Sarabande, the second of a group ofthree piano pieces that Debussy

named Pour le piano, was originally one of four pieces for piano

collectively titled Images. Before Images was published, Debussy

reconfigured and regrouped the pieces, saving the Sarabande for

later publication. One of the editions in which it appeared carried

the intriguing subtitle, Souvenir du Louvre, leading to speculation

that Debussy may have made an association between its quiet,

majestic mood and one of his visits to that great museum. The

Sarabande, and its companion pieces from Pourlepiano, Prelude and

Toccata, are examples of forms perfected by Frangois Couperin

and other French composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries. Ravel’s orchestrated version of the Sarabande dates

from1922.

Written for the 50th Anniversary Season of the Boston Symphony

Orchestra, Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 {Romantic) was given

its world premiere on 28 November 1930, with Serge Koussevitsky

conducting. The theory that the work is a musical self-portrait

is supported by Hanson’s own notes for the first performance:

“Concerning my Second Symphony, as the subtitle implies, it

represents for me a definite and acknowledged embracing of the

romantic phase. I recognize, of course, that romanticism is, at the

present time, the poor stepchild, without the social standing of

her elder sister, neoclassicism. Nevertheless, I embrace her all the

more fervently, believing as I do that romanticism will find in this

country rich soil for a new, young, and vigorous growth. My aim in

this symphony has been to create a workyoung in spirit, romantic in

temperament, and simple and direct in expression.”

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

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

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2339th Concert

NATIONAL GALLERY ORCHESTRA

GEORGE MANOS, conductor

Sunday Evening, 5 March 2000

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

George Butterworth

(1885-1916)

Claude Debussy

(1862-1918)

Nuages

Fetes

A Shropshire Lad

(1913)

from Nocturnes

(1892-1899)

Debussy, arr. by Ravel Sarabande

from Pour le piano

INTERMISSION

Howard Hanson Symphony No. 2 (“Romantic”)

(1896-1981) Op. 30 (1930)

Adagio; Allegro moderato

Andante con tenerezza

Allegro con brio

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

at 9:00p.m. on WGMS-FM, 103.5

During the month ofMarch, recentperformances by the

National Gallery Orchestra can be heard on Wednesdays at 9:00p.m.

on WETA-FM, 90.9.

Conductor, composer, and pianist George Manos has been

director of music at the National Gallery of Art and conductor

of the National Gallery Orchestra since 1985. He is also artistic

director ofthe American Music Festival and ofthe National Gallery

vocal and chamber ensembles, which he founded. Manos’ career as

a performing pianist and teacher has included several years on the

faculty ofCatholic University in Washington, DC, where he taught

piano, conducting, and chamber music. In addition, he held the

directorship of the Wilmington, Delaware, School of Music, where

he presented an annual jazz festival and clinic. Maestro Manos

founded and directed for ten years the renowned Killarney Bach

Festival in the Republic ofIreland, and was the music director ofthe

1992 Scandinavian Music Festival in Folding, Denmark.

One ofEngland’s most talented young composers ofthe Edwardian

period, George Butterworth died in battle during World War I.

His legacy is limited to the few remaining works that he did not

destroy when he was assigned front line duty; he was well aware 

of the chances that he might not survive and wanted to leave only

his best works behind. A Shropshire Ladwas inspired by a volume of

poetry by the same title, written in 1896 by the English poet and

classical scholar Alfred Housman. Shropshire, a county bordering

Wales, was rural in the 1890s. In his rhapsody Butterworth makes

ample use of English folk melodies that reflect the soft-spoken

lyricism of the poetry.

Debussy’s expressive use of the term Nocturne does not refer to

the nocturnes for piano initiated by John Field and made famous

by Chopin. While those pieces are intended to create a romantic

dream state with the night as the implied backdrop, Debussy had

more visual images in mind. His own commentary reads: “The

title Nocturnes is to be interpreted here in a general and, more

particularly, in a decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant to

designate the usual form ofa nocturne, but rather all the impression

and special effects of light that the word suggests.” The nocturne

entitled Nuages {Clouds), Debussy noted, “renders the immutable

aspect ofthe sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds, fading

away in gray tones, slightly tinged with white.” As to Fetes {Festivals),

Debussy explains: “Fetes gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm

of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There is also the

episode of the procession (a dazzling, fantastic vision) which

passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. But

the background remains persistently the same: the festival with

its blending of music and luminous dust participating in the

rhythm.”