honors and awards at the age of

thirteen. A recipient ofseveral scholarships, she received her bachelor and 

master of music degrees (with honors) and a teaching fellowship from

Indiana University. Having studied extensively the life and works ofthe

Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni, and having worked with

two ofhis disciples, Grete Sultan and Joseph Bloch, Slotchiver has become

one of the leading scholars and lecturers on Busoni. Her performances

have been described as “electrifying” and “full of emotional depth.”

She has just completed recording The Complete Works ofFerruccio Busoni

Volume One: Busoni the Visionary on the Centaur label. Jeni Slotchiver is

currently on the faculty of New Yorks Greenwich House Music School

and appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with Creative

Alliance ofNewYork City.

Busoni honed his skill in the art of transcription through careful study

of Bach’s transcriptions of his own works and those of other baroque

composers.TheChaconnewas probably transcribed while the composerwas

in Boston in 1892. A tour de force, the Chaconne is wonderfully effective 

on the piano, while remaining faithful to the spirit ofthe original work for

solo violin. About his Seven Elegies, Busoni wrote: “In the Fkgjes I put down

my entire personal vision at last and for the first time.” Although not so

famous as Puccini’s Turandot, Busoni’s setting of the same story predates

Puccini’s work by fifteen years. The Boudoir of Turandot is one of the

interludesfrom Busoni’s Turandot, a latter-daycomrnediadelfartecons\s\mgof

a mix ofspoken dialogue, singing, and instrumental interludes.

The Carmen fantasy is the last ofsix late sonatinas that Busoni conceived 

for solo piano. It assumes the character of a creative artist commenting

on an opera he has just seen, with the result that familiar themes take

on strange and unexpected guises. In this case, Busoni focuses on the

tragic essence of Carmen, in contrast to Bizet’s own piano fantasy and

orchestral suites, which emphasize the dances and the more playful 

arias from the opera.

As a Liszt player, Busoni was magnificent. The outpouring floods of

tone in his renditions ofthe Faust Waltz have become legendary. Busoni’s

cadenza is his own vision ofFaust’s love, Gretchen, utilizing themes from

Act I ofGounod’s Faust. Busoni used his cadenza as a study, illustrating the

difficulty of extended trill passages. Although it derives ample coloring

from Brazilian folk elements, Villa-Lobos’ music is also richly imbued