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CoverJanet Sobel, Milky Way (detail),

1945, T he Museum of Modern Art, New

York, Gift ofthe artist’s family, 1968,

Digital Image © The Museum of

Modern Art/ Licensed by SCALA/Art

Resource, NY

nga.gov/music

76TH SEASON OF CONCERTS

JANUARY 14, 2018 / NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Program

Juho Pohjonen, piano

JANUARY 14, 2018/3:30

WEST BUILDING, WEST GARDEN COURT

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

Prelude, Chorale and Fugue

Prelude. Moderato

Chorale. Poco piu lento

Fugue. Tempo 1

Intermission

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Prelude and Fugue in C Major, K. 394/3833

Adagio

Andante maestoso

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fantasy in C Major, D. 760, “Wanderer”

Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo

Adagio

Presto

Allegro

2

The Musician

Celebrated as one of Finland’s most outstanding pianists,Juho Pohjonen has received

widespread acclaim for his profound musicianship and distinctive interpretations of

a broad range of repertoire from J.S. Bach to Esa-Pekka Salonen. His interpretations

are known for their intensity, thoughtfulness, and fearless musical conviction.

Pohjonen’s 2017-2018 season includes performances at Music@Menlo, the Ravinia

Festivals, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Bridgehampton

Chamber Music Festival. Recent highlights include his debuts with the Vancouver,

Baltimore, and Cleveland Symphonies. In 2016, Puhjonen debuted at the Grant Park

Music Festival, performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2, for which the Chicago

Tribune praised his “pearly tone, articulate touch and supple legato,” also noting “his

sensitivity in unfurling Chopin’s intimate musical grammar.” Additionally, Pohjonen

gave recital debuts at Beethoven-Haus in Bonn for its Klaviersommer Festival. He

also performed Mozart with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul and in Mexico’s

Palacio de Bellas Artes, with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional.

Pohjonen’s studies began in 1989, when he entered the Junior Academy of the

Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. He studied with Meri Louhos and Hui-Ying Liu at the

Sibelius Academy, where he completed his master’s degree in 2008. Pohjonen has also

participated in several master classes given by world-class pianists such as Sir Andras 

Schiff, Leon Fleisher,Jacob Lateiner, and Barry Douglas.

3
Program Notes

CHROMATIC FANTASY AND FUGUE IN D MINOR, BWV 903

The Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903 is an example ofJohann

Sebastian Bach exploring stylus fantasticus, which is a manner of composing that is

meant to surprise and dazzle, as well as to sound improvisatory, or is actually partially

improvised. This is a rare example of Bach’s interpretation of the free fantasia, a style

that his son Carl Philipp Emanuel would go on to employ in numerous compositions. It has been suggested that this piece was written in 1720 after the sudden death

of Bach’s first wife, thirty-six-year-old Maria Barbara. Performers are given several

instances to actually improvise in this work, as Bach used musical shorthand in 

various sections, allowing the performer to choose how to arpeggiate chords, as well 

as realizing the continuo accompaniment in the recitative section.

The three-part Fugue has a subject built on two ascending minor thirds filled in

chromatically. Beginning very quietly, it gradually gains momentum starting in

measure eight as the counter subject fills out the texture with sixteenth notes. The

Fugue ends triumphantly as chords are fully fleshed out and octaves race us to a

climactic end.

PRELUDE, CHORALE AND FUGUE

Cesar Franck intended to compose a prelude and fugue in the tradition ofJ.S. Bach’s

Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues. However, as he worked his musical ideas through the

process of composition, Franck realized that the transition from the Prelude to the

Fugue was too abrupt, and therefore he added the Chorale. Following the Prelude,

the Chorale’s arpeggiations enter, with the Chorale’s theme appearing three times

before the Fugue begins. The Fugue theme, baroque in nature and derived from a

melodic figuration presented first in the Prelude, enters with “false starts” and is

eventually set against the reappearing Chorale theme. Finally, the Chorale theme

combines with a descending carillon-like figure, which draws the work to a dramatic

close. Program note by Sue Anne Jager, originally written for the Gallery's 2,125th concert,

May 29, 1994, with pianist GrantJohannesen

4

PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN C MAJOR, K. 394/383A

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart seems to have been exposed to the music ofthe Bach

family by Gottfried van Swieten, who was a patron to many of the musical greats of

the classical period. In 1782, Mozart wrote to his father, “I go every Sunday at twelve

o’clock to Baron van Swieten, where nothing is played but Handel and Bach. I am 

collecting at the moment the fugues of Bach, not only of Sebastian, but also of

Emanuel and Friedemann.”

It was during this period that Mozart began to compose fugues, many of which

were abandoned. In 1782, he composed his Prelude and Fugue in C Major, K.

394/3833 for piano, which he sent to his older sister Maria Anna with the following

note attached:

I send you herewith a prelude and a three-part fugue. The

reason why I did not reply to your letter at once was that on 

account of the wearisome labor of writing these small notes, I

could not finish the composition any sooner. And, even so, it is

awkwardly done, for the prelude ought to come first and the

fugue to follow. But I composed the fugue first and wrote it

down while I was thinking out the prelude. I only hope that you 

will be able to read it, for it is written so very small; and I hope

further that you will like it. My dear Constanze is really the

cause ofthis fugue’s coming into the world. Baron van Swieten, 

to whom I go every Sunday, gave me all the works of Handel

and Sebastian Bach to take home with me (after I had played 

them to him). When Constanze heard the fugues, she absolutely

fell in love with them. Now she will listen to nothing but fugues,

and particularly (in this kind of composition) the works of

Handel and Bach. Well, as she had often heard me play fugues

out of my head, she asked me ifI had ever written any down, and

when I said I had not, she scolded me roundly for not recording

some of my compositions in this most artistic and beautiful of all

musical forms, and never ceased to entreat me until I wrote

down a fugue for her. So this is its origin.

5
FANTASY IN C MAJOR, D. 760, “WANDERER”

Franz Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy is a piano sonata in all but name, following

a typical four movement sonata structure ofAllegro, Adagio, Presto, and AJlegro,

although performed without a break between each movement. The name Fantasy

is even a bit of a misnomer, since it does not have a free form or improvisatory style.

The Fantasy gains its namesake from the opening theme of each movement,

which is taken from Schubert’s lied “Der Wanderer,” D. 489. The Fantasy is one of

the most demanding of Schubert’s works for piano both technically and thematically.

It is alleged that Schubert himself found it too difficult to play and marveled at both

the compositional and technical feats he had produced. Robert Schumann noted in

his diary that it was Schubert’s intention to “combine an entire orchestra in two hands.”

This dense texture would go on to influence the piano writing of both Schumann and

Johannes Brahms, as well as Franz Liszt, who not only transcribed it for piano and

orchestra, but also produced several manuscripts showing alternatives to certain passages, as well as a complete rearrangement of the last movement.

Upcoming Events of the SeventySixth Season of The William

Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot

Belin Concerts

Unless otherwise noted, all programs 

take place in the West Building,

West Garden Court.

Piffaro, The Renaissance Band

Celebrating Vermeer and the Masters of

Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry

January 21, 3:30

Sybarite 5

Outliers

Celebrating Outliers andAmerican

VanguardAn

January 28, 3:30

Daniel Bernard Roumain, violin

Yayoi Ikawa, piano

Redemption Songs and Sonatas

February 4, 3:30

Curtis on Tour

A Celebration ofLeonard Bernstein

February 11, 3:30

Trio con Brio Copenhagen 

To Travel Is to Live

Music by Grieg, Gade, Mendelssohn, 

and Tchaikovsky

February 18, 3:30

Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello

Noreen Polera, piano

Music by Albeniz, Brahms,

Schumann, and others 

February 25, 3:30

ETHEL

Blue Dressfor String Quanet

Music by contemporary

women composers

March 4, 3:30

Janoska Ensemble

Classical music with jazz, gypsy, tango,

Latin, and a dash of pop

March 11, 3:30

The Canales Project

This I Choose...

A celebration of the choices of

extraordinary women

March 18, 3:30

Benedetto Lupo, piano

Featuring solo piano works by Debussy

Celebrating Cezanne Ponraits

March 25, 3:30

Richard Stoltzman, clarinet 

Mika Stoltzman, marimba

Duo Cantando

April 1, 3:30

Music by Bill Douglas, Chick Corea, doru

Takemitsu, and John Zorn

Heinavanker Ensemble

Featuring ancient Estonian songs

and folk hymns

Celebrating Michel Sittow: Estonian Painter

at the Conns ofRenaissance Europe

April 8, 3:30