The quixotic and fun-filled world of children enticed Ravel to compose a

set of piano pieces that he published as his Mother Goose Suite and later 

revised as a ballet for full orchestra. Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty is a

slow dirge played by flutes, horns, and violas. The second movement 

{Hop o’ My Thumb) describes the adventure of a miniature boy who is

lost in the woods. Irregular rhythmic pulses, representing chirping birds,

are played by the oboe and the English horn to lend credibility to the

boy’s frustration. A vintage fairy tale is presented in the third movement 

{Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas). A princess and a pagoda are

placed under the spell of the wicked fairy Magotine (pagodas are a family

of petite people made from a translucent variety of potter’s clay). The

princess is cursed in her cradle with a repugnant appearance, and the

pagoda, the ruler of a tiny kingdom, is turned into a serpent. Upon

regaining their former shapes (signaled by the sound of chiming cymbals

that end their spell), the princess and the pagoda are united in marriage to

enjoy eternal bliss. The fourth movement {The Conversation of Beauty

and the Beast) is in waltz time with two themes, one representing the

beauty, played by the clarinet, and the other representing the beast,

played by the double bassoon. The fifth movement {The Fairy Garden)

closes the suite with a reiteration of the theme from the opening

movement that announced the princess’ awakening.

Mendelssohn was just twenty-four years old when he completed his

fourth symphony, known as the Italian, after a visit to Italy in 1830. The

first movement exudes the happy atmosphere that surrounded him in

Italy. The lugubrious quality of the second movement suggests his

encounter with a pilgrims’ march in the city of Naples. The third 

movement, a smooth and elegant classical minuet with trio, is the

consummate Mendelssohn, while the finale makes use of one of Italy’s

oldest dance forms. The sixteenth-century saltarello is a jovial, frisky

dance, marked by a bouncing motif in triple time. The finale frolics with

two saltarello themes, and a third theme, a tarantella, is gracefully

executed in triplets.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The Fifty-ninth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2375th Concert

NATIONAL GALLERY ORCHESTRA

GEORGE MANOS, conductor

Sunday Evening, 4 March 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Sergei Prokofiev 

(1891-1953)

Maurice Ravel

(1875-1937)

Felix Mendelssohn 

(1809-1847)

Lieutenant Kije Suite, Op. 60

(1934)

Birth of Kije

Romance 

Kije’s Wedding 

Troika

Burial of Kije

Ma mere l’oye (Mother Goose)

(Ballet Suite) (1911)

Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty

Hop o’ My Thumb 

Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas

The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast 

The Fairy Garden

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 4 in A Major (“Italian”)

Op. 90 (1831-1833)

Allegro vivace

Andante con moto

Con moto moderato

Presto

Conductor, composer, and pianist George Manos has been director of

music at the National Gallery of Art and conductor of the National 

Gallery Orchestra since 1985. He is also artistic director of the American 

Music Festival and of the National Gallery vocal and chamber 

ensembles, which he founded. Manos’ career as a performing pianist and

teacher has included several years on the faculty of The Catholic 

University of America in Washington, DC, where he taught piano,

conducting, and chamber music. In addition, he held the directorship of

the Wilmington, Delaware School of Music, presenting an annual jazz

festival and clinic. Maestro Manos founded and directed for ten years the

renowned Kilamey Bach Festival in the Republic of Ireland and was the

music director of the 1992 Scandinavian Music Festival in Kolding,

Denmark.

Written to accompany a Russian film bearing the same title,

Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite makes reference to a sarcastic tale

aimed at exposing the foolishness of Czar Nicholas I, who misinterpreted 

a military account from one of his military assistants. Fearing that the

czar would face disgrace if told of his faux pas, his assistants conjured up

a military character whose last name ended in ki and added je to form the

name Kije. The word je is a contemptuous expletive in Russian. The first

movement (The Birth of Kije) introduces the lieutenant, whose pomp is

indicated by the comet’s offstage graduated noisy display. A military fife

and drum solo follows, feigning authenticity of purpose. In the second

movement, a tenor saxophone solo replaces the voice of the baritone that

was used in the original version. The next movement {Kije’s Wedding)

replicates a military wedding, implying wild celebration, a soldier’s

grandiosity, and his incongruous sentimentality. The fourth movement 

{Troika) resonates with the bellowing of a hearty Russian pub tune, again

assigned the saxophone. The finale {Burial ofKije) ushers in the demise

of Lieutenant Kije, as fading trumpet sounds signal his release from this

world and the end of the suite.