interest in Oriental philosophy has been an influence on the quartet, with

its movement toward stillness and tranquility. The third movement,

which is nearly stationary, is the center of the work, says Mr. Cage. The

quartet is played without vibrato throughout because, as Mr. Cage explains,

‘vibrato is associated with literature that moves towards climaxes, whereas

this quartet does not.”’

Written in the span of one month (6 August to 6 September

1934), the Quartet No. 5 of Bela Bartok was commissioned by the

Library of Congress’ Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. The

quartet is in five movements, with the three inner movements (slow, fast,

slow) flanked by two fast outer movements. What might have been

construed as a musical “mid-life crisis” at this time for Bartok was his

indecision as to whether he would continue to employ the chromatic or

the diatonic concept in his contrapuntal experimentation. It is probable

that his predicament stemmed from his deeply committed editorship of

two monumental piano editions that he was preparing during this time:

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and Mozart’s Piano Sonatas. These

works appear to have given him some revelatory concepts for his own

compositions, particularly with regard to his string quartets. Composer

George Perle had these observations concerning the Fifth Quartet:

“Tonal organization based on the symmetrical disposition of pitches

around a given axis (either a single note or a semitonal dyad), which had

played a certain role in the Fourth Quartet, is carried much further in this

work.... Throughout the work, but especially in the finale, which is a

somewhat free and rhapsodic version of the traditional rondo-sonata,

there is a constant interplay of chromatic, diatonic, and symmetrical

details.”

Program notes by Elmer Booze

For the convenience of concertgoers

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

The Sixtyfirst Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2444th Concert

ZEHETMAIR QUARTET

THOMAS ZEHETMAIR, violin MATTHIAS METZGER, violin

RUTH KILLIUS, viola FRAN^OISE GROBEN, cello

Sunday Evening, 26 January 2003

Seven O’clock

West Building, East Garden Court

Admission free
Program

Robert Schumann

(1810-1856)

String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor

Op. 41 (1842)

Introduzione: Andante espressivo

Scherzo: Presto

Adagio

Presto

John Cage

(1912-1992)

String Quartet in Four Parts

(1949-1950)

Quietly Flowing Along

Slowly Rocking

Nearly Stationary

Quodlibet

Intermission

Bela Bartok

(1881-1945)

String Quartet No. 5

(1934)

Allegro

Adagio molto

Scherzo: Alla bulgarese (vivace)

Andante

Finale: Allegro vivace

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.

Musicians

The Zehetmair Quartet was founded in 1997 by the distinguished

violinist Thomas Zehetmair and three of his long-standing chamber 

music partners. Since then, the ensemble has established itself as one ot

the leading string quartets in the world. In the tall of 2001 the quartet was

very successful in its United States debut; in the spring of 2002 it visited

Japan for the first time. The quartet’s repertoire extends from the

classical period to the music of our time. Its first CD contains Karl

Amadeus Hartmann’s First String Quartet (1945-1946) and Bartok’s

Fourth String Quartet (1908). A follow-up CD, released in the spring of

2002, is dedicated to the string quartets of Robert Schumann. The

Zehetmair Quartet appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with

Mariedi Anders Artists Management, Inc., of San Francisco, California.

Born in Salzburg, Austria, violinist Thomas Zehetmair studied

at the Mozarteum with his father and later took master classes with Franz

Samokyl, Max Rostal, and Nathan Milstein. In 1977 he made his early

debut with the Salzburg Festival Orchestra. He is a regular guest of the

world’s finest orchestras, collaborating with such distinguished

conductors as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Simon Rattle, Christoph von

Dohnanyi, and Heinz Holliger. His chamber music partners have

included such musical luminaries as pianist Alfred Brendel, 

conductor/cellist Heinrich Schiff, and violinist Gidon Kremer. Zehetmair 

has recorded on the following labels: Teldec, Berlin-Classics, EMI, and

Phillips. He assumed his first conducting appointment in 2001 as artistic

director of the Northern Sinfonia in Gateshead, England.

Violinist Matthias Metzger studied with Ulf Hoelscher at the

Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe, Germany, taking part in the master

classes of Reinhard and Roman Nodel, Robert Soetens, Victor Pikaizen,

and Gerhard Schulz, and in the interpretation classes of Nikolaus

Harnoncourt. He was appointed leader of the Schlierbach Chamber

Orchestra in 1987 and the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra in 1993.

Metzger performs regularly as soloist and in chamber music with such

illustrious pianists as Christian Zacharias, Michael Ponti, and Gerrit

Zitterbart.
Violist Ruth Killius studied with Ulrich Koch and Kim

Kashkashian. From 1993 to 1996 she was the principal viola player of the

Camerata Bern. She has performed as soloist with the Mozart Sinfonia

Concertante and as ensemble musician with the Boston Symphony

Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, the Basel Sinfonie

Orchester, and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. She regularly plays

chamber music with the Ensemble Aventure, Heinz Holliger, and Thomas

Demenga. Since 2001 Ruth Killius has held a professorship at the

Johannes Gutenberg Universitat in Mainz, Germany.

Cellist Fran^oise Groben studied with Boris Pergamenschikow

at the Cologne Musikhochschule and subsequently with William Pleeth,

Daniel Shaffran, and members of the Amadeus Quartet. In 1990 she won

second prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and was

awarded special prizes by the Soviet Artists’ Federation and the Moscow

Virtuosi. Since then she has received invitations to major festivals and

with leading orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony

Orchestra, NHK Tokyo, the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Jerusalem

Symphony, and the Russian State Orchestra.

Program Notes

It was well known even during their lifetimes that Schumann and Brahms

put off writing chamber music until after the death of Beethoven. It was

later learned that the specter of hearing Beethoven’s footsteps behind

him kept Brahms from trying chamber music until after the age of forty.

On the other hand, Schumann, who never openly expressed his feeling of

being intimidated by the works of Beethoven, seems to have been

inspired to turn toward chamber-music writing after his marriage to Clara

Wieck. In expanding his horizon into the world of chamber music,

Schumann became well acquainted with the quartets of Haydn and

Mozart, and intensified his study of the art of contrapuntal writing. The

successful outcome of this adventure, coupled with his inherent melodic

genius, produced several outstanding works in this genre that include his

Opuses 41, 44, and 47 (three String Quartets, the Piano Quintet, and the

Piano Quartet, respectively), all within the year 1842.

Tonight’s program features Schumann’s first effort in string quartet

writing. He dedicated this quartet, as he did the second and third in Opus

41, to his colleague and esteemed friend Felix Mendelssohn, who was

enamored of Schumann’s music. The work is in four movements, with the

first movement (Andante espressivo) commencing with a premeditated

introduction before reaching the main body of the work. The two sections

of the movement are distinguished by their respective tempo markings (2/4

and 6/8) and keys (A minor and F major). The second movement (Scherzo)

is in 6/8, but changes to 4/4 upon reaching the trio section (Intermezzo). At

the return of the scherzo section, the rhythm reverts to 6/8. The

mischievous scherzo’s theme is said to belong to a trio by the gifted

German composer Heinrich Marschner (1795- 1861). The third movement

(Adagio) is an excellent example of Schumann’s gift of melodious song

writing as applied to chamber music. The key is F major, but the

modulatory sequence within the movement’s framework is quite extended.

The finale (Presto) reestablishes the key of A minor and is constructed

under the guidelines of the sonata-allegro form, with guarded liberties.

John Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts began its life in Paris,

where its first movement was written. Prior to conceiving this work, Cage

was involved for some time in composing experimental music for

“prepared piano’’ and for percussion instruments. Upon his return to

America, he completed this quartet, revealing once again his artful gift of

composing music for traditional instruments. This work was released on 

a recording entitled Modern American Music Series, with the following

comment: “[In] the first movement of this four movement work, the

composer has attempted to express something of the feeling of life

[in Paris], with the suggestions of [Eric] Satie [1866-1925], for whom

Mr. Cage has great admiration. The remaining three movements were

written in New York City, and in the second movement in particular,

the composer believes, there is a consciousness of a return to New York.

Mr. Cage further explains that the four movements of the work are,

in a sense, like the seasons, the first movement being summer, the

second fall, the third winter, and the fourth spring with its evocation

of popular street tunes. The composer is conscious of the fact that his