a subsection marked agitato (agitated). The strange harmonic 

language of this subsection would come across as meaningless

dissonance were it not for the change of tempo. The molto piu

lento section (B), with its melody based on the Polish carol, Sleep,

Baby Jesus, is in the sumptuous key ofB major. Its tonal fabric

isa diverting paradigm. The section ends with two chords,

unmistakable reminders of the beginning of the work, which 

herald the obligatory recall of section (A).

A scintillating coda,

characterized by Huneker as“an electrifying cross-country

ride,” closes the work.

The most familiar of the four scherzos is No.2 in B-flat Minor,

Op. 31 (Presto). Heard frequently in concert, its popularity has

been passed on from generation to generation by teachers,

students, and the general public. Written when Chopin was

thirty-one years old, it isa work of enduring grandeur. Schumann

spoke of it as

“so tender, so bold, [and] as full of love as of

scorn.” The opening segment (A) features an extravagant

array of thematic material, brimming with ideas of striking

originality. Particularly noteworthy is the use of silence as a dramatic device. The trio section (B) unveils a song of

unsurpassed beauty, one of Chopin’s most sensuous melodies. 

The opening material (A) returns and leads toa dynamic coda

of resounding brilliance.

Written during Chopin’s stay at Majorca, Scherzo No.3 in

C-sharp Minor, Op. 39 (Presto con fuoco), is the most inspiring

and poignant of the four. Shadowy and reflective, this scherzo 

reveals Chopin, the artisan. Bold, adventurous harmonies and

the extension of the tripartite form from ABA to ABABA, as

practiced also by Beethoven, make the work at once virile

and personal. It is enhanced at the outset with prolonged

unbridled octaves, after which the first of two contrasting

sections simmers ina fitful display of agitation. The second

contrasting section (B), marked Meno mosso, is in D-flat major.

It contains chorale figures that are cleverly contrived and

judiciously placed, followed immediately by

a cascade of vibrant

arpeggios that luxuriate in delectable harmonies. After the third

and final return of the first section (A),a demoniac coda closes

the work in the bright key of C-sharp major.

The Scherzo No.4 inE Major, Op. 54, has been the favorite of 

many pianists, including Saint-Saens, who claimed he loved it

more than any other work by Chopin. Set in the key ofE major,

this scherzo is sunnier in mood than the others. It contains some 

of Chopin’s most fortuitous ideas, cultivated with his unique

ability to use the keyboard asa chromatic paintbrush.

Composed in 1841, Chopin’sF Minor Fantasy, Op. 49, stands

alongside the fantasies of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert in

importance and historical significance. Huneker declares: “Its

melodies, though restless and melancholy, are of surpassing

nobility and dramatic grandeur...It is [Chopin’s] largest

canvas...The virtuoso makes way for the poet...The interest is

not relaxed until the final bar. This large-scale work approaches

Beethoven in its unity, formal rectitude, and economy of

thematic material.I am loath to believe that the echo of its 

magical music will ever fall upon unheeding ears.”

Although they do not represent the “big guns” in his arsenal of

works, Chopin’s waltzes embody the charm and sophistication

inherent in his musical expression. The waltzes take the ABA

format that is common to Chopin’s mazurkas, etudes, nocturnes,

and polonaises. He apparently intended his early waltzes as

music for dancing, as well as for listening. John Gillespie

(Five

Centuries ofKeyboard Music) writes:“In the early waltzes, titled

Vaises brillantes, Chopin reminisces about souvenirs ofa ball:

resplendent costumes, sparkling illumination, and graceful

dancers. Not long after, however, Chopin stylized his waltz

form to the

‘salon’ waltz, his special creation.” The waltzes

selected by Juana Zayas provide an excellent example of

Chopin’s borrowing and stylization of an established form. As

such, they are sine qua non to

a complete understanding of the

composer and his works.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2352d Concert

June 18

June 25

Concerts until June 25, 2000

(Close ofthe 1999-2000 Concert Season)

National Gallery

Chamber Players

String Quartet

Rossini

Bartok

Mendelssohn

Movementsfrom

String Sonatas1&2

String Quartet No.1

String QuartetNo.2

Norman Krieger,

pianist

Beethoven

Chopin

Bach

Prokofiev

Sonata, Op. 31/2

Etudes, Opp. 10& 25

Partita, BWV826

Sonata No.6

JUANA ZAYAS, pianist

Sunday Evening, 11 June 2000

Seven

O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

at 9:00p.m. on WGMS, 1033 FM.

PROGRAM

Music ofFrederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Four Scherzos

Opus 20, inB Minor (Presto con fuoco)

Opus 31, in B-flat Minor (Presto)

Opus 39, in C-sharp Minor (Presto con fuoco)

Opus 54, inE ^Major (Presto)

INTERMISSION

Fantasy inF Minor, Op. 49

Seven Waltzes

Op. 34, No. 1, in A-flat Major (Vivace)

Op. 69, No. 1, in A-flat Major (Lento)

Op. 34, No. 3, inF Major (Vivace)

Op. 34, No. 2, inA Minor (Lento)

Op. 64, No. 2, in C-sharp Minor (Tempo giusto)

Op. 70, No. 1, in G-flat Major (Molto vivace)

Opus posthumous, inE Minor (Vivace)

Declaring Juana Zayas’ recording of the complete Chopin

Etudes the“compelling first choice of the century,” the

International Piano Quarterly joined the ranks of the many

journalists and newspaper critics who have praised her mastery

of the piano works of Frederic Chopin. Harold Schonberg called

her“a Chopinist to the manner born,” and cited her“very

personal but never overdone kind of romanticism that looks

back to the great pianists ofa previous age.”

First tutored in piano by her mother, Zayas gave her first solo

recital at the age of seven, performing works by Beethoven,

Handel, and Chopin. After completing piano studies at the

Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana, Cuba, and the Conservatoire

National Superieur de Musique in Paris, she came to the United

States, undertaking further study under Adele Marcus, David BarIllan, and JosefRaieff. Her first prizes in piano and chamber music

at the Paris Conservatory were followed by prizes at the Geneva,

Switzerland, International Competition and the Latin-American

Teresa Carreno Competition in Caracas, Venezuela.

Juana Zayas will present the opening recital at the 2000

Newport Music Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, and will

perform all twenty-seven Chopin Etudes at the next World

Piano Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her recordings have

been released on compact disc by Music& Arts Programs of

America and Albany Records. Details of her discography are

available on her website: www.juanapyas.com. She appears at the

National Gallery by arrangement with Henri Fromageot, Artists’

Representative, of Highland Mills, New York.

Of the six scherzos Chopin wrote for the piano, the four that

are included in tonight’s program were published separately,

while the remaining two appear in his Piano Sonatas, Opp. 35 and

58. Although Chopin did not invent the scherzo, he revamped it

as an art form with his unique powers of originality and musical

delicacy. The minuet-with-trio form used by his predecessors,

Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert, was merelya starting point

for Chopin, who createda genre that bears buta marginal

resemblance to its prototype.A common bond exists between

the minuet and the new scherzo, however, in the use of triple

meter and the tripartite format (ABA) witha contrasting middle

section. Chopin’s scherzos ushered ina unique musical voice and

werea fresh innovation in the early romantic period. Although

the title is derived from the Italian word for joke, Chopin’s

scherzos are serious evocations wrapped in myriad moods.

Scherzo No.

1 inB Minor, Op. 20 (Presto con fuoco), is the most

sardonic and hysterical of the four. The two thunderous chords

with which it opens signal the onslaught ofa reckless, breathless

plunge that music writerJames Huneker (1857-1921) describes

as“Chopin throwing himself to the very winds of remorse.”

The Presto confuoco opening of the first section (A) gives way to