Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

February and March 2002

February

10 The New England

Spiritual Ensemble

17 The Ciompi String

Quartet

with William Ransom,

pianist

24 Babette Hierholzer,

pianist

March

3 The Jerusalem Trio

10 Earl Wild, pianist

17 Amsterdam Loecki

Stardust Quartet

24 Alicia de Laroccha,

pianist

Presented in honor of

the exhibition: Goya,

Images of Women

Traditional American Negro 

Spirituals

Ravel: String Quartet

Mark Kuss: Elegy (2001)

Saint-Saens: Piano Quintet in

A Minor

Music of Robert and Clara

Schumann

Ben-Haim: Variations on a Hebrew

Melody

Mendelssohn: Piano Trio, Op. 49

Shostakovich: Trio, Op. 67, No. 2

Mozart: Sonata in F, KV. 332

Beethoven: Variations in C Minor

Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso

Chopin: Various works

Music for recorders by Merula,

Locke, Sammartini, Pachelbel, and

other composers

Chopin: Nocturne, Op. 32, No. 1,

Barcarolle, Op. 60, Berceuse,

Op. 57

Turina: Danzasfantasticas, Op. 22

Albeniz: Selections from Iberia

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

...

L M.J

2408th Concert

THE DEBUSSY STRING QUARTET

CHRISTOPHE COLLETTE, violin ANNE MENIER, violin

VINCENT DEPRECQ, viola YANNICK CALLIER, cello

with

JAMES D\CK, pianist

Sunday Evening, 3 February 2002

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Joseph Haydn

(1732-1809)

Dmitri Shostakovich 

(1906-1975)

Cesar Franck

(1822-1890)

PROGRAM

String Quintet in C Major (“The Birds”)

Op. 33, No. 3(1781)

Allegro moderato 

Scherzando: Allegretto 

Adagio

Rondo: Presto

String Quartet No. 5 in B-flat Major

Op. 92 (1952)

Allegro non troppo 

Andante

Moderato; allegro; andante

INTERMISSION

Piano Quintet in F Minor 

(1878-1879)

Molto moderato quasi lento

Lento con molto sentimento

Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please be sure that all

electronic devices are turned offduring the performance.

Founded and based in Lyons, France, since 1989, The Debussy String

Quartet has garnered international acclaim through its many recordings

and live performances. From the Salle Moliere in Lyons to the Kaufman

Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, the quartet has

enlivened the chamber music world with performances of distinction and

great excitement. The members ofthe quartet have been coached by such

distinguished teachers as Hatto Beyerle and Walter Levine, who

encouraged them to tour as well as compete. Sponsored by the

Proquartet Association and the Societe Generate, the quartet entered the

1993 Evian Competition (the jury included the members of the Emerson

Quartet) and won the grand prize. The ensemble subsequently toured

throughout Europe, giving concerts and live radio broadcasts. It has

formed a special connection to the audiences at the Round Top Festival

in Round Top, Texas, in collaboration with pianist James Dick, the

founder of the festival. The Debussy Quartet has contracted with the

distinguished Arion label to record the complete Shostakovich Quartets,

some of which are now available. The quartet’s repertoire includes not

only the standard works of such composers as Beethoven, Schumann,

Debussy, and Ravel, but also the quartets of Georges Onslow (1784—

1853), Pierre Rode (1774-1830), and the late romantic composer 

Ermend Bonnal (1880-1944).

Recognized as one of the truly important pianists of his generation,

James Dick brings keyboard sonorities of captivating opulence and

brilliance to performances that radiate intellectual insight and emotional

authenticity. His early triumphs as top prizewinner in the Tchaikovsky,

Busoni, and Leventritt International Competitions were a mere prelude

to an eminent career highlighted by acclaimed recitals and concerto

performances in the world’s premier concert halls. These include not

only the National Gallery and the Kennedy Center, but also Carnegie

Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Town Hall in New York, Queen Elizabeth

and Wigmore Halls in London, and Le Theatre du Chatelet and Salle

Gaveau in Paris. A fervent supporter of new music, Dick has

commissioned several works from contemporary composers. He played

the world premiere of the piano solo version of one of those works, The

Birth of Shiva, by Dan Welcher, in a January 2000 recital at
the Gallery. James Dick and the Debussy String Quartet appear at the

Gallery by arrangement with Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Limited,

of Mount Vernon, New York.

Haydn’s third quartet from the group of six quartets in Opus 33 has

come to be known throughout the music world as “The Birds. ’’ The

nickname may have been inspired by the chirping, birdlike opening

theme, the birdsong duet of the Scherzando movement, or the radiant,

cheerful quality of the work as a whole. Haydn’s listeners and editors

were evidently determined to hear extra-musical ideas in his works, even

thought he indicated nothing more than the traditional movement 

markings.

The first violinist is the dominant player in virtually all of Haydn’s

early quartets, and that quality is still apparent in this work of 1781. The

second violin and viola set a C major tonality in the ear as the first violin 

plays four ornamented high Gs and moves quickly into a descending 

cascade of fast tones that ends on the lowest note in its range. The main

material of the first movement establishes the birdlike patter that 

characterizes the whole quartet. Haydn’s famous sense of humor comes

into play as the second movement, marked Scherzando (Jokingly), opens

quietly with a choralelike texture in four-part harmony, marked sotto

voce (under the voice). The contrasting Trio section justifies the tempo

marking as it presents a playful birdsong duet for violins that features

trills and running staccato tones in a delicious counterpoint.

The tripartite third movement (Adagio) is a lyrical, extended love song

for the first violin. The central section of the movement is decorated in

the popular Italianate style of the period, as the first violinist plays what 

appear to be improvised ornaments. In the last movement, Haydn’s skill

for the quick finale (Rondo: Presto) comes to the fore. This movement 

bubbles with humor, a kind of comic relief after the serious beauty ofthe

Adagio. It is assumed that Haydn drew inspiration for the finale from a

Slavonic folk tune. The form presupposes contrasting sections, in this

case two relatively sedate interludes between the bouncing statements of

the folklike material.

Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 5 was composed between 1951 and

1952 and was dedicated to the Beethoven String Quartet, which

celebrated its thirtieth anniversary of chamber music activities in 1952.

That quartet performed the premiere on 13 November 1953 in the Little

Hall of the Moscow Conservatory of Music. It is a large-scale work in

which the three movements are played without pause. The quartet

depicts a world of tragic conflict, displaying violent emotion, depth of

thought, intensely dramatic character, and richness of image. The content

of this quartet gains significance when compared to Shostakovich’s

Tenth Symphony, which created a stir throughout the world when it was

introduced in 1953.

Cesar Franck’s F Minor Piano Quintet was given its first performance

in 1880, with the great Camille Saint-Saens as the pianist. It has three

movements, the first an expansive Molto moderato quasi lento that

reflects a certain severity typical of much of Franck’s output. The Lento

con molto sentimento owes something to Schumann, with its songlike

quality that is a perfect foil to the opening movement. The concluding

movement (Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco) opens with a protracted

introduction that is followed by a principal theme based on material from

the introduction and a subordinate theme reclaimed from the second

movement. While there is a sense of gravity in the movement as a whole,

it is passionate music with an energetic ending.

Program notes by Kenneth Wentworth (Haydn),

Yoritoyo Inouye (Shostakovich), 

and The Debussy Quartet (Franck),

adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

During the months ofJanuary and February,

recent performances by the National Gallery Orchestra

can be heard Wednesday evenings at 9:00 p.m. on WETA, 90.9 FM.