Except for nine orchestral works and a few vocal and chamber pieces, 

Alexander Scriabin’s compositional output was confined to works for 

solo piano. His early works, such as the Nocturne in A-flat, Op. 1, the

Valse in F Minor, and the Sonata-fantaisie, were obviously influenced 

by Chopin. Scriabin began expressing himself in an original manner in

his later compositions through a new harmonic approach that he labeled 

“mystic chords.” This “new sound” allowed him to drift further and

further into a state of spiritualism and became a vehicle for asserting his

theosophical theorem. His nine sonatas can be grouped into periods that 

elucidate his musical and spiritual ascendancy, and the Sonata No. 5, Op.

53, is the first to dissolve several movements into a single one.

According to writer Leonard Altman, “Scriabin’s original harmonic plan 

begins to make itself felt [in this sonata], and a new ‘diabolic’ element, 

derived from Liszt but made more esoteric and personal, quickly gives

one the feeling of existing on the edge of some half-seen and aweinspiring realm. [The] sonata discards the usual formal division into

movements, [and] its excitement and its ecstasy make it a welcome 

addition to the catalogue of [piano music].”

A noteworthy Spanish composer from the Catalan region, Lederico

Mompou went to Paris in 1911 to continue his studies. He spent twenty 

years there, taking piano lessons from Lerdinand Motte-Lacroix and

studying composition and harmony under Marcel Samuel-Rousseau. 

Mompou employed some unusual compositional techniques, such as the

dropping of key signatures and bar lines, profuse use of the pedal, and

the insertion of accidentals (flats, sharps, and natural signs). His

Cangions i dansas (Songs and Dances) comprise twelve works written 

over a period of more than forty years (1921-1962). Their direct relation 

to the sumptuous folklore of Catalonia is evidenced in their full intensity 

and sonority. The seventh Cangion i danza, said to have been a favorite 

of Lrancis Poulenc (1899-1963), consists of a quiet atmospheric song

that is followed by a dance of similar reflection and an unusual 

contrapuntal finale.

The loveliness of Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 2, appears to be

consistent with the presumption that he wrote it as he was planning to

marry his beloved Maria Wodzinska (the marriage never materialized). 

The work spurts forth a seamless lyrical melody, bom of a single theme.

It incorporates the use of thirds and sixths in an expression that is

reminiscent of a love scene from the operatic world of Bellini, whose 

music Chopin adored. As described by James Huneker (1857-1921), an

American writer on music: “It is a song of the sweet summer of two

souls, for there is obvious meaning in the duality of voices.”

The Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39, written in Majorca, 

Spain, is the most inspiring and poignant of Chopin’s four works in this

genre. Marked presto confuoco, it is shadowy and reflective and reveals 

Chopin, the artisan. Bold, adventurous harmonies 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 in a

fitful play of agitation. The second contrasting section, 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

jewel-like arpeggios. After alternating the first section with two trios

in the format ABABA, Chopin provides a demonic coda to close the

work in the bright key of C-sharp major.

The Fifty-ninth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

L. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2388th Concert

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can he heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

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

THOMAS SCHUMACHER, pianist

Sunday Evening, 10 June 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM Thomas Schumacher’s career as a performer and teacher has spanned

four decades. He has appeared extensively throughout the United States,

Between the years 1854 and 1863, Brahms wrote primarily in

larger forms, such as the First Piano Concerto, Sonata No. 3, and several

Johannes Brahms Four Ballades Canada, Europe, and the Far East in recitals and with major orchestras, variations for piano. Three exceptions were works in smaller forms for

(1833-1897)

No. 1 in D Minor

No. 2 in D Major

No. 3 in B Minor

No. 4 in B Major

Op. 10(1854) including the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Los

Angeles Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic, 

and the Tokyo Philharmonic. Venues in which he has played include

Town Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, and Carnegie Hall in New York City,

Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and Constitution Hall and the National

Gallery in Washington. Bom in Montana, where he received his early

training, Schumacher continued his studies in New York at the

the piano: two Gavottes (without opus numbers) and four Ballades, Op.

10. The ballades use the song form with trio [ABA] and were

purportedly inspired by the Scotch folk ballad, Edward, a tale of an

unfortunate patricide initiated by the protagonist’s own mother, who

persuaded him to carry out the assault. When performed as a unit, the

four pieces are intended to unfold the gruesome episode. Though full of

pessimism and gloomy in outlook, they are potent and thespian. In the

Muzio Clementi Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp Minor Manhattan School of Music with Robert Goldsand and at the Juilliard first ballade, in the key of D minor and marked Andante, Edward’s crime

(1752-1832)

Allegro con espressivo 

Adagio patetico

Presto

Op. 26(1791) School of Music, where his teachers were Beveridge Webster and Adele

Marcus. He graduated with the highest honors from both schools,

winning the Harold Bauer Award, the Frank Damrosch Scholarship, the

Morris Loeb Memorial Prize, the Alan Wardwell Scholarship, the Carol

Roeder Memorial Award in Piano, and the Juilliard Alumni Scholarship. 

Schumacher made his New York City recital debut in 1963 as the winner

is illustrated in the B section {Allegro ma non troppo). The second

ballade, in D major, is less distressed at the outset {Andante) and

provides a reprieve with one of Brahms’ loveliest melodies. The B

section, however, ushers in a return to violence that is interpolated with a

bizarre scherzo {Molto staccato e leggiero). In the key of B minor, the

third ballade carries the subtitle Intermezzo, but is a bonafide scherzo

Alexander Scriabin Sonata No. 5 of the JUGG Award. with a songlike trio at its center, resembling Brahms’ Scherzo, Op. 4, in

(1872-1915) Op. 53 (1907) Schumacher was a prizewinner in the 1962 Busoni International miniaturized form. The fourth ballade {Andante con moto) is in the key

Allegro; impetuoso con stravaganza

INTERMISSION

Competition and was subsequently approached by composer David

Diamond to be the soloist in the world premiere of his Piano Concerto.

He performed the work in 1967 with Leonard Bernstein and the New

York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. In 1968 Schumacher joined the

roster of Columbia Artists Management, Inc., and toured for ten years

under its aegis throughout the United States. He was a teaching assistant

of B major and exhibits a reflective mood that presages the later

Intermezzi. Brahms uses a type of syncopation in this ballade (two

against three) that is one of his conspicuous trademarks.

In 1773, at a time when the newly invented pianoforte was struggling

to compete with the popularity of the harpsichord, Clementi became 

enamored with the sonority and quality of this exciting new instrument

Federico Mompou Cangon i dansa VII to Adele Marcus at the Aspen Music Festival and served from 1969 to and published the first volume of his sonatas with it in mind. The

(1893-1987) from Cangons i dansas 

(1921-1962)

1995 on the piano faculty of the University of Maryland. During that 

time he received the Maryland Creative and Performing Arts Award as

well as the Maryland Distinguished Faculty Award. Schumacher was

also an associate artist faculty member of the Levine School of Music in

pianoforte suited well the composer’s demand for brilliant scale and

double note passages, hefty chords, and colorful dynamics, which are not

generic to the harpsichord. The Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 26,

is among some forty sonatas Clementi published before 1796, the year

Frederic Chopin Nocturne in D-flat Major Washington. He is currently a member of the piano faculty of the Beethoven’s earliest sonatas appeared in print. It was reported that

(1810-1849) Op. 27, No. 2 (1835)

Scherzo in C-sharp Minor

Op. 39 (1839)

Eastman School of Music. Beethoven knew of these sonatas and that this particular one was his

favorite.