Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

Mailing address

200ob South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-third Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery of Art

2,508th Concert

Christopher Kypros, pianist

November 7, 2004

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm 

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
For the convenience of concertgoers

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:oo pm.

The use of cameras or recording equipment during the

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones, 

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that concerts now begin at 6:30 pm.

Late entry or reentry after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

2,508th Concert

November 7, 2004, 6:30 pm

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major, K. 333 (1783-1784)

Allegro

Andante cantabile

Allegretto grazioso

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. no (1821)

Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo

Allegro molto

Adagio ma non troppo; Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo

Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)

Danzas argentinas, Op. 2 (1937)

Danza del viejo boyero

Danza de la moza donosa

Danza del gaucho matrero

Intermission

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

From Suite bergamasque (1890, rev. 1905)

Clair de lune

Lisle joyeuse (1904)

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 (1842)
The Musician

Pianist Christopher Kypros graduated with a master ofmusic degree from

the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he studied with the

virtuoso pianist Sascha Gorodnitzki (1905-1986). Kypros completed his 

undergraduate studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He

has been guest soloist with the Virginia Symphony and the Jacksonville

Symphony, with the English-born American pianist, conductor, composer,

and arranger Skitch Henderson (b. 1918) on the podium, as well as with the

Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Kypros has

performed with the Feldman String Quartet, the LeHigh String Quartet, 

and the Norfolk Chamber Consort.

From 1977 to 1982, Kypros was a member ofthe piano faculty at the

College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He subsequently

joined the faculty ofthe Norfolk Academy, where he taught music from

the elementary level to the high school level for nineteen years. As musical 

director for nearly sixty productions, with more than a thousand performances, he has extensive experience in the realm ofmusical theater. Currently residing in Norfolk, he performs original piano accompaniments to

silent movie classics at the Naro Expanded Cinema, and he has appeared

as an actor in numerous community theater productions and on television

for New Dominion Pictures. Kypros’ compositions include Liturgy ofPeace,

a musical setting ofthe Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom from the 

Greek Orthodox Church. He has also conducted choral workshops across

the United States.

The Sonata in Aflat Major, Op. no, is the only work Beethoven completed 

in 1821 and one of his most personal compositions. The sonata’s songlike

expression is its virtue, and no disturbance or temperament is evident until

the second movement. After exploring the depth of human despondency,

moments later Beethoven convincingly elevates the soul to a celestial ascendance. The sonata was greeted with much success after its first public performance in 1824. The German music magazine, Allgemeine Musikalische

Zeitung, reported: “It is a work in every respect wholly excellent, extremely

melodious throughout, and rich in harmonic beauties.”

A towering figure in the music world of South America, Argentinean

composer Alberto Ginastera’s early reputation and recognition stemmed

from his skill as a composer ofmusic that is filled with a strong nationalistic ambiance. Ginastera composed in many genres, among which works

for the piano played a major role, and he classified his own works in

three periods: objective nationalism (1937-1947), subjective nationalism

(1947-1954), and new expressionism (1954-1983). Ginastera biographer

Elena Dabul aptly describes his style: “His attractive output for piano 

skillfully combines Argentine rhythms and colors with modern composing

techniques. Exhilarating rhythmic energy, captivating lyricism, and hallucinatory atmosphere are some ofthe characteristics of his musical style.”

The titles ofthe Danzas argentinas, Op. 2, translate as Danza del Viejo

boyero (Dance ofthe Old Oxherd), Danza de la moza donosa (Dance ofthe

Lovely Maiden), and Danza del gaucho matrero (Dance ofthe Rebel Cowboy).

They are Ginastera’s impressions offolk songs and dances indigenous

to Argentina.

Program Notes

3
Clair de lune is the third offour movements in Debussy’s Suite bergamasque. It is the best-known and the most frequently played segment

from the suite. Debussy’s friend, the highly respected French music critic

Emile Vuillermoz (1878-1960), wrote: “Clair de lune, which quickly 

became famous for its enveloping poetry, its translucent coloring, and its 

pearly light, creates a moving ‘nocturne’ ofirresistible allure” (translation

by Anthony Winner). Clair de lune is also the title of a poem by the French

poet Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). The poem inspired two Debussy song

settings as well as this piano solo.

Antoine Watteau’s famous painting, Pelerinage a Cythere (The Pilgrimage to

Cythera), 1717, inspired Debussy to compose Lisle joyeuse (The Joyful Island).

Commencing with a brilliantly conceived cadenza, Lislejoyeuse is not for the

faint-hearted pianist. With his customary self-deprecation, Debussy wrote

ofthe work: “This piece seems to embrace every possible manner oftreating

the piano, combining strength with grace, if I may presume to say so.”

Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 is the most eloquent and luxurious of

Chopin’s four ballades; it is a daring canvas of passionate lyricism. The opening theme, a masterpiece ofsimplicity, is richly developed through Chopin’s

clever use of polyphonic techniques. Expanded and embroidered with each

return, the theme in its narrative tone becomes more reflective and intense

before five long serene chords signal a coda ofimmense audacity and

velocity. This coda contains rapid scale passages in double thirds and sixths, 

coupled with crackling dissonances that dramatically close the work.

4