CONCERTS AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

Under the Direction of George Manos

OCTOBER 1997

12 Kocian String Quartet Smetana: QuartetNo. 2

Schulhoff: QuartetNo. 1

Dvorak: QuartetNo. 12

19 Sharon Christman, soprano Debussy: Quatre chansons

Michael Patterson, pianist dejeunesse

Wolf: Verschwiegene Liebe

Rowley: 3 Mystical Songs

26 Alexei Lubimov, pianist Brahms: Two Rhapsodies

Fantasies, Opus 16

Schubert: Impromptus, Opus 9

“Wanderer ” Fantasy

NOVEMBER 1997

2 National Gallery Orchestra Handel/Harty: Water Music

George Manos, conductor Porter: Musicfor Strings

Hindemith: Five Pieces

Bizet: Symphony No. 1

9 Jon Humphrey, tenor Lieder by Schubert, Schumann,

Raymond Hanson, pianist Brahms, and Hugo Wolf

16 The Peabody Trio Kagel: Trio

Dvorak: “Dumky ” Trio

23 Kemal Gekic.pianist Liszt: Six Consolations

Transcendental

Etudes

Chopin: Andante spianato et

grandepolonaise

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:30pm.

The Fifty-sixth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and 

L LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2240th Concert

NATIONAL GALLERY ORCHESTRA

GEORGE MANOS, Conductor

Sunday Evening, October 5, 1997

at Seven O’Clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission Free
PROGRAM

Jean Sibelius Karelia Overture

(1865-1957) Opus 10 (1893)

Sibelius Karelia Suite, Opus 11

Intermezzo

Ballade

Alla marcia

INTERMISSION

Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 “Scottish” in A Minor

(1809-1847) Opus 56 (1842)

Andante con moto; allegro un poco

agitato

Vivace non troppo

Adagio

Allegro vivacissimo

First convened in 1942 using members of the National Symphony, the NATIONAL GALLERY ORCHESTRA has presented concerts in the Gallery on a regular basis ever since. As

the number of professional orchestras in the Washington area

has grown, so has the number ofsources from which the Gallery

Orchestra draws prime freelance professional musicians. In the

context of the American Music Festival, it has presented the

world premiere and Washington premiere performances of more

than 150 works, including thirty-four symphonies and Fifteen

concertos. Under the direction of Gallery music director George

Manos, the orchestra also regularly includes works by American

composers in its concerts with mixed repertoire.

This concert marks the beginning of GEORGE MANOS’ thirteenth season as music director at the National Gallery and artistic

director of its American Music Festival and resident ensembles. A

native Washingtonian, George Manos was already organizing and

conducting orchestras in this city at the age of seventeen. First

among these was the NewWashington Sinfonietta, followed in later

years by the National Association ofAmerican Composers and Conductors Chamber Orchestra, which specialized in the presentation

of new music by American composers. He continues to bring new

ideas and innovations to the musical life of the National Gallery,

including the addition of new resident performing ensembles and

the inclusion ofjazz, bluegrass, and Gospel music in the Gallery’s

American Music Festivals.

In 1891 Jean Sibelius and his new bride spent their honeymoon

in a region of eastern Finland called Karelia. This region had been

split between Finland and Russia since the fourteenth century, and

the portion that was a part of Finland was seen by the Russians as a

prime candidate for annexation. In 1892 a committee ofstudents

at Viborg University in Helsinki decided to raise funds for cultural

projects in Finnish Karelia, so as to safeguard it against the

Russianization policies of the Tsar. The committee approached

Sibelius, asking him to write incidental music for a gala fund-raising

event. He was only too glad to oblige, having a fresh store of fond

memories ofthe region and a notebook full offolk tunes that he had

collected while he was there. The result was the overture that

begins this program and seven short pieces, three ofwhich are presented as a suite.

The origins of Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony date to 1829,

when the composer was traveling in Scotland. Among the sites he

visited was the Holyrood Palace Chapel in Edinburgh, where Mary,

Queen of Scots had been crowned some 250 years before. By the

early nineteenth century the chapel was in ruins, but its intriguing

history and mysterious appearance inspired Mendelssohn to write

down a short theme. Thirteen years passed before he expanded

this theme to a symphony, and by that time his fourth and fifth

symphonies had already been completed. Because Mendelssohn

consistently referred to his visit to Holyrood as the inspiration for

this symphony, it was later identified as his third and was given the

nickname “Scottish.” Mendelssohn conducted the premiere performance in 1842 in Leipzig. An insight into audience etiquette of

the time is provided by his specific instructions for that performance:

“(The Symphony) should be performed continuously, without

pauses for applause (between the movements).”