16

In response to the opportunity to present new American music in the

context of American art, particularly sculpture by Cy Twombly, 

Marilyn Taylor writes: “[This recital] is a collage of American musical

styles from the twentieth century. Charles VardelTs frequent choice of

texts filled with natural imagery and his musical response to them call to

mind the works of the American Impressionists. Drawing upon his skills

as an opera composer, Robert Ward paints with deft strokes the picture 

of a love affair, progressively sentimental, passionate, turbid, and at last,

funereal. With yellowed edges, his portrait compellingly speaks, through 

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s writing, of gardens, Carian hills, and lost

loves. Kenneth Frazelle’s music could be compared to the landscapes of

Arthur Dove and John Marin, in that he views events and emotions 

through a modernist’s eyes.

In George Crumb’s Apparition, each song or vocalise forms a piece of

a larger vision, eventually coalescing as a tableau. The literary and

musical materials focus on concise, highly contrasting metaphors for

existence and death. Yet Crumb’s cycle offers the listener reassurance. 

Just as in Walt Whitman’s verse, death is never depicted as an ending of

life. Instead, it is circular, always a beginning or an enriched return to a

universal life force.”

Program notes by Marilyn Taylor, adapted and edited by Elmer Booze

Notes on the Crumb song cycle by William Bland

The use of cameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience of concert goers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can he heard on the second Sunday of each month

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

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

FIFTY-EIGHTH AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Under the Direction of George Manos

6 May through 27 May 2001

Sunday Evenings at Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
2

2383d Concert

6 May 2001

DIANE SCHUUR

with

REGGIE JACKSON, drums ROGER HINES, bass

(The performer will announce her selections 

from the stage.)

“Blessed with a clear ringing voice, Diane Schuur has emerged as the

singer most likely to succeed in carrying on the broad jazz-pop tradition 

of Ella Fitzgerald” (The New York Times). “To put it mildly, Schuur 

blew the place away. The room shook. The evening came alive” (New

York Post). “Amazing vocal versatility. . .[her] status among her peers is

unquestioned” (Tower Pulse). Such acclamations have been the norm for 

jazz pianist and singer Diane Schuur, a native of Tacoma, Washington, 

who has been called “the new first lady of jazz.” She has been awarded 

two Grammies as the best jazz vocalist, and her recordings repeatedly 

top the popular music charts. Schuur was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, 

who introduced her at the 1979 Monterey Jazz Festival. Among those in

the wowed audience was jazz saxophonist Stan Getz, who remarked, “I

couldn’t believe what I heard. [Schuur] had the makings of somebody

with depth and staying power. She takes from the tradition of Ella 

[Fitzgerald] and Sarah [Vaughan], and what comes out is her own

advancement of that tradition.”

3

Diane Schuur’s career has been a whirlwind of festivals and recording 

sessions. In 1997 she received a major award from the Manhattan

Association of Cabarets and Clubs for her work at The Blue Note in

New York City. In 1999 she received the first annual Ella Fitzgerald 

Award from the prestigious Montreal International Jazz Festival for 

outstanding vocal performance in the tradition of Fitzgerald. Schuur,

who has twice played at the White House, says, “Nothing’s going to stop

me, because the only thing that limits you is your own mind, if you let it.

I feel very blessed when I’m on stage. . .1 want to go out and hug

everybody.” And that is exactly what her voice does. Diane Schuur 

appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with America’s Music

of Tucson, Arizona.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, bassist Roger Hines received a bachelor’s

degree in music theory and composition from Ohio State University, 

where he also pursued graduate studies in music. Hines toured the

United States, Mexico, and Japan with pianist Carmen Cavallaro. He was

a freelance musician in New York City from 1981 to 1986, when he

became the bassist for singer/pianist Ray Charles. From 1987 to 1988,

Hines served as a section double bassist with the Columbus (Ohio)

Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his work as Diane Schuur’s musical

director and bassist, Hines is an instructor of jazz studies at Ohio State

University.

Drummer Reggie Jackson also lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he is a

minister of music at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. Now in his

second year as drummer for Diane Schuur, he has also worked with

Venus Brown, Kim Pensyl, Marilyn Cordial, Gene Walker, and Arnett 

Howard. Jackson graduated in 1998 from Ohio State University, where

he majored in jazz studies and was active in the campus jazz ensemble 

and the mentoring choir. He has recorded with Kim Pensyl (Quiet Cafe

and Fahrenheit for Finer Arts Records, Under the Influence and

Shanachie for Cachet), soprano Faye Robinson (Remembering Marian

Anderson for D'Note Classics), and Marilyn Cordial (The Jazz Project).

The use of cameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.
4

2384th Concert

13 May 2001

THE NATIONAL MEN’S CHORUS

THOMAS BEVERIDGE, artistic director

with

ROBERT McDONALD, baritone

MARKUS COMPTON, pianist

PROGRAM

William Billings, arr. Beveridge

(1746-1800)

Randall Thompson, arr. Beveridge 

(1899-1984)

Traditional, arr. Beveridge

Daniel Pinkham

(b. 1923)

Chester

(1770)

David’s Lamentation 

(1778)

The Last Words Of David

(1949)

The Promised Land

from Alleluia for the Waters

(1994)

Before There Was Light

And Still It Rains

Wash Yourself in the Jordan 

Alleluia for the Waters

5

Charles E. Ives Four Songs

(1874-1954)

Down East (1919)

He Is There! (1917)

In Flanders Field (1919)

The Circus Band (1894)

INTERMISSION

Thomas Beveridge

(b. 1938)

It Was a Lover and His Lass

(1995)

Vincent Persichetti 

(1915-1987)

Two Songs

Song of Peace (1962)

sam was a man

Aaron Copland 

(1900-1990)

Two Folk-Song Settings

The Boatman’s Song, arr. Fine

At the River, arr. Beveridge

Aaron Copland Song of the Guerillas 

from North Star (1943)

Thomas Beveridge Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun

Cantata for Men’s Voices, Baritone Solo,

and Piano (1973)
6

The National Men’s Chorus was founded in June 1999. The ensemble 

performs the classics of the literature for male voices, arrangements of

traditional melodies composed especially for the chorus, and the rich but

rarely performed literature for male voices and orchestra. The National 

Men’s Chorus gave its first performance in the Great Hall of the Library 

of Congress at a ceremony honoring visiting Russian politicians, 

members of the duma and the Federation Council. Washington Post

music critic Joseph McLellan hailed the ensemble’s first Christmas and

Hanukkah concert as a “triumphant debut” in a performance that

displayed “polish, expression, and control.” The chorus was again

complimented in the Post for its “polished and effervescent 

performance” of Luigi Cherubini’s rarely performed Requiem for male

chorus and orchestra. The ensemble’s recent appearances include a

concert in Waterford, Virginia, and “Mozart and Jefferson,” a program 

of music of Mozart and Randall Thompson, sung at the Masonic

National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia.

Thomas Beveridge, the founder and artistic director of the National 

Men’s Chorus, has had a distinguished and versatile career in music. He

attended Harvard College, where he studied with Walter Piston, Randall

Thompson, and G. Wallace Woodworth, and sang in and composed for 

the Harvard Glee Club. He also studied conducting and composition with

the legendary French teacher, conductor, and composer, Nadia 

Boulanger (1887-1979). Beveridge’s career as a professional singer has

included three recitals at the National Gallery, as well as recitals at the

Phillips Collection, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Library of Congress.

He has composed more than five hundred original works and made

numerous arrangements for men’s voices, many of which have been

recorded on the Gothic label. His Yizkor Requiem was recorded for 

Naxos International by the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Sir

Neville Marriner conducting. Thomas Beveridge has been director of

choral activities at George Mason University and chorus master of the

Washington Opera. He is currently the artistic director of the 200-voice 

New Dominion Chorale as well as choir director of Western Presbyterian 

Church.

7

Baritone Robert McDonald, a favorite with Washington audiences, is

recognized for his diverse repertoire in opera, musical theater, recital,

and oratorio. In particular, his performances of the music of Stephen

Sondheim have attracted much attention, notably the role of Sweeney in

Sweeney Todd. He was invited to participate in the seventieth birthday 

concert for Sondheim at the Library of Congress and is currently 

appearing at the Arlington, Virginia, Signature Theater in a production of

Sondheim’s music. McDonald’s operatic appearances have included

major roles in La hoheme and The Magic Flute, among others. In

addition to having been a solo performer with major symphony

orchestras, he has performed as soloist with the Choral Arts Society of

Washington and the New Dominion Chorale.

Pianist Markus Compton is a graduate of George Mason University, 

with degrees in accompanying and music education. His teachers have

included Linda Heuer, Joseph Holt, and Dale Anthony. In addition, he

attended master classes with Andre Watts, Martin Katz, Misha Dichter,

and Leon Fleisher. Compton also accompanies the Fairfax Choral

Society and Children’s Choruses. No stranger to the stages of the

Washington metropolitan area, he has performed solo and chamber 

recitals at local churches, the Alexandria Lyceum, and the Corcoran 

Gallery of Art. Markus Compton teaches privately in Northern Virginia 

and serves as pianist and music coordinator at Chantilly Presbyterian 

Church.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience of coneertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can he heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

at 9:00 p.m. on WGMS, 103.5 FM.
8

2385th Concert

20 May 2001

JEFFREY CHAPPELL, pianist

PROGRAM

Charles Tomlinson Griffes Sonata for Piano

(1884-1920) (1917-1918)

Feroce; allegretto con moto

Molto tranquillo 

Allegro vivace

James Grant 

(b. 1954)

This (A Nocturne for Piano) 

(1995-2001)

World premiere performance

Jeffrey Chappell

(b. 1952)

Opening 

Aphrodite 

Last Fling

World premiere performance

Jazz Sonata

(2001)

INTERMISSION

9

Sotireos Vlahopoulos Three Paraphrases

(1926) (2000)

Prelude: In Homage to George Gershwin 

Rondo: In Homage to Darius Milhaud 

Canto: In Homage to Joaquin Rodrigo

World premiere performance

Samuel Barber Sonata in E-flat Minor, Op. 26

(1910-1981) (1949)

Allegro energico 

Allegro vivace e leggiero

Adagio mesto

Fuga: Allegro con spirito

“Some rise above their colleagues in how well and originally they

communicate. One [such pianist] is Jeffrey Chappell” {The New York

Times). “Chappell is remarkable in intelligence and sensitivity. His

technique is mastered to the point that one forgets it. [His] heart rules

[his] fingers” {Le Soir, Brussels). “[His] performances were fashioned 

with crispness, lightness, and mesmerizing tonal balance, and if the

powerful repeated-note figures at the opening of Ravel’s Toccata were

impressive, the final pages were simply breathtaking” {The Washington

Post). Such accolades typify the response to the artistry of Jeffrey 

Chappell, who has performed recitals and chamber music throughout the

United States and abroad. He has been a soloist with the symphony

orchestras of Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver,

Indianapolis, and Oakland. His frequent appearances with the Baltimore

Symphony Orchestra have included concerts at Carnegie Hall and Wolf
10

Trap Farm Park, as well as a substitution for Claudio Arrau on four 

hours’ notice, playing the Brahms Second Piano Concerto without

rehearsal and to critical acclaim. Chappell has toured South and Central

America with recitals in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, Suriname,

Mexico City, and San Salvador. His European engagements include

concerts in France, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, and he has also

performed in Japan and Indonesia.

Jeffrey Chappell was a scholarship student of Leon Fleisher at the

Peabody Conservatory and of Eleanor Sokoloff at the Curtis Institute.

His early studies took place in St. Louis, Missouri, as the protege of Jane

Allen. Besides being a contributing editor for Piano & Keyboard

Magazine, he is on the faculties of Goucher College in Baltimore,

Maryland, and the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC.

Charles Griffes was influenced by the music of Scriabin, Mussorgsky, 

Debussy, and Ravel, as well as the exotic aura of oriental scales. He

fashioned a unique scale of his own, loosely based on an oriental model

and incorporating semitones and augmented seconds (D, Eb, F, G#, A,

Bb, C#, D). In spite of the brevity of his career (he was active as a

composer for only thirteen years), he was at the forefront of the

American composers of his day, and his innovations resulted in music

that is identifiably American.

Written within a period of two months, Griffes’ Piano Sonata is his

only complete work in this genre and is considered his greatest work. Set

in the key of F major and consisting of three movements without pause,

the sonata begins aggressively with the Feroce; allegretto con moto. A

ferocious introductory statement is followed immediately by the entrance 

of the principal themes. A moment of particular interest occurs in the

recapitulation of this movement. The second theme returns a semi-tone

higher than it was originally presented in the exposition. The second

movement {Molto tranquillo) has the characteristics of a theme with

variations. The third movement (Allegro vivace) is driven and governed 

by vociferous outbursts of the rhythmic figure that dominated the

opening measures of the first movement. By way of contrast, a tranquil 

passage from the second movement is reintroduced toward the end of the

11

work. Some writers on American music have lauded Griffes for the

architectural layout of his sonata. One of their number, David A.

Reed, cites, in addition, its “rapid and extreme alternation of mood,

which ranges from utter calm to passionate frenzy. While technically 

demanding, [the sonata] is still more taxing emotionally....Griffes’

Sonata in F Major is one of the supreme achievements in the entire

literature for the piano, and represents one of the highest peaks of

American music in any form.”

About This (A Nocturne for Piano), James Grant writes: “Dedicated to

pianist Jeffrey Chappell and composer Ellen Lindquist, This is in an

emotional language reminiscent of Chopin, Scriabin, and Liszt. It speaks

of longing and vulnerability as we seek to accept our place within the

inevitable context of human mortality. [The work] was begun in the

summer of 1995 and completed in the spring of 2001; the sketches to

This were a fixture on [my] desk for six years, as other compositions 

were produced.”

Jeffrey Chappell describes his Jazz Sonata as follows: “It is [my] third

piano sonata incorporating jazz styles and elements into a classical 

format. The energetic first movement is cast in a compact sonata-allegro 

form. The serene second movement is in AABA popular song form,

made expansive by the slow tempo, [while] the final movement is a

spirited theme and variations, reminiscent of the typical ‘head and solos’

structure ofjazz.”

Sotireos Vlahopoulos was bom in St. Louis, Missouri, graduated from

the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and pursued doctoral

studies at Indiana University and the State University of New York. In

addition, he studied privately with American composers Roy Harris and

Virgil Thomson. He is the recipient of many awards and commissions, 

and his works have been widely published, recorded, and broadcast on

National Public Radio and the Voice of America. In 1992 the National

Gallery Orchestra, under the direction of George Manos, presented the

world premiere performance of Vlahopoulos’ The Dream Wanderer,

with Jeffrey Chappell as piano soloist. Three Paraphrases, written for

and dedicated to Jeffrey Chappell, is based on the compositional idioms

of George Gershwin’s Americana, the fratelli (clownish music) of

Darius Milhaud, and Joaquin Rodrigo’s Spanish melodicism.
12

Expressively conceived in four movements, Barber’s only sonata for 

piano comprises his Opus 26 and is undeniably at the forefront of

twentieth-century American works in this genre. Having a tonal

language all its own, it took American audiences by storm when it was

introduced by the inimitable piano virtuoso, Vladimir Horowitz, in his

1949-1950 recital season. While Horowitz surmounted successfully the

Herculean demands inherent in Barber’s score, other gifted pianists of

the 1950s and 1960s scoffed at its “unplayability.” One pianist who was

brave enough to take on the new work was Thomas Brockman, who

performed it at the National Gallery in September of 1950. Today the

Barber sonata is in the repertoire of many concert artists, both American 

and foreign.

Barber employs harmonic language that was modern for its time but

does not discard the emotional indulgence of the romantic period.

Following the outline of sonata-allegro form, the first movement 

{Allegro energico) is saturated with chromaticism. At the same time, it is

marked by an exciting rhythmic pattern, dotted-note figures that generate 

high tension in the principal theme. A contrasting cantabile section

provides a respite from the tension. The second movement {Allegro

vivace e leggiero) is a coruscating scherzo in perpetual motion and is

played predominantly in the higher portion of the keyboard. The third 

movement {Adagio mesto) pours forth an emotional melody that projects 

a funereal atmosphere. The pianist is allowed to explore the entire

chromatic scale as it ruminates over an ostinato bass. The finale {Fuga:

Allegro con spirito) is an awe-inspiring four-voice fugue that includes

inversions, retrogrades, augmentations, diminutions, and strettos; in

short, every contrapuntal device imaginable. Unleashed in a fury of

agitation, the fugue provides an immensely energetic and powerful 

ending to an original composition that continues to be regarded as a great

American musical masterpiece.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

13

2386th Concert

27 May 2001

MARILYN TAYLOR, soprano

ROBERT BREWER, pianist

Presented in honor of the exhibition Cy Twombly: The Sculpture

PROGRAM

Charles Vardell Five Songs

(1893-1962)

Matin Song

Flock of Dreams

Mother Moon

Elegy for a Tired Cook

The Marigold

Robert Ward Love’s Seasons

(b.1917) (1994)

Not in a Silver Casket

Moon, That against the Lintel of the West

Clearly My Ruined Garden as It Stood

Summer, Be Seen No More

Now by the Path I Climbed I Journey Back

Charles Vardell Four Songs

Plight of the Duchess

July Midnight 

Tristram in the Woods

Grotesque
14

Kenneth Frazelle Return

(b. 1955)

Father 

Retiring

I Went Back

INTERMISSION

George Crumb Apparition

(b. 1929) (1979)

1. The Night in Silence under Many a Star

Vocalise I: Summer Sounds

2. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

3. Dark Mother Always Gliding Near with Soft Leet

Vocalise II: Invocation

4. Approach, Strong Deliveress!

Vocalise III: Death Carol (Song of the Nightbird)

5. Come, Lovely and Soothing Death

6. The Night in Silence under Many a Star

Soprano Marilyn Taylor was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she

began her professional career as artist-in-residence with the Kentucky

Opera. She has won accolades for performances of many roles, including

Pamina, Musetta, Nannetta, Micaela, Sophie, the Governess, Eliza 

Doolittle, and Donna Elvira. She has sung with the Bonn Orchestra 

(Germany) and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, as well as the Des Moines

Metro Opera, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Dayton Opera, the

Nashville Opera, the Chattanooga Opera, and the Piedmont Opera 

Theater. Noted for the beauty of her voice and realistic interpretation of

a wide-ranging repertoire, Marilyn Taylor is equally at home performing 

music from the baroque to the avant-garde. She was the recipient of a

career grant from the Kentucky Loundation for Women

15

and a George London Grant, given to artists who demonstrate “a full

range of professional acting, musical, and vocal talent.” Possessing an

avid interest in contemporary music, she has collaborated with

composers Robert Ward, William Bolcom, Warren Benson, John

Harbison, and George Rochberg.

Having recorded on the Koch and G. Schirmer labels, Marilyn Taylor 

was most recently featured on the Albany label in The Kona Coffee

Cantata, a chamber opera by Jerre Tanner. Albany Records is also

planning to release a new recording by Marilyn Taylor and Robert

Brewer entitled Return: Art Songs ofCarolina. The CD will include the

songs from this concert by Kenneth Lrazelle, Charles Vardell, and

Robert Ward.

Marilyn Taylor studied voice at the famed Indiana University School

of Music in Bloomington. Her voice professors have included Virginia 

Zeani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, and Giorgio Tozzi. She lives in North

Carolina and performs frequently with the Winston-Salem Symphony

and the Piedmont Opera and at the North Carolina School of the Arts,

where she has taught since 1992.

Pianist Robert Brewer holds the degree of master of music in organ

from Indiana University. He is in wide demand as a choral conductor, 

clinician, vocal coach, accompanist, chamber musician, and keyboard 

soloist. Occupying the post of organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s

United Methodist Church in Houston since 1980, Brewer has also

worked with professional choral ensembles, including the Houston 

Concert Chorale, the Houston Masterworks Chorus and Chamber Choir,

and the Houston Bach Choir. He held the professorship in organ at the

University of Houston and gave organ recitals in 1989, 1992, and 1997

at Westminster Abbey in London. That project also included a weeklong residency at the Abbey by his church choir. Most recently, he led

this ensemble in a performance at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, 

Germany, and in a residency at York Minster in York, England. The St.

Paul’s United Methodist Church Choir also serves as the chorus for the

Houston Ballet, which Brewer has conducted professionally in

performances of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Poulenc’s Gloria.