long, strummed chordal introduction, which seems to come from 

nowhere, but actually contains the first theme. There are also sudden shifts in mood, where a passage of obvious agitation and fitfulness is abruptly interrupted by a moment ofrespite. The long and

somber slow introduction to the final rondo is actually a substitute

for the originally planned slow movement, Andantefavori, which

Beethoven withdrew from this sonata and published separately.

Completed and published in 1839, the twenty-four Preludes, Opus

28 are the product of Chopin’s creative outpouring during the first 

three years of his stay in Majorca with the famous novelist Aurore 

Dupin, whose works in English were published under the pseudonym George Sand. Chopin’s inspiration for his preludes was the

Well-TemperedClavier ofJ.S. Bach, which he held in high esteem and

loved to play. The scope ofthis project gave Chopin complete freedom to express his unique style and melodic gift, delving into every

emotion and exploring every aspect of piano technique known to 

him.

-Program notes by Elmer Booze

Concerts at The National Gallery of Art

Under the Direction of George Manos

March 1998

22 Mark Kosower, cellist Brahms: Sonata in D Major

Jee-Won Oh.pianist Francoeur: Sonata in E Major

Freund: Epicfor Solo

Cello

29 Jeffrey Multer, violinist Corigliano: Sonatafor Violin

James Tocco, pianist andPiano

Schumann: Sonata in D Minor

Mozart: Sonata, K. 481

The use ofcameras orrecording 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

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2263d Concert

PAUL BADURA-SKODA, pianist

Sunday Evening, March 15, 1998

at Seven O’Clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission Free
PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Fantasy in C Minor, K. 475

(1756-1791) (1785)

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata No.21 in C Major (“Waldstein”)

(1770-1827) Opus 53 (1803-1804)

Allegro con brio

Adagio molto; Rondo: Allegretto ben moderato

INTERMISSION

Frederic Chopin

(1810-1849)

No. 1 in C Major

No. 2 in A Minor

No. 3 in G Major

No. 4 in E Minor

No. 5 in D Major

No. 6 in B Minor

No. 7 in A Major

No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor

No. 9 in E Major

No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor

No. 11 in B Major

No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor

Twenty-four Preludes, Opus 28

(1836-1839)

No. 13 in F-Sharp Major

No. 14 in E-Flat Minor

No. 15 in D-Flat Major

No. 16 in B-Flat Minor

No. 17 in A-Flat Major

No. 18 in F Minor

No. 19 in E-Flat Major

No. 20 in C Minor

No. 21 in B-Flat Major

No. 22 in G Minor

No. 23 in F Major

No. 24 in D Minor

PAUL BADURA-SKODA’s unusual musical talent was discovered very early and encouraged by his family and teachers in

Vienna. In 1945 he entered the Vienna Conservatory and two

years later won first prize in the Austrian Music Competition,

which was a scholarship for Edwin Fischer’s master classes in

Lucerne, Switzerland. Within a few years, Badura-Skoda became Fischer’s assistant and, after Fischer’s death, carried on

the master classes in Vienna, Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Siena.

Continuing the classes up to the present day, Badura-Skoda

keeps close contact with young artists and devotes a good deal

of his time and enthusiasm to the strenuous process of adjudicating important piano contests. He has become a regular and

celebrated guest at the most important music festivals in the

world. The conductors under whom he has performed are legendary and include: Wilhelm Furtwangler, Joseph Krips, Karl

Bohm, George Szell, and Sir Georg Solti. In the Beethoven

bicentenary year (1970), in partnership with Jorg Demus, BaduraSkoda played and commented on all of the composer’s piano

sonatas forWest German Television. Performances ofBeethoven

cycles followed in Mexico, Chicago, Paris, Vienna, and Barcelona.

In the Mozart bicentenary year (1991), Badura-Skoda played

the complete sonatas of that composer in a series of four evenings, which he performed in Germany, Spain, France, Japan,

Canada, and the United States. Having an enormous repertoire,

ranging from baroque to modern music, he has recorded more

than two hundred long-playing records and dozens of compact

discs, including complete cycles of piano sonatas of Mozart,

Beethoven, and Schubert. In 1993 the French government bestowed upon him one of its highest medals of honor, naming

him a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur.

In his Fantasia in CMinor, K 415, Mozart gives us an excellent example of his extraordinary powers of improvisation, beginning with

the languishing mood and inordinately daring modulations of the

introductory Adagio. In keeping with performance practices of the

time, Mozart would often maintain such a piece as concert repertoire for a period ofyears before writing it down, improvising it to a

greater or lesser extent at each performance. It is interesting to note

that this work and the sonata that was published with it (K 451, also

in C minor) were produced after a period ofsixyears in which Mozart

published no sonatas for the piano. It is assumed that he was able to

improvise all of the solo programs he was called upon to play during

those years, to the full satisfaction of his audiences.

Beethoven’s Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Opus 53 was dedicated to 

Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, an amateur musician who was one

of his benefactors. Waldstein’s gifts to the composer included a

new pianoforte, on which the two played duets. A remarkable work, 

this sonata boasts a completely new language, starting with the