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 

East 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 of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development

office at (202) 842-6450 or circle@nga.gov for more information.

The Seventy-first Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,908th Concert

Tanya Vegvary Plescia, piano

Presented in honor ofthe installation 

Masterpieces ofAmerican Furniturefrom

the Kaufman Collection, 1700-1830

October 28, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809)

Theme with Variations

Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 (c. 1778)

Allegro

Andante cantabile

Allegretto grazioso

James Hewitt (1770-1827)

The Battle ofTrenton (A Sonata Dedicated to General Washington)

Introduction

The Army in Motion

General Orders

Acclamation ofthe Americans

Drums Beat to Arms

Washington’s March

Crossing the Delaware

Ardor ofthe Americans at Landing

Trumpets Sound the Charge

The Attack

Defeat and Flight ofthe Hessians

The Hessians Begging Quarter

The Flight Renewed

General Confusion

The Hessians Surrender Themselves Prisoners ofWar

Articles ofCapitulation Signed

Grief ofthe Americans for the Loss ofTheir Comrades Killed in the

Engagement

Yankee Doodle, Drum, and Fifes

Quick Step for the Band 

Trumpets ofVictory

General Rejoicing

INTERMISSION
The Musician

Tanya Vegvary Plescia began studying piano at age four under the tutelage 

ofher father. As a student ofTom Hulse, she received the Edna S. Sibole

Scholarship, the Festival of New American Music award, the Grayce Kent

Clark Scholarship, and the Music Teachers Association of California Scholarship award. She continued her studies at the California State University 

Sacramento, where she received the Pi Kappa Lambda national honor and

graduated summa cum laude with dual bachelor’s degrees in humanities

and music. In her last year, she won the senior achievement award and the 

concerto competition, performing Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto with the 

Sacramento State Orchestra.

Recent highlights of Plescia’s career include performances at the Arts

Club ofWashington; the Festival of New American Music at California

State University, Sacramento; the Old Church Concert Series in Portland,

Oregon; Old First Concerts in San Francisco; and Trinity Chamber Concerts

in Berkeley. In 2011, as part ofthe international celebration of Franz Liszt’s

bicentennial anniversary, Plescia performed a special all-Liszt program at

the Hungarian Embassy in Washington as well as all-Liszt programs at the 

Consulate General ofthe Republic of Hungary in Los Angeles and the 

Berkeley Trinity Chamber Series.

An active composer, Tanya Vegvary Plescia has recorded two ofher own

works, along with music by Beethoven, Chopin, Faure, and Liszt, and has a

digital single, Iolanda, to her credit as well. A member ofthe Music Teachers

Association ofCalifornia who taught for sixteen years at the Pease Conservatory of Music in Sacramento, Plescia is the founder and president ofthe 

Sacramento Piano Conservatory.

4

Program Notes

As it had for the previous four centuries, Europe dominated the world stage

between the years 1700 and 1830, with the exception ofthe startling political

upheaval that was the American Revolution. In Europe, radical new ideas in

philosophy and politics emerged, significant advances in science and

technology were realized, and genius flourished in the fine arts. Although 

seen by the rest ofthe world as a backwater during those same years, the 

American colonies and the young United States were the workplace for a

number ofmusicians, artists, and craftsmen who produced poetry, music, 

and objects of decorative art that have only recently come to be respected

and admired. Many ofthose artists and craftsmen were self-taught, and

some remain anonymous, but their accomplishments speak for themselves.

The unveiling ofthe Kaufman Collection at the National Gallery ofArt

is a landmark moment for the nation’s capital, which until this time has

had no major presentation of early American furniture and related decorative arts on permanent public view. The new installation highlights nearly 

100 examples from the distinguished collection of George M. and Linda H.

Kaufman, acquired over the course offive decades and promised to the 

National Gallery. In addition to unique American furniture, Chinese and

European porcelains, and French floral watercolors, the installation includes

paintings from the Gallery’s permanent collection by American artists—

some anonymous and some, such as Gilbert Stuart, deservedly famous.

The installation remains on view indefinitely on the ground floor ofthe 

West Building.

America’s first composer ofsignificant keyboard works, Alexander

Reinagle was born in England to a family of Hungarian descent. Immigrating to the United States after the Revolutionary War, he settled in Philadelphia in 1786. He quickly took his place as a leader in the musical life ofthe 

city as a concert manager, performer, composer, and teacher. Based on a

melody taken from the slow movement ofJoseph Haydn’s Symphony no. 53,

“L’Imperiale,” Reinagle’s Theme with Variations was probably first heard in a

recital he played on October 19,1787, at the City Tavern of Philadelphia.

5
Another immigrant from England, James Hewitt arrived in New York in

1792, where he continued the multifaceted career he had begun in London— 

concert violinist, director oftheater orchestras, organist (at Trinity Church,

Wall Street), and music publisher. He later moved to Boston to become the

organist ofthat city’s Trinity Church. Hewitt set to music the clash and

drama ofthe Battle ofTrenton, which had taken place in December 1776,

but was still a vivid memory for most adults in the 1790s. The Battle of

Trenton (A Sonata Dedicated to General Washington) moves descriptively

step-by-step through George Washington’s Christmas Day surprise attack,

which was the master stroke that boosted the morale ofthe ragged American army and helped turn the tide ofthe Revolutionary War. Since the

seventeenth century, descriptive music had been a well-established tradition

with a large popular following. Organist Hewitt probably knew ofsuch

works for organ and harpsichord from previous generations, such as Johann

Kuhnau’s (1660-1722) Der todtkranke und wieder gesunde Hiskias (Hiskias,

Sick to Death and Healthy Again), or Justin Heinrich Knecht’s (1752-1817)

Die AuferstehungJesu (The Resurrection ofJesus), which includes among

its movements “Die schauervolle Stille des Grabes” (The Dreadful Stillness

ofthe Grave), “Das Zurucksturzen der Romischen Schaar” (The Falling 

Back ofthe Roman Legions), and “Triumphgesang der Engel” (Song of

Triumph ofthe Angels). Like its descriptive predecessors, The Battle of

Trenton enjoyed considerable popularity during the composer’s lifetime.

No visit to the music ofthe eighteenth century can be complete without

spending time with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His Sonata in B-flat Major,

K. 333, published in 1784 but written some years earlier, is a prime example

ofthe elegance and formal perfection for which Mozart is known. The

themes are simple, sweet, and easily accessible. The third movement, a

rondo, is a masterpiece of playful invention, and one can imagine Mozart

“tossing” this tune offthe top ofhis head, perhaps whistling it during an

afternoon stroll in the park. But the movement is much more than that—it 

is better described as a fascinating journey for both performer and audience.

Program Notes by Tanya Vegvary Plescia

6

Concerts in November 2012 at the National Gallery ofArt

Post-Classical Ensemble and George Vatchnadze, pianist

Music by Shostakovich

November 4, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Michael Lewin, pianist

Music by Debussy and other composers

November 11, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Washington Saxophone Quartet

Music by Lisa Bielawa, Paquito d’Rivera, and other composers

Presented In honor of Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

November 18, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court