Now almost one hundred years old, Dohnanyi’s Serenade

in C Major, Op. 10 continues to maintain its high popularity

among the devotees and practitioners of chamber music. At

the time of its publication (1904), Dohnanyi was twenty-six

years old, a first-rate pianist, and enamored with the creative

style and compositional technique ofBrahms, who was his hero.

The music of Dohnanyi is marked by imaginative tints and

concentrated utterances that are the hallmark of the romantic

movement. Firmly entrenched in the classical mode, however,

Dohnanyi emulated the traditional harmonies and fundamental

forms he found in Brahms’ music. Molded into five movements,

the Serenade borrows an eighteenth-century form that originated

with Mozart. Three diverse inner movements are preceded

and followed by marches, making a total of five movements.

Besides honoring the eighteenth century in his use of form,

Dohnanyi revived the string trio, a genre that had lost its

appeal with most composers of the nineteenth century, who

found its design and resonant capabilities too limited for their

range of expression.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

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

The use ofcameras or recording devices

during theperformance is not allowed.

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery ofArt

2324th Concert

JACQUES THIBAUD STRING TRIO

Burkhard Maiss, violin Philip Douvier, viola

Uwe Hirth-Schmidt, cello

Sunday Evening, 21 November 1999

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1827)

PROGRAM

Trio in C Minor

Op. 9, No. 3

(1797-1798)

Allegro con spirito

Adagio con espressione

Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace

Finale: Presto

Krysztof Penderecki String Trio

(b.1933) (1990-1991)

Allegro molto 

Vivace

INTERMISSION

Ernst von Dohnanyi 

(1877-1960)

Serenade, Op. 10

(1902)

Marcia: Allegro

Romanza: Allegro non troppo, quasi andante

Scherzo: Vivace

Thema con variazioni: Andante con moto 

Rondo: Allegro vivace

Founded at the Berlin School of Arts in 1994, The Jacques

Thibaud String Trio takes its name from the great French 

violinist Jacques Thibaud (1880-1953), who, in addition to his

activities as a soloist, devoted himself to chamber music. Since

its first successful tour in 1994, the trio has traveled throughout

Europe, Japan, and the United States, receiving tremendous

acclaim from both audiences and critics. In 1995 the Jacques

Thibaud Trio was invited to perform live and to make studio

recordings for Radio Berlin and Radio Free Berlin. The

group won first prize at the Folkwang/Essen Chamber Music 

Competition in Germany, in addition to being a prizewinner

at the International Trapani Competition in Sicily. The

Jacques Thibaud String Trio appears by arrangement with Lisa

SapinkopfArtists of Berkeley, California.

The three string trios in Beethoven’s Op. 9 represent his

third and last attempt at writing in this genre. Desiring to

put the string trio on a par with the string quartet, Beethoven

fulfilled his quest incomparably in this group, which had as

its prototype his Op. 3 (Trio in E-flat Major) and Op. 8 (Serenade

in D Major). As stated by Joseph Schmidt-Gorg (Ludwig van

Beethoven, Bicentennial Edition, 1110-1910)’. “The principles of

construction developed in the masterly piano and chamber

music pieces are...combined with a technique of writing for

three instruments...[that] here attains full and consistent

maturity.” The String Trio, Op. 9, No. 3, with its melancholy 

key of C Minor, has four movements that are exhilarating,

particularly in the light of the limitations imposed upon the

composer by the three-instrument medium.

Penderecki’s String Trio (1990-1991), complete in two

movements, was commissioned by the Tale String Quartet.

The following description of the trio is given by Per F. Broman:

“The trio begins with aggressive and primitive staccato chords.

These chords are interrupted by solo cadenzas for each of the

instruments, first the viola, then the cello, and finally the violin.

This allows a demonstration of the instruments’ individual

[sound qualities] and their inherent possibilities.... In this

work the viola plays an important role. Penderecki makes full

use ofthe lyrical properties ofthe instrument in order to create

the atmosphere for the [interceptive] interludes. The final

movement is a fugue that uses previous thematic material.

Toward the end, the chromatic [motivic] cells and furious

chords confront each other.”