long and somber slow introduction to the final rondo is actually

a substitute for the originally planned slow movement, Andante

favori, which Beethoven withdrew from this sonata and published

separately.

Federico Mompou wrote a set of fourteen short piano pieces with

the collective title Camions y danzas. Mompou worked on and added

to the set throughout much of his life, with the earliest piece dating

from 1918 and the last from 1953. He was motivated by folksongs,

melodies, and dances native to Spain and his birthplace, Catalonia. 

While the melodies retain their rustic flavor, the harmonic and 

pianistic approaches are modern.

Suite caracteristica, from Espla’s Lirica espahola, Op. 54, is aptly named,

not only because it is characteristic of the popular music of the

Spanish countryside and the Mediterranean coast, but also because

it is quintessentially in the style of the composer. According to the

French musicologist, Guy Bourligueux, Espla was “a cultured and 

highly accomplished musician who contributed prolifically to all

genres. He wrote in a style that owed something to Debussy and

Stravinsky, aimed above all at simplicity, freshness, and harmonic 

refinement. Espla was also influenced by the popular music of

[Spain], developing on this basis an original scale (C, D-flat, E-flat,

E, F, G-flat, A-flat, B-flat) [that was] well suited to his artistic

temperament.”

Falla’s Fantasia baetica, commissioned by Arthur Rubinstein, received 

its premiere in 1920. Baetica was the name given by the ancient

Romans to the territory of southern Spain presently known as

Andalusia. Falla’s musical depiction of the locale calls to mind

the effulgence of the landscape that is indigenous to that area, in

addition to facsimiles of its auricular properties, such as castanets,

guitars, and the sounds associated with the Spanish gypsy style of 

dance known as flamenco.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment

during theperformance is not allowed.

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

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

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2350th Concert

PEDRO CARBONE, pianist

Sunday Evening, 28 May 2000

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Robert Schumann Arabesque in C Major

(1810-1856) Op. 81 (1838)

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata No. 21 in G Major

(1770-1827) (“Waldstein”)

Op. 53 (1803-1804)

Allegro con brio

Introduzione: Adagio molto

Rondo: Allegro moderato; prestissimo

INTERMISSION

Federico Mompou

(1893-1987)

Cancion y danza No. 4

(1928)

Oscar Espla Suite caracteristica

(1886-1976) from Lirica espanola, Op. 54 (1952-1954)

Habanera

Ronda serrana

Sonatina playera

Manuel de Falla

(1876-1946)

Fantasia baetica

(1919)

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

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

Pedro Carbone, one of Spain’s foremost pianists, received an

enthusiastic review for his Kennedy Center debut: “Mr. Carbone

is a major artist.... Dynamics were imaginative...articulation was

even and clear...trills and turns had delectable grace” (The Washington

Post). Carbone’s first piano teachers were Maria Canals and Pilar 

Bayona, who was a lifelong friend and collaborator of Oscar Espla.

His postgraduate years were spent in the United States under the

tutelage of Eugene Istomin and Leon Fleisher. Later he undertook

additional studies with Jean-Bernard Pommier in Switzerland.

Carbone first came into the spotlight at age nineteen, when he 

performed Chopin’s Twenty-four Etudes at the Palau de la Musica 

in Barcelona. Following his prize-winning performances in several

international piano competitions (the gold medal at the Concurso 

Internacional de Piano Maria Canals in Barcelona and the silver 

medal at the Incontro Internazionale Pianisti Citta di Senigallia in

Italy), Carbone toured extensively throughout Europe. In North

America, he has appeared with numerous orchestras and performed

solo recitals to critical acclaim. His schedule for the next season 

includes a Carnegie Hall appearance and a tour throughout the

United States as soloist with the Spanish Radio and Television

Orchestra. An authority on the Spanish piano repertoire, he is also

a frequent guest performer at the Juilliard School of Music. Pedro

Carbone’s interpretation of Albeniz’ Iberia Suite has been praised

as “magnificent, impressive, with the right touch of expression”

(ABC, Madrid). He is currently recording for Nazos/Marco Polo the

complete piano works by the Spanish composer Oscar Espla.

Schumann’s Arabesque, Op. 18, a simple, warm-toned, infinitely

tender expression of love and devotion, was obviously meant for his

beloved Clara. She was on tour in Paris while the work was being

composed, and Schumann felt her absence deeply. A miniature

rondo, the Arabesque has a recurring theme that is marked Leicht

und zart (facilely and fondly), and two couplets in minor key. As

occurs in many of his works, Schumann’s imaginary characters,

Eusebius and Floristan, are the protagonists symbolized by the music.

Eusebius is represented by the rondo in major mode, and Floristan 

by the couplets in minor. At the end of these sections, Schumann

added a somewhat cryptic passage, about which critic James Lyons

speculated: “Perhaps this, too, was meant for Clara, but its beauty is

manifest even if its secret is not.”

The Sonata No. 21 in CMajor, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) was dedicated to

Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, an amateur musician who was one of

Beethoven’s benefactors. Waldstein’s gifts to the composer included

a new pianoforte, on which the two played duets. A remarkable

work, this sonata boasts a completely new language, starting with 

the long strummed chordal introduction, which seems to come

from nowhere but actually contains the first theme. There are also

sudden shifts in mood, where a passage of obvious agitation and 

fitfulness is unexpectedly interrupted by a moment of respite. The