writing is idiomatic and makes rich use of full-sounding double stops and

chords, without ever straining the limits of the instrument.” The third

movement, Andante, unfolds with a charming melody that is

accompanied ingeniously on an incessant staccato note, giving the effect

of a duo partnership. The effect is stunning but demands virtuosity of the

highest caliber. The final Allegro features arpeggiated chords in a

“question and answer” sequence that results in a simulated two-voice

dialogue between forte and piano, which, again quoting Schwarz, “[is a]

kind of terraced dynamics [that] stems from the two keyboards of the

harpsichord.” Its effect is immediate and dramatic.

Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006, opens with an invigorating

Preludio, often heard by itself in violin recitals as an encore. The Loure

that follows is a French regional dance from Normandy with a

contemplative bucolic disposition. The Gavotte en rondeau, on the other

hand, is vivacious and earthy, and like the Preludio is popular as an

encore piece. The delightful Menuets I and II offer a contrast between

straightforwardness in the first and sensitivity in the second. Between the

Bourree and the Gigue there is a contrast of rhythm, but both convey a

bright and joyful mood that brings the partita to a successful conclusion.

Programs notes by Elmer Booze

The use of cameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please he sure that cell

phones, pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

For the convenience of concertgoers

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

The Sixty-first Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2462d Concert

ILYA GRINGOLTS, violinist

Sunday Evening, 8 June 2003

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
Program

Music for Solo Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685-1750)

Partita No. 1 in B Minor

BWV 1002(1720)

Allemande 

Double

Courante 

Double: Presto

Sarabande

Double

Tempo di Bourree

Double

Sonata No. 2 in A Minor

BWV 1003 (1720)

Grave, Fuga, Andante, Allegro

Intermission

Partita No. 3 in E Major

BWV 1006 (1720)

Preludio Gavotte enrondeau

Loure Menuet I

Gavotte en rondeau Menuet II

Loure Bourree

Gigue

The Musician

“Ilya Gringolts sings out the soul of this music even within the

introduction, fusing the fine intensity of the miniaturist with the

exuberance of the showman. This is the sort of playing you don’t just

admire and wonder at, but...find yourself wanting to be entertained by all

evening” (Hilary Finch, The Times). At age twenty Gringolts has already

established himself as an exciting new artist with invitations from

leading orchestras and recital series throughout the world and an

exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. In 1998

Gringolts won first prize at the International Paganini Violin

Competition as well as a special prize for the best interpretation of

Paganini’s Capriccio. He was also a prizewinner in the 1995 Yehudi

Menuhin International Violin Competition. His success in the Paganini

competition led to a recording contract with BIS and the production of

three CDs. The first, entitled Paganini, was released in March 1999 and

included the unaccompanied tour de force, Introduction and Variations

on Nel cor piu non mi sento, a selection of sonatas, and Paganini’s

Concerto No. 1 with Osmo Vanska conducting the Lahti Symphony

Orchestra. The second CD is a violin duo recorded with Alexander Bullov,

and the third is works for unaccompanied violin by Hindemith, Ysaye,

and Schnittke as well as one of Gringolts’ own compositions.

Gringolts made his North American debut in July 1999,

performing with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, 

conducted by Pinchas Zukerman. He has also performed with the Los

Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Philadelphia

Orchestra at the Mann Music center, the National Symphony Orchestra,

and the Detroit, Minnesota, Atlanta, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras.

In Europe he has appeared with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, the

Moscow Symphony, and the Zurich and English Chamber Orchestras,

among others.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1982, Ilya Gringolts studied

violin and composition at the Saint Petersburg Special Music School

with Tatiana Liberova and Jeanna Metallidi. A recent graduate of the

Juilliard School of Music in New York City, Gringolts has also
participated in the Perlman Music Program on Long Island and a number 

of master classes with Itzhak Perlman and Miroslav Rusin. Gringolts

plays the ex-Kiesewetter Stradivarius, Cremona, c. 1723, which is on

extended loan from Clement Arrison through the generous efforts of the

Stradivarius Society of Chicago. (The Stradivarius Society is a unique

organization that supports the very highest level of string playing by

assisting patrons who own the most precious antique Italian instruments

and make them available to artists of exceptional talent and ability.) Ilya

Gringolts appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with IMG

Artists of New York City.

Program Notes

As his partitas and sonatas for solo violin constantly reveal, Bach’s

genius as an improviser was remarkable. Highly skilled at both the organ

and the harpsichord, Bach also played the violin; however, it was his

prowess at the keyboard that laid the foundation of his musical style. The

resulting highly polyphonic textures present special challenges to players

of the violin and other sustaining instruments, on which it is difficult if

not impossible to play the music exactly as Bach put it on the page.

In his essay on Bach’s partitas and sonatas, the distinguished 

Russian-born American violinist, teacher, and musicologist Boris 

Schwarz (1906-1983) wrote: “With due respect to Bach’s predecessors, 

they are all dwarfed by Bach’s accomplishments. With infinite

inventiveness, he explores the possibilities of the unaccompanied violin.

Bach deals with a melody instrument; yet he is able to create the illusion

of two, three, and even four voices moving contrapuntally. He creates the

illusion of a melody accompanied by a bass [as well as] the illusion of

harmony embedded in a single horizontal line. How to transform these

‘illusions’ into audible reality is one of the most challenging tasks for the

violinist.”

The intrinsic musical value of Bach’s solo violin works was not

recognized or appreciated by subsequent generations of string players.

Although they were used as a pedagogical aid by violin teachers, the

partitas and sonatas were not brought to the concert stage until the end of

the nineteenth century, when the great Hungarian-born violinist Joseph

Joachim began to play them on his programs.

The Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002, uses four dance

movements that were characteristic of the suite format prevalent during the

eighteenth century. Each of the four movements is paired with a

double variation that is expressed in half the time value of the original.

The robust dotted rhythmic figures and chords of the Allemande are the

ruling forces within the movement; at the same time the high and low

registers of the violin are effectively contrasted. The Double that follows

the Allemande reiterates the concept with harmonic embellishment. In

% time, the homophonic Courante moves in a moderately fast tempo. The

vivacity of its Double is enhanced by the rapidly executed sixteenth notes

that produce a virtuoso flair. The majestic Sarabande, set in % meter, has

a lovely melody that is supported by a harmonic base; its Double

liquefies the chords, changing them into more expressive melodic lines.

The Bourree has attained a “favorite son” status among violinists who

play Bach’s works as well as listeners who love his music. Schwarz, in

his summation of this movement, concludes by saying: “There is

irresistible rhythmic propulsion in the punctuation of heavy chords on

strong beats, alternating with light and graceful staccato notes. This

movement, as well as [its] ensuing Double, reveals Bach’s intimate

knowledge of violin technique.”

Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003, is also cast in a fourmovement arrangement, but this format has no doubles and recalls the

sonata da chiesa (church sonata) of the seventeenth century. The number

of movements may reach as many as seven, but Bach chose to use four,

with the alternating tempo pattern slow-fast-slow-fast. Sonata No. 2

opens with a movement marked Grave that features an elongated,

soulful, and highly ornamented melody with a sparse chordal

accompaniment defining its harmonic composition. The second 

movement in all three Bach solo sonatas is a fugue. The fugue in this

sonata is sanguine and effervescent, but its overall effect is somewhat

overshadowed by the mood of disquietude that settles in during the

intrusion of poignant chomaticisms. Schwarz finds this “the most

‘violinistic’ [of the three sonatas’ fugal second movements]. The string