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Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

Mailing address

2000B South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-fourth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,545th Concert

The Takacs String Quartet

Edward Dusinberre, violin

Karoly Schranz, violin

Geraldine Walther, viola

Andras Fejer, cello

October 23, 2005

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
Program

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

String Quartet in C Major, op. 76, no. 3 (1797)

Allegro

Poco adagio, cantabile

Menuet: Allegro

Finale: Presto

Aleksandr Borodin (1833-1887)

String Quartet no. 2 in D Major (1881)

Allegro moderato 

Scherzo: Allegro

Notturno: Andante 

Finale: Andante; vivace

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

String Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 127 (1824)

Maestoso; allegro

Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile;

andante con moto; adagio molto espressivo

Scherzando vivace; presto 

Finale

The Musicians

Recognized as one ofthe world’s premiere string quartets, the Takacs ensemble plays with a virtuosic technique, intense immediacy, and consistently

burnished tone. In the thirty-one years since it was founded, the group has

explored the string quartet repertoire with passion and intellectual curiosity,

creating performances that are probing, revealing, and constantly engaging.

The quartet is based in Boulder, Colorado, where it has been in residence at

the University of Colorado since 1983. Its members were also recently named

associate artists ofthe South Bank Centre in London.

The Takacs Quartet’s repertoire ranges from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert to Bartok, Britten, Dutilleux, Janacek, and Sheng. It

has performed in virtually every music capital in North America, Europe,

Australasia, and Japan as well as at such prestigious festivals as Aspen,

Berlin, Cheltenham, City of London, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg,

Schleswig-Holstein, and Tanglewood. The ensemble is also known for its 

award-winning recordings on the Decca label, including its versions of

the late quartets by Beethoven, which won the Gramophone Award for best

chamber music performance in 2005, and its two-CD set of Beethoven’s

three “Rasumovsky” string quartets, which won the Grammy Award and

the Gramophone Award for best chamber music performance in 2002.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “The Takacs might play this repertoire better than any quartet ofthe past or present.”

The Takacs String Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt

Academy in Budapest, Hungary, by Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Karoly Schranz,

Gabor Ormai, and Andras Fejer, who were students at the academy at that

time. It first received international attention in 1977, winning first prize and

the critics’ prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian,

France. The group also won the gold medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and

Bordeaux Competitions and first prizes at the international chamber music

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competitions in Budapest (1978) and Bratislava (1981). The quartet made its

North American debut tour in 1982. In200i the Takacs Quartet was awarded

the Order of Merit ofthe Knight’s Cross ofthe Republic of Hungary.

Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the quartet in 1993, and violist Roger

Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Tapping in summer

2005. Ofthe original ensemble, violinist Karoly Schranz and cellist Andras

Fejer remain. The Takacs Quartet records exclusively for Decca/London

Records and appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with Seldy

Cramer Artists of Lafayette, California.

Program Notes

Once a staple ofstring quartet concerts, compositions by Joseph Haydn

were included in the very first such program at the National Gallery in April

1943 (with the United States Navy Band String Quartet performing). Haydn

string quartets were played in many Gallery concerts until the early 1960s, 

but between 1962 and 1994 only three were performed here, and none

have been on the program during the past eleven seasons. With the presentation in this concert of Haydn’s Quartet in C Major, op. 76, no. 3, the 

Takacs Quartet is restoring this great music to its proper prominence.

The works in opus 76 are known as the “Erdody” quartets, as they were

created for Count Joseph Erdody, a Hungarian nobleman who heard

Haydn’s compositions while a guest at the estate of Haydn’s patron, Prince

Esterhazy. By the time Haydn received Erdody’s commission in 1796, he 

was a mature composer who had developed a musical outlook and techniques that greatly enhanced the string quartet, a genre he had originated 

in the 1750s. His late quartets are distinguished by slow movements that

adopt an extremely deliberate pace and express deep melancholy, minuets

that are rapid in tempo and light in mood—more like the scherzos oflater

composers—and final movements imbued with seriousness and pathos.

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The quartet performed here carries a subtitle “Emperor,” which refers 

to one ofthe themes Haydn used in it. He borrowed the tune from a hymn

he had written to honor Emperor Franz II ofthe Hapsburg dynasty, who

reigned from 1792 to 1806. This melody achieved widespread popularity 

and was later matched with various texts to become the national anthems of

both Austria and Germany, a Masonic anthem, and an American Protestant

hymn. The theme ofthe first movement (Allegro) undergoes several transformations. It is first heard as a bright, sunny opening statement, then later 

in a murky, low-pitched rendering, and finally as a rough peasant dance.

The melody ofthe second movement is at once simple and highly emotional.

It serves as the theme for four variations, in which it is passed from the 

first violin to the second, then on to the viola and the cello. The final variation serves as an apotheosis in which all four instruments take equal part.

Aleksandr Borodin’s String Quartet no. 2 was presented in a National

Gallery program by the Gordon String Quartet in January 1945, during the 

Gallery’s third season of concerts. The same ensemble returned in 1946 to

play Borodin’s String Quartet no. 1, which was the last performance of any

work by that composer at the Gallery until 1990, when conductor George

Manos included In the Steppes ofCentral Asia in a concert by the National

Gallery Orchestra. Borodin composed his second quartet while on holiday

at a country estate near Moscow, and it was first performed in Saint

Petersburg on January 26, 1882. The Italian term cantabile (in a singing 

style) is the perfect adjective for this work, which is replete with lyrical

themes. The tender third movement (Nottumo: Andante) is one ofthe best

known movements in the entire string quartet repertoire. It inspired the 

song “And This Is My Beloved” from the Broadway musical Kismet. The 

passionately romantic melody is introduced by the cello and later combined 

with rapid ascending and descending scales.

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Although most ofthe string quartet ensembles that have appeared at

the National Gallery have included at least one Beethoven quartet in their

presentation, some ofthat composer’s eighteen quartets have not yet been 

played here. That is the case with the Quartet in E-fiat Major, op. 127,

which receives its first Gallery performance in this program. According to

critics who attended its premiere on March 6, 1825, the work received a

lackluster rendition at the hands ofthe Schuppanzigh Quartet. Stung by

the criticism, Beethoven arranged for a second reading by a different quartet 

under his direct supervision. The rehearsals for that second performance, 

which occurred twenty days later, must have been remarkable, as the completely deaf Beethoven commented on the players’ interpretation based on

his observation ofthe their bow and finger movements.

The first movement fulfills the requirements ofstandard sonata form

(first theme, second theme, development, recapitulation, and coda) but

presents a number of surprises. After a short introduction, themes are presented in groups, the first of which contains melodies ranging in mood 

from lively to forceful; this is followed by a second group, in which the

prevailing mood is gentler. The development begins with a reiteration of

the introduction, as expected, but at a louder dynamic level. Before the 

development is finished, the introductory material reappears a surprising

third time, even louder than before. Beethoven enters into the recapitulation so subtly that most listeners miss it on first hearing, and the coda

brings the movement to an unexpectedly quiet close.

The second movement ofthe Beethoven quartet (Adagio ma non troppo

e molto cantabile) is a set offive variations based on two themes. Unlike

Beethoven’s earlier examples ofthis genre, in which a theme is presented

with recognizable permutations, these variations explore complex transformations ofthe original material. The third movement (Scherzando vivace)

is as rambunctious as the preceding movement is reflective. The cello states

the rhythmically incisive main theme, which is developed in ways that call

for virtuosic feats from each instrumentalist. The Finale is one ofthe very

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few instances in Beethoven’s scores where there is no tempo indication. 

Most performers infer that the pace is meant to be fast, taking their cue

from the lighthearted first theme, the sharply accented second theme, and 

the rhythmic patterns ofthe coda.

This is the first of seven string quartet concerts to be included in the

2005-2006 season at the Gallery. Lovers ofthis repertoire will have an 

opportunity to hear other rarely played works on December 11, 2005, when 

the Pacifica String Quartet includes Janacek’s Quartet no. 2 (“Intimate

Letters”) in a program that will also include quartets by Mendelssohn and 

Beethoven, and on February 12, 2006, when the Auryn String Quartet

plays Haydn’s Quartet no. 76 (“The Fifths”) as well as masterpieces by

Bartok and Dvorak. Equally stimulating programs will be provided by the

Kronos Quartet (April 2) and the Kiujken, Eusia, and National Gallery

String Quartets (February 19, April 9, and June 4, respectively).