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 of

the West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

unrw.nga.gov

The Sixty-ninth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,816th Concert

American String Quartet

Peter Winograd, violin

Laurie Carney, violin

Daniel Avshalomov, viola 

Wolfram Koessel, cello

January 2, 2011

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Quartet in A Major, op. 18, no. 5 (1800)

Allegro

Menuetto 

Andante cantabile 

Allegro

Quartet in E Minor, op. 59, no. 2 (1806)

Allegro

Adagio molto

Allegretto

Finale: Presto

INTERMISSION

Quartet in C-sharp Minor, op. 131 (1825)

Adagio, ma non troppo e molto espressivo 

Allegro molto vivace

Allegro moderato

Andante, ma non troppo, e molto cantabile 

Presto

Adagio quasi un poco andante

Allegro

The Musicians

Internationally recognized as one ofthe world’s finest quartets, the American 

String Quartet has spent decades honing its luxurious sound. Celebrating 

its thirty-fifth anniversary in the 2010-2011 season, the ensemble has presented the complete quartets of Beethoven, Bartolc, Mozart, Schoenberg,

and Schubert. Resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and

at the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American

String Quartet has also served as resident quartet at the Taos School of

Music, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Van Cliburn International Piano

Competition. The ensemble’s diverse activities have also included numerous

international radio and television broadcasts, tours ofAsia, and performances 

with the New York City Ballet and the symphony orchestras of Montreal and

Philadelphia. In 2010 the quartet embarked on its fortieth European tour,

with appearances in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

The American String Quartet’s MusicMasters recording ofthe complete 

Mozart string quartets, performed on a matched set ofinstruments by

Stradivarius, is widely considered to have set the standard for the repertoire. 

A recent recording on the nss Music label features chamber music by Franz

Schubert (1797-1828), Alban Berg (1885-1935), and Arnold Schoenberg 

(1874-1951), and connects the contrasting styles among the composers.

The ensemble’s other recordings can be heard on the Albany, cri, Musical

Heritage Society, Nonesuch, and rca labels.

A champion of new music, the quartet has given numerous world premiere performances, including Richard Danielpour’s Quartet no. 4, Curt 

Cacioppo’s a distant voice calling, and Tobias Picker’s String Quartet no. 2.

In May the ensemble will premiere Glen Cortese’s Four Dancesfor String

Quartet and String Orchestra, a work commissioned by the Oregon Mozart

Players. The American String Quartet appears at the National Gallery by

arrangement with Melvin Kaplan, Inc., of Burlington, Vermont.

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Program Notes

This evening’s performance inaugurates a series ofsix concerts at the

National Gallery ofArt in which six different string quartets will play all of

the works that Beethoven wrote for the medium. Scheduled to occur on the 

first Sundays ofthe first three and the last three months ofthe year, the

series is intended to give Washington-area concertgoers an opportunity to

hear this great body ofwork and compare the interpretations provided by

quartets from the Czech Republic, Germany, and the United States, representing several different stylistic traditions. The Ariel String quartet will

continue the series on February 6, and the Leipzig String Quartet will round

out the first half ofthe series on March 6. Next fall, the series will resume

with the National Gallery ofArt String Quartet on October 2 and the Talich

String Quartet on November 6. The Pacifica String Quartet concludes the 

series on December 4, 2011.

Written in the same key, Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Major, op. 18,

no. 5, and Mozart’s String Quartet, K. 474 contain many similarities. As Carl

Czerny wrote in 1852, “Beethoven once saw at my house the score ofsix

quartets by Mozart dedicated to Haydn. He opened the fifth in A and said:

‘That’s what I call a work! In it Mozart was telling the world: Look what I

could create ifthe time were right!”’ Beethoven evidently recopied the last

two movements from Czerny’s copy ofthe Mozart quartet in order to study 

the late composer’s compositional technique in depth.

The first movement of Beethoven’s quartet is fairly straightforward, 

utilizing the standard three-part sonata-allegro form. The exposition proceeds

directly, without the customary bridge, from a statement ofthe first subject 

to the minor-key unison ofthe second subject. The development is based on

subsidiary and transitional motifs from the exposition, and the recapitulation 

almost literally repeats the exposition. The short coda is a fragmented A-major

scale, with the first violin out ofsynchronization with the other instruments.

As did Mozart, Beethoven places the Menuetto next, rather than the more

usual slow movement. The gently rocking waltz-like theme sets the mood 

for this sweet, sedate movement. The use ofthird beat accents in the more

thickly textured trio gives the impression of a clumsily played accordion.

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Beethoven provides the word “Pastoral” as a clue for interpretation of

the third movement, a theme and variations. The rather plain melody

consists of a descending and ascending scale, with only minor deviations.

But the five variations leave behind the eighteenth-century variation concept,

which tended to keep the theme’s harmonic outline while varying the details

offiguration, rhythm, and tonality. Instead, Beethoven reveals different

aspects ofthe theme’s expressive concept. In the lengthy coda, the composer

effectively introduces the theme in its original form, pitting it against a

double-time scale figure that essentially moves in contrary motion. The 

nervous, agitated first theme ofthe final movement is in sharp contrast to

the organ-like sonority ofthe second theme, which sounds much slower but

is actually in the same tempo. The quick four-note motto that opens the 

movement pervades the development section, and after a full stop, the 

recapitulation brings back the previously-heard material. The coda, with the 

four-note phrase still dominant, summarizes the movement.

The String Quartet in E Minor, op. 59, no. 2, is one ofthree dedicated to

Beethoven’s patron Andrey Kiriliovich Rasumovsky (1752-1836), who was

the Russian ambassador to the Congress ofVienna in 1815. The quartet opens 

dramatically with two sharp, imperious chords, followed by a tense measure

ofsilence. The subsequent tender, melodic phrase also ends abruptly. The 

melody, repeated one note higher, is again cut off. After this mysterious and

foreboding start, the work unfolds in energetic phrases, each one little more

than a fragment, yet all seamlessly interwoven into an extended musical line 

that continually pulls the listener forward. The second movement, Adagio

molto, is sublimely eloquent, exhibiting a majestic calm that rises serenely 

above human concerns. The main theme’s first four notes are derived from

a transposition ofthe musical spelling of Bach’s name. (In German, B, A, C,

and H are the notes B-flat, A, C, and B.) At one point in the development 

section, the cello plays those exact notes. The individual sections ofthe 

sonata form are molded so unobtrusively that they flow one into another to

create the impression of one extended, glorious song.

The Allegretto starts quietly, as though not to disturb the lofty sentiment

ofthe Adagio molto. Despite its surface grace, this movement is based on a

quirky and highly eccentric rhythmic pattern. The melody ofthe middle

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section is a theme russe, the patriotic hymn “Slava,” taken from a collection

offolk songs by the Russian composer Ivan Pratsch (1750-1819). It is not 

known whether Beethoven did this on his own initiative to honor Count 

Rasumovsky or whether the count requested it. Beethoven repeats the theme

a number oftimes, with various combinations ofinstruments and an assortment of countermelodies. The brilliant Finale: Presto sets off at once on a

high-speed, high-spirited rhythmic gallop. The structure combines elements

ofrondo and sonata form, with the first violin playing the lyrical second 

theme while the other instruments echo the turns ofmelody. After bringing

back the various themes in a spirit oflively playfulness in the development, 

the composer picks up the tempo for a spectacular dash to the final chords.

Beethoven wrote to a friend, the violinist and conductor Karl Holz (1798-

1858), that the favorite among his quartets was the C-sharp Minor Quartet,

op. 131. Holz and many subsequent composers, musicians, and listeners have

considered it the greatest string quartet ever written. Lasting close to forty

minutes, the work is divided into seven sections that are played without pause.

With characteristic flippancy, Beethoven presented the manuscript of op. 131

to the publisher with a note scribbled on the cover page: “Put together from 

pilferings ofthis and that.” This remark caused the publisher great concern—

he thought it meant the composer was reusing things he had written earlier—

and the composer had to assure him that his remark was only a joke. Scholars

believe that the first hearing was at a private concert in Vienna in December 

1826, but the initial public performance did not take place until 1835, long

after Beethoven’s death.

The very slow introductory Adagio is a fugue followed by four episodes 

and a coda, all based on the sober melody originally stated by the first violin.

More than sorrowful or pitying, the music is contemplative and serene, 

surmounting personal despair and sadness. The section ends with a quiet 

rising C-sharp octave leap, which finds an echo in the ascending D octave

leap that opens the second section. The fast second movement sails forth,

cheerful and open-faced, with none ofthe profundity or expressivity ofthe 

first movement. Performers traditionally use the two soft isolated chords 

at the end ofthe movement to set the tempo for the two loud answering

chords that start the Allegro moderato.

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Only eleven measures long, the short third movement that follows is

in effect a recitative, a rhythmically free introduction to the Andante that

follows without pause. This fourth movement is an expansive theme and

variations that provides the pivotal central focus ofthe entire quartet. The

syncopated theme is shared by the two violins. Echoing what occurred in

two ofthe previous movements, the two notes heard at the very end determine the speed ofthe next movement.

The Presto corresponds to the classical scherzo movement, playful and 

humorous in spirit and tripartite in form. After the abrupt four-note growl

by the cello that opens the movement, the first violin picks up the dancelike 

tune. Beethoven directs that the final return ofthe opening tune be played

ponticello (bowed near the bridge), producing a glassy, whistling sound. The

whirlwind motion continues until two sets of chords end the movement.

The introspective Adagio quasi un poco andante, only twenty-eight

measures long, provides a transition between the lightness ofthe preceding

Presto and the rhythmic excitement ofthe finale, which is also marked presto.

In summarizing this movement, Richard Wagner wrote:

This is the fury ofthe world’s dance—fierce pleasure,

agony, ecstasy oflove,

joy, anger, passion, and suffering; lightening flashes

and thunder rolls;

and above the tumult the indomitable fiddler whirls us

on to the abyss.

Amid the clamor he smiles, for to him it is nothing but

a mocking fantasy;

at the end, the darkness beckons him away, and his task is done.

Notesfrom Guide to Chamber Music by Melvin Berger, ©1985

Used by permission

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