the Graceful Maiden

) is reminiscent of a Chopin nocturne. This

lyrical dance is comprised ofa beautiful melody accompanied by 

a rocking bass figure, recalling the strumming ofa guitar.

Ginastera’s use ofnote clusters addsa modern touch to the some­

what romantic style of this slow dance. The final dance, Danza

delgaucho (Dance ofthe Clever Cowboy), closes out the set with its

motoric and rhythmic energy. This dance depicts the raw, vis­

ceral energy of the Argentinian gaucho ina wild, frenzied dance

with bolos,a device used to round up cattle, which is swung around

the body ina perilous fashion. This particular dance foreshadows

the minimalistic writing of the late twentieth-century compos­

ers, with its motoric, persistent, and often diatonic style.

Universally considered the zenith of the Spanish piano litera­

ture, Albeniz’s Iberia isa monumental compilation oftwelve mu­

sical impressions ofvarious regions, locations, and events mostly

associated with the Andalucia region of southern Spain. The

collection is divided into four books of three large-scale works,

each bearing the title ofits particular subject. The first book in

the series contains the introduction to the collection, Evocacion (Evocation), a melancholy nocturne full oflyrical sentiment, suggesting both the composer’s longing for his beloved country and

the evocative qualities in each ofthe ensuing compositions. The

second piece, entitled Elpuerto (The Harbor), isa lively portrait

of the atmosphere surrounding the little fishing port of Santa

Maria on the Bay of Cadiz. The final piece, Fete-Dieu a Seville

(The Corpus Christi in Seville), isa programmatic depiction of the

spectacular Good Friday processions in the city of Seville.

Deeply moved by the death of his friend, the stage designer,

artist, and architect Victor Hartmann, Mussorgsky wrote Pic­

turesatan Exhibition in just one month. Having visiteda memo­

rial exhibition of Hartmann’s paintings, the composer gavea

musical impression of the various pictures (a comparison could

be made with Schumann’s Carnaval). The composer drifts from

one room ofthe exhibition to another, hence the recurringProm­

enades. While Ravel’s orchestrated version of Pictures atan Exhi­

bition is better known today, it is not considered an improve­

ment over Mussorgsky’s original piano version, which is, in its

own right,a masterpiece.

-Program notes by Gerardo Teissonniere,

adapted and edited by Elmer Booze 

-Program notes on Mussorgsky by Elmer Booze

The Fifty-seventh Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2301th Concert

GERARDO TEISSONNIERE, pianist

Sunday Evening, 25 April 1999

SevenO’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Franz Schubert Impromptus Nos. 1 and 2

(1797-1828) from Four Impromptus Op. 90 (D. 899)

(1827)

No. 1 in C Minor

Allegro molto moderato

No. 2 in E-Flat Major

Allegro

Alberto Ginastera

(1916-1983)

Danzas argentinas, Op. 2

(1937)

Danza del viejo boyero

Danza de la moza donosa

Danza del gaucho matrero

Isaac Albeniz

(1860-1909)

Iberia, Book I

(1906-1909)

1. Evocation

2. El puerto

3. Fete-Dieu a Seville

INTERMISSION

Modest Mussorgsky

(1839-1881)

Promenade

Gnomus (The Gnome)

Promenade

II vecchio castello

(The Old Castle)

Promenade

Tuileries (Children

Quarreling after Play)

The

Pictures at an Exhibition

(1874)

Bydlo (The Ox Cart)

Promenade

Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks

Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle

Promenade

The Market Place in Limoges

Catacombae (Roman Sepulcrum)

The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba-Yaga)

Great Gate of Kiev

Gerardo Teissonniere began his musical training at an early age in

San Juan, Puerto Rico, with Cecilia Talavera and Luz Hutchinson;

he continued his studies at the conservatory there with Jesus Maria

Sanroma, a former disciple ofArtur Schnabel. While still a student,

Teissonniere made his orchestral debut as soloist with the Puerto

Rico Symphony. In 1981, at the recommendation ofmusic director

Jorge Mester, he attended the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied with Jeaneane Dowis and Samuel Lipman. Guided by the inimitable VityaVronsky Babin, his academic studies were completed

at the Cleveland Institute ofMusic. Advanced post-graduate studies were pursued in Europe with two noted concert pianists, Dmitri

Bashkirov and Joaquin Achucarro. Known and respected as a

Schubert player, Teissonniere is increasingly in demand as an interpreter of the Spanish and American repertoire as well. His 1999

season includes appearances with orchestras in the United States, as

well as solo recitals featuring retrospectives ofmusic ofthe twentieth

century.

The Two Impromptus, Op. 90 (D. 899) are a part of Schubert’s two

sets offour Impromptus that were written the year before his death.

Oddly enough, only the first two from Op. 90were published during

his lifetime, by the publisher Tobias Haslinger in Vienna in 1827. It

was to be thirty years before Impromptus Three and Four came

into print through Carl Haslinger, Tobias’ son. Purportedly, the

majority of Schubert’s earlier piano pieces were extracted sonata

movements disunited from their original setting. Such a revelation

persuaded Paul Badura-Skoda, in the preface to his edition of the

Impromptus, Op. 90, to state: “The order ofpieces in both ofSchubert’s

sets ofImpromptus brings them quite close to being a sonata.” The

first Impromptu in CMinor, cloaked in sonata form, has two themes of

contrasting qualities, followed by a development section and a recapitulation that brings the work to a successful close in the key of

C major. The second Impromptu in E-flat Major is a delightful

Schubertian scherzo that has a rapid, ornamental scale and arpeggio

configuration from which a melodic pattern is outlined, while set

against a dance-like accompaniment. After a contrasting central

episode in the key of B minor, a brief return of the opening statement leads to a rapidly accelerating coda, which drives the work to

a powerful conclusion in the key of E-flat minor.

Ginastera’s Danzasargentinasis a set ofthree short contrastingworks.

The first dance, Danzadelviejo, depicts the dance ofan old cowherd

prodding his cattle slowly down the road and eventually disappearing from view. The second dance, Danza de la moza donosa (Dance of