CONCERTS

77TH SEASON OF

national gallery of art | february 3, 2019

Twilight Music for Horn, Piano, and Violin 

Twilight Music was written directly after my first String Quartet: both pieces move 

toward an abstract and compact way of working, in reaction to the large orchestral 

works that precede them. The quartet shows obviously, being outwardly tense and 

without illusions. The present piece shelters abstract structure origins beneath a 

warmer exterior.

The horn and the violin have little in common. Any merging must be trompel’oreille, and they share material mainly to show how differently they project it. In this 

piece, the two meet casually at the beginning, and part rather formally at the end. In 

between they follow the piano into a Presto, which dissolves into the twilight halftones that named the piece. The third section, an Antiphon, is the crux — the origin of 

the piece’s intervallic character. It is the kind of music I am drawn to, where the surface 

seems simplest and most familiar, where the piece seems to make no effort, but some 

purposeful, independent musical argument is at work.

The final section’s image of separation grows directly out of the nature of the 

instruments. This piece was commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln 

Center for performance by David Jolley, James Buswell, and Richard Goode. Such 

virtuosity as possessed by these artists allowed me to write with reckless subtlety for 

instruments, which I heard meeting best under cover of dusk.

Program note by the composer, John Harbison

PROGRAM NOTE

General Information

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and all of its programs is free of charge, 

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equipment during the performance 

is not allowed.

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—

Concerts are made possible in part 

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National Gallery of Art through The Circle. 

Reserved seating is available in recognition 

of their support. Please contact the 

development office at (202) 842-6450 or 

circle@nga.gov for more information.

—

The department of music produced 

these program notes. Copyright © 2019 

Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, 

Washington

Cover Matta, Genesis (detail), 1942, 

National Gallery of Art, Washington, 

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine 
THE ENSEMBLE

Trio Valtorna 

David Jolley, French horn 

Ida Kavafian, violin

Gilles Vonsattel, piano

February 3, 2019 | 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

John Harbison (b. 1938)

Twilight Music for Horn, Piano, and Violin

Con moto, flessibile

Presto

Antiphon: Tempo giusto

Adagio, cantabile

Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)

Violin Sonata no. 2 in G Major

Allegretto (sol majeur)

Blues. Moderato (la bémol majeur)

Perpetuum mobile. Allegro (sol majeur)

Intermission

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

Horn Trio in E-flat Major, op. 40

Andante

Scherzo (Allegro)

Adagio mesto

Allegro con brio

Bringing together the gifts of three internationally recognized artists, Trio Valtorna 

formed in 2011. After performing together at the Music from Angel Fire festival, 

renowned violinist Ida Kavafian and French horn player extraordinaire David Jolley 

decided to continue in collaboration, adding the young pianist Gilles Vonsattel to 

complete the ensemble. Fred Kirshnit, writing in the New York Sun, called Kavafian’s 

artistry “meaningful and affecting,” while the New Yorker praised Jolley’s “richly 

melancholy horn solos,” and David Weininger in the Boston Globe observed the 

“clarity and light touch” of Gilles Vonsattel. The ensemble offers chamber music 

par excellence to audiences across the United States. Trio Valtorna’s recent concert 

highlights include performances with Chamber on the Mountain in Ojai, California, 

and the Auburn Chamber Music Society.

PROGRAM