of stillness, as on the sea just at the turning of the tide. From this mood

emerge linear movements with Gregorian inflections and the occasional 

echo of sounds of nature. Space Mirror: Here the first violin and the

cello contrast their extreme registers in pure and calm lines, interrupted 

by moments of alarm. The piece eventually returns to its point of

departure, as in the illusion of a mirror or retrograde movement.

Litanies: The ‘pivot chord,’ entrusted since the beginning of the work to

the low strings, reappears here in animated and intense form, with

violence and insistence. Litanies 2: This section uses modal chant based 

on four, then five tones, always similar, but announced in different 

orders. Constellations sets up a central pitch around which the sonorous

events twist themselves and accumulate. In contrast to the first Nocturne,

Nocturne 2 is filled with motions and vivacity, all maintained within an

atmosphere of mystery. The final section, Suspended Time, evokes the

mood of the first section. A kind of clockwork motion is suspended over 

a base of harmonics like distant bells.”

The first movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet, Opus 59, No. 3,

begins as the Dutilleux work ended, with a passage that seems devoid of

direction and time. It is not long, however, before the movement 

becomes jaunty and upbeat, with two exuberant themes. The second

movement also begins mysteriously, with a heavy, despondent theme in

the violin over repeated staccato notes in the cello. But, with the arrival 

of the second theme, a mood of warmth and activity takes over. The third 

movement is a traditional eighteenth-century minuet with a sharp,

penetrating trio. The last movement sets forth its mood immediately, 

with soft but very rapid passages in all instruments. Beethoven endows 

every note with force and energy that work to propel the music forward.

This feature, combined with the build-up of voices playing the fugal

theme at fullfortissimo, results in an ending of stunning impact.

Program notes by Elliott Conklin

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please he sure that all

electronic devices are turned off.

The Sixtieth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2396th Concert

MENDELSSOHN STRING QUARTET

MYRIAM FRIED, violin NICHOLAS MANN, violin

ULRICH EICHENAUER, viola MARCY ROSEN, cello

Sunday Evening, 11 November 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, East Garden Court

Admission free
PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in A Major

Opus 18, No. 5 (1800)

Allegro 

Menuetto 

Andante cantabile 

Allegro

“Ainsi la nuit” for String Quartet

Nocturne 

Miroir d’espace 

Litanies 

Litanies 2

Constellations 

Nocturne 2

Temps suspendu

INTERMISSION

Beethoven String Quartet in C Major (“Eroica”)

Opus 59, no. 3 (1805-1806)

Introduzione: Andante con moto; allegro vivace

Andante con moto quasi allegretto 

Menuetto: Grazioso 

Allegro molto

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can he heard on the second Sunday of each month

at 9:00 p.m. on WGMS, 103.5 FM.

(1770-1827)

Henri Dutilleux 

(b. 1916)

Two decades into its musical career, the Mendelssohn String Quartet

holds a reputation as one of the very finest in skill and creativity.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The Mendelssohnians [play] with

fierce physicality and emotional abandon, intelligent insight, and

supreme technique.” Venues in which the quartet has appeared include

Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall,

the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Library of Congress. The Mendelssohn

Quartet has also toured The Netherlands, England, Italy, and

Switzerland. It was the only American ensemble invited to appear at the

First International Dialogues Festival in Kiev, Ukraine. Resident quartet

of the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival and the North Carolina 

School of the Arts, the Mendelssohn Quartet also holds the prestigious 

position of Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University.

Graceful in its Mozartian melodies, the opening Allegro of

Beethoven’s Quartet in A Major winds effortlessly and whimsically 

through successive ideas in a somewhat spare texture countered by

forceful counterpoint, a brisk temperament, and colorful harmonies.

Breaking from traditional quartet design, Beethoven places the Menuetto

as the second movement, rather than the third. Full of sanguine 

melodiousness, this movement borders on a lean Haydnesque texture, 

and its second section is endowed with a dark harmonic color. The Andante

cantabile is a set of variations that comprise the heart of the quartet. It

has antecedents in the variations that occur in both Haydn’s Quartet in D

Major, Opus 20, No. 4, and Mozart’s Quartet in A Major, KV 464. The

final Allegro also owes a debt to Mozart, as it borrows a theme from the

same quartet.

Henri Dutilleux was born in Angiers, France, and studied at the Paris

Conservatory under Henri-Paul Busser and Jean and Noel Gallon. His

career as a composer has been simultaneous with a life of public service,

in that he has held important administrative positions in French musical

life, most notably as chief of the music division of French National

Radio.

For his string quartet, Dutilleux has provided the following notes:

“'Ainsi la nuit’ (‘Thus the Night’) is divided into seven episodes. The

titles of the sections refer, as does the overall title, to a certain poetic or

spiritual atmosphere, not to a narrative idea. Nocturne: The mood is one