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.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-ninth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,838th Concert

Georgia Chamber Singers and Men in Blaque

James Dunaway and Joseph Huszti, conductors

April 17, 2011

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Part i: Georgia Chamber Singers

Frank Martin (1890-1974)

Three Folk Songs

En revenant d’Auvergne

Trimousette

C’etait Anne de Bretagne

Part 11: Men in Blaque

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

The Star-Spangled Banner

Ross Whitney (b. 1954)

Pentatonic Alleluia

Vytautas Miskinis (b. 1954)

Cantate Domino

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

O Magnum mysterium

Stephen Smith (b. 1966)

Guitarra

Judith Shatin (b. 1949)

The Jahberwocky

Martin

Three Chansons

Janeton 

Petite Eglise

Si Charlotte avait volu

INTERMISSION

Part hi: Georgia Chamber Singers and Men in Blaque

Martin

Massfor Double Chorus

Kyrie

Gloria

Credo

Sanctus and Benedictus 

Agnus Dei
The Musicians

GEORGIA CHAMBER SINGERS

Formed specifically for tonight’s concert, Georgia Chamber Singers consists

primarily offormer students of conductor James Dunaway who have reunited

to perform this concert under his direction. The group held rehearsals in

Augusta, Atlanta, and Athens, Georgia, with some ofthe members traveling 

from as far away as Iowa, New York, Rhode Island, and Utah to participate in 

the project.

MEN IN BLAQUE

An internationally acclaimed ensemble in residency at the University of

California at Irvine, Men in Blaque was formed in 1997 with the goal of

performing music for male voices from all eras and styles. Invited by the

Alava Festival to perform in Spain—a memorable concert that took place 

on September 11, 2001—Men in Blaque also represented the United States

at music festivals in Puebla, Mexico (2003) and the first Daegu International

Choral Festival (Korea, 2004). In 2006 the choir won two silver medals

and a gold certificate at the World Choral Games in Xiamen, China, where

more than 400 choirs competed. In 2010 the ensemble returned to China

to participate in the world’s largest choral competition in Shoaxing—with

more than 20,000 singers from eighty countries participating—and won

on that occasion a championship trophy and three gold medals. Men in

Blaque has recorded four CDs: I Wonder As I Wander (2001), Live in Spain

(2003), Many Moods (2004), and 10th Anniversary (2007).

4

Flaving distinguished himself as director of choral programs at Cedar City

High School in Utah, McMurry University in Texas, McNeese State University in Lousiana, and the University of South Carolina, James Dunaway

culminated his career with twelve years at the Davidson Fine Arts School 

in Augusta, Georgia. Under his direction, the Davidson Chorale performed

in the Dunwoody United Methodist Church Concert Series in Atlanta and

the Temple Square Concert Series in Salt Lake City; at the National Gallery 

ofArt, the National Shrine ofthe Immaculate Conception, and Washington

National Cathedral; and for the Southern Division Music Educators National

Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2005 the Davidson Chorale

sang at the American Choral Directors Association National Convention in

Los Angeles and presented several performances for GRAMMY-related events,

including the Salute to Classical Music. The following year the school was 

named a Grammy Gold Signature School.

A former member ofJoseph Huszti’s choir at Bakersfield College in

California, Dunaway credits Huszti for moving him from a career in instrumental music toward choral music. An active composer and arranger,

Dunaway was asked in 2010 by Huszti and Men in Blaque to write a piece 

for use at the World Choir Games in China. The result was Turkey in the

Straw, which was enthusiastically received by the international audience.

Dunaway is currently working on a second commission from Men in Blaque,

a piece that will be the finale ofthe ensemble’s holiday concert in December

2011 at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine.

JAMES DUNAWAY

5
JOSEPH HUSZTI

A native ofOhio, Joseph Huszti is professor ofmusic and director ofthe choral 

activities in the Claire Trevor School ofthe Arts at the University ofCalifornia,

Irvine. During his tenure at Irvine, he has maintained six choirs as the nucleus

ofthe choral activities at the university, including singers from every major

area ofstudy. The choirs have undertaken twenty-five international concert

tours, performing in the cathedrals ofBoston, Burgos, Canterbury, Coventry,

Ely, Liverpool, Sterling, Westminster, and York as well as concert halls and

churches in Budapest, Hong Kong, Prague, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Vienna, and

Warsaw. Choirs from the university have won prizes at the Bela Bartok International Choral Competition (Hungary), the International Musical Eisteddfod 

(Wales), the Koorfest (Holland), and the World Choir Games (China). Huszti’s

select choir, the California Chamber Singers, was one offive international

choirs invited to perform at the World Choral Festival in Seoul, Korea in 1992

and the Alava Festival in Spain in 1995.

Before coming to California, Huszti headed the choral activities at

Boston University’s School for the Arts, the Young Vocalists Program at 

Tanglewood, the choral and voice programs at the University of Delaware, 

and the Bakersfield College Choir, which in 1965 under his direction won

first prize in the International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen, Wales. A

life member ofthe American Choral Director’s Association, he served as

state president ofthe association in Delaware and Massachusetts and as its

Western Division president.

6

Program Notes

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Frank Martin stands out among that country’s

twentieth-century composers. He spent the last twenty-eight years ofhis life in

Holland, and his home in rural Naarden is now a museum and a repository 

for his compositions, correspondence, and memorabilia. Martin was in his late

teens or early twenties when he arranged the folk songs “Trimousette,” “C’etait

Anne de Bretagne,” and “En revenant d’Auvergne.” Cleverly arranged, the songs

give little hint ofthe gravity the composer would achieve in his later works.

A pivotal composer ofthe twentieth century, Igor Stravinsky was born in 

Russia and became a naturalized American citizen in 1945. His arrangement of

The Star-Spangled Banner is “infamous” for its use ofthe major seventh chord. 

Men in Blaque has performed this work for a Western Musicological Conference honoring Stravinsky scholar H. Colin Slim, and at the United States Air

Force Academy.

Pentatonic Alleluia, written for Men in Blaque by University of California

at Irvine composer Ross Whitney, calls upon the singers to perform their

individual parts in a free and independent rhythm. Using a five-note scale,

the music expands into a cacophony ofsound, then resolves into the pentatonic final chord.

Lithuanian composer Vytautas Myskinis is recognized as a major force

in creating a genre of compositions combining jazz and traditional techniques. A practicing choral conductor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music, 

Myskinis has composed over 500 pieces.

Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium is one ofthe most frequently

performed selections from the twentieth-century choral repertoire. Lauridsen

serves as professor of composition at the University of Southern California.

Stephen Smith has composed notable works for two ofCanada’s finest

professional choral ensembles, Chor Leoni and Vancouver’s Electra Women’s Choir. He serves as pianist for the choirs and specializes in choral

works without words, such as Guitarra.

7
One ofAmerica’s most innovative contemporary composers, Judith Shatin 

is the William R. Kenan professor ofmusic at the University ofVirginia. She

describes her works as “multiple fascinations with literature and the visual

arts.” Two such works, Penelope's Song (2007) and Sic transit (2011), were

performed on March 17 in the West Building Rotunda in celebration ofthe

seventieth anniversary ofthe National Gallery ofArt. Jabberwocky was commissioned by the University ofVirginia Glee Club.

Martin’s Three Chansons, “Si Charlotte avaitvolu,” “Janeton,” and “Petite 

Eglise” reveal a mature composer who is adept at synthesizing Renaissance

and twentieth-century styles. According to Martin’s widow, Marie, these

chansons were written near the end ofWorld War 11, in 1943 or 1944. She

recalls that the commission for the songs amounted to fifty Swiss francs

each, or approximately ten dollars.

Completed in 1926, Martin’s Massfor Double Chorus did not receive its

premiere performance until 1963. A close friend ofthe composer, Michel

Corboz, founder and director ofthe Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, has recently 

revealed a possible reason why Martin kept the mass in a drawer for thirtyfive years. According to Corboz, Martin privately confided that he tended to

dismiss the mass as a “sin ofmy youth,” reminding Corboz that he changed

his compositional style after completing the Massfor Double Chorus, turning

from its more conservative harmonic texture to a style employing elements of

the twelve-tone technique ofArnold Schonberg (1874-1951).

Several aspects ofthe mass pay homage to historic techniques of composition. Taking a cue from Renaissance polychoral music, Martin creates

dialogue and echo between two choirs. In the Agnus Dei, he pits them as

polar opposites. While the first choir pleads lyrically in syncopated unison,

the second choir becomes a metronome by marking the harmony in simple

quarter-note downbeats. The beginning ofthe Sanctus suggests the music

of Debussy or Faure, and the driving rhythms ofthe Hosanna and Benedictus

are reminiscent ofthe eponymous movements in Mass by Stravinsky. The

fifty-two meter changes in the Credo are intended enhance the natural flow

ofthe text, in the manner of Renaissance polyrhythms. At the beginning of

the Gloria, Martin opens with dissonant chords that resolve to brilliant

modal cadences, demonstrating his fluency in modal harmony. This melding ofthe old and the new into a stylistic synthesis foreshadows the techniques used by many prominent twenty-first-century choral composers.

Program notes by James Dunaway and Joseph Huszti

9
Upcoming Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

Christian Tetzlaflf and Antje Weithaas, violinists

Music by Bartok, Beriot, LeClair, and Ysaye

April 28, 2011

Thursday 12:10 pm

East Building Auditorium

Thomas Pandolfi, pianist

Music by Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann

May 1, 2011

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

10
Credo.

I believe in one God, the father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son ofGod.

Born ofthe father before all ages.

God of God, light oflight, true God oftrue God.

Begotten, not made, of one substance with the father, by whom all things were made.

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.

And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit ofthe Virgin Mary: and was made incarnate.

He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried.

And he was resurrected on the third day according to the scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand ofthe father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver oflife, who proceeds from the father and the son.

Who together with the father and the son is worshiped and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets.

And in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness ofsins and

I await the resurrection ofthe dead and the life ofthe world to come.

Amen.

Sanctus and Benedictus.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.

Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name ofthe Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Agnus Dei.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins ofthe world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins ofthe world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins ofthe world, grant us peace.

Song Translations, April 17, 2011

En revenant d’Auvergne

While returning from Auvergne, my country,

Passing through the Limagne to Paris.

Let the Savoyard sing!

Let he mountain man dance!

Ah gay Coco!

Come see the dance ofthe brat!

A toothless old woman said to me, my friend,

So let me see you do the dance of your country!

Let the Savoyard sing!

Let he mountain man dance!

Ah gay Coco!

No, you will not see the dance ofthe brat.

A young girl said to me: my little friend!

Show me the dance of your country!

Let the Savoyard sing!

Let he mountain man dance!

Ah gay Coco!

I will show you the dance ofthe brat.

Trimousette

Trimousette, It’s May, the month of May,

The pretty month of May.

Returning from the fields

We found the wheat so tall,

The white spines blooming 

Before God.

It’s May . . .

When you put your beautiful child,

You sleep and wake,

And at all times ofthe day 

Before God.

It’s May . . .

A little bit of your flour,

Not for drinking or eating

It is to help us to have a candle,

It is to illuminate the noble Virgin

Before God.

It’s May ...

Thank you my lady,

For your good acts,

We pray to God in your house,

As well as when we leave.

Before God.

It’s May ...
C’etait Anne de Bretagne

It was Ann ofBrittany, our duchesse in sabots. Returning from her fields in military sabots. Ah, long live the

wooden clogs!

Then at the gates ofRennes, our duchesse in sabots found three old captains.

They saluted their sovereign and gave her sprigs of vervain.

They said ifthese will bloom for you, you will be queen, and she made them blossom.

Thus our Ann had the throne, which the Britons did bemoan.

They lost their sovereign, but in France our queen will reign.

Cantate Domino

Sing to the Lord a new song and praise his name, for he has done marvelous things. Make music to the Lord

with the harp and the sound ofsinging.

O magnum mysterium

O great mystery and wondrous sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord lying in their manger.

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!

Janeton (text by Roland Stahli)

Janeton wants to get married

For a laugh, for a tear.

She’s in love with a gallant fusilier 

For a laugh, for a game.

This morning they got engaged

For a laugh, for a kiss.

On Sunday they’ll want to be married

For a quarrel, for love.

Janeton wants to bet married

For a laugh, for a game.

Petite eglise (text by Henri Devain)

Little church deep in the valley,

You ring your pretty bells in the breeze.

Ring! Ring gentle bells

Your clear call for reason.

Ring! Ring gentle bells.

Our existence is fleeting.

Ring! Ring gentle bells.

Our life is a short season.

Little church deep in the valley,

Let us be always faithful to the pretty bells.

Your clear call for reason .. .

Little church deep in the valley,

Yourjoyful pealing brings happiness.

Your clear call for reason .. .

Si Charlotte avait voulu (text by Roland Stahli)

IfCharlotte had wanted 

(Tweedelee diddlelee}

To marry her soldier 

(Kazoo, kazoola, kaz)

He would been happy on this earth

And never again would have wanted

To go offto war to drown his poor love

And break his heart so dull

(Diddlelee, diddlelee)

Mischievous love!

But Charlotte wanted 

(Tweedelee diddlelee}

To marry only a captain 

(Capila, capilaloo)

And not an ordinary soldier.

This is why despite all her efforts,

She will never find

A more ardent and beautiful love

Than the one that she found dull.

(Diddlelee, diddlelee)

Mischievous love!

Mass for Double Chorus

Kyrie.

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

Lord have mercy.

Gloria.

Glory to God in the highest.

And on earth peace to those of good will.

We praise you. We bless you.

We worship you. We glorify you.

Lord God, heavenly king, God the father almighty.

Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son.

Lord God, lamb of God, son ofthe father.

You who take away the sins ofthe world, have mercy on us.

You who take away the sins ofthe world, receive our prayer.

You who sit at the right hand ofthe father, have mercy on us.

For you alone are holy. You alone are Lord.

You alone are the most high, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the father.

Amen.