The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-ninth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,841st Concert

National Gallery ofArt String Quartet

National Gallery ofArt Wind Quintet

National Gallery ofArt Piano Trio

May 8, 2011

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

(Performed without intermission)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

String Quartet in C Major, K. 465 (“Dissonant”) (1785)

Adagio; allegro

Andante cantabile

Menuetto: Allegretto

Molto allegro

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Christ unser Herr zumJordan kam, bwv 684 (1739)

Kommst du nun, jesu, vom Himmel herunter, bwv 650 (1739)

Arranged for wind quintet by Mordechai Rechtman

Concerto no. 2 nach Vivaldi, bwv 593 (c. 1714)

Allegro moderato

Adagio

Allegro

Fugue in G Minor (“Little”), bwv 578 (c. 1707)

Mozart

Piano Trio in B-jlat Major, K. 502 (1786)

Allegro

Larghetto

Allegretto

This concert is the third in a series of chamber music concerts

made possible by support from The Gottesman Fund in memory

of Milton M. Gottesman.

The Musicians

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART STRING QUARTET

The National Gallery ofArt String Quartet has performed regularly at the

Gallery since its debut in 1995. In addition to standard quartet repertoire, the

group presents rarely heard masterpieces of chamber music. The musicians

also perform under the name Sunrise Quartet, and in that capacity they

have been recognized with a Chamber Music America residency at the Duke

Ellington School ofthe Arts as well as with residencies at Concerts at the

Beach in Delaware and the Davies Concert Series in Camp Springs, Maryland.

Last month the quartet appeared on the Millennium Stage at the John F.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and in January 2009 the quartet

collaborated in concert with the renowned chamber musician and pianist

Menahem Pressler, playing music by Mozart and Schumann.

CLAUDIA CHUDACOFF

In addition to serving as concertmaster ofthe Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, the National Gallery ofArt Orchestra, and the United States Marine

Band White House Chamber Orchestra, violinist Claudia Chudacoff appears

frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in the Washington and

Baltimore areas. A member ofboth the Sunrise Quartet and the National

Gallery of Art String Quartet, she has also performed with the Contemporary

Music Forum and National Musical Arts as well as in the Embassy Series 

and at the United States Holocaust National Museum. She is featured on a

CD of chamber music by Erich Korngold released by Albany Records, and has

been heard a number oftimes on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

TERILAZAR

Violinist Teri Lazar has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the

United States, Europe, and the Middle East. She is the concertmaster ofthe

Virginia Chamber Orchestra and performs with the Richmond Chamber

Players and in Currents, a chamber music series also based in Richmond.

She earned a doctor ofmusic degree from the Catholic University ofAmerica

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and teaches violin at American University, where she is a musician in residence. Lazar has recorded chamber music for the Albany, Centaur, Klavier, and

North/South Consonance labels and has been heard on Performance Today.

OSMAN KIVRAK

With numerous concert tours of Europe to his credit, including performances

at the Spoleto Festivals in the United States and Italy, violist Osman Kivrak

brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the National Gallery ofArt

String Quartet. He also performs with the Sunrise Quartet, the Richmond

Chamber Players, and Currents and serves as artistic director of Concerts

at the Beach in Delaware and the Davies Concert Series in Camp Springs,

Maryland. A viola instructor in the applied music program at American

University, Kivrak received master ofmusic and doctor ofmusic degrees

from the Catholic University ofAmerica. Before coming to the United States,

he studied at Gazi University in Turkey and the Guildhall School of Music 

in London. He has recorded chamber music for the Amerimusic, Arizona

University Recordings, Klavier, and Living Music labels. His compositions

for viola and other instruments have been heard at the Corcoran Gallery of

Art, the Kennedy Center, and the Library of Congress.

DIANA FISH

A resident ofWashington, dc, since 1994 when she became a member of

the Marine Chamber Orchestra of “The President’s Own” United States 

Marine Band, Diana Fish currently serves as assistant principal cellist of

that ensemble. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she

studied with Orlando Cole, and continued her work at the graduate level at 

Indiana University, where her teacher was Janos Starker. Fish has been the

principal cellist ofConcert Artists of Baltimore, with whom she performed

as soloist in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano, violin, and cello. She 

has also appeared as soloist with the Marine Chamber Orchestra in Victor

Herbert’s Cello Concerto in E Minor. She is a founding member ofboth the

Sunrise Quartet and the National Gallery ofArt String Quartet.

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NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART WIND QUINTET

Since the enthusiastic public reception ofits first concert in 1995, the

National Gallery ofArt Wind Quintet has become a regular feature ofthe

Gallery’s popular Sunday evening concerts. Founded by former National

Gallery ofArt music director George Manos, the ensemble explores and

presents masterpieces of chamber music that are rarely heard as well as 

the standard classics for wind quintet. In 2007 the quintet was a featured

resident ensemble at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Vietri sul Mare, Italy.

SARA NICHOLS

Currently appearing with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Saint

Louis Symphony Orchestra, Sara Nichols was the principal flutist ofthe

Baltimore Opera for twenty-one seasons and acting assistant principal flutist

ofthe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. In addition to frequent

appearances with the National Gallery ofArt Orchestra, she performs at Wolf 

Trap, most recently in the premiere ofJohn Musto’s opera Volpone. In 2010

she was a member ofthe chamber orchestra for the world premiere performance at the Gallery of Gisle Kverndokk’s opera Max and Moritz: A Cartoon

Opera in Seven Pranks. A member ofthe music faculty ofthe Baltimore School

ofthe Arts, Nichols performs with Quintigre, the wind quintet at Towson 

University in Towson, Maryland; and Pro Musica Rara, with which she performed at the Gallery in 2009.

RONALD SIPES

Oboist Ronald Sipes studied with Marc Lifschey and received bachelor and

master ofmusic degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

He has played principal oboe in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castille y Leon

(Valladolid, Spain), the New World Symphony, and the Orquesta del Estado 

de Mexico. Since moving to the Northern Virginia area in 1994, Sipes has

played with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the National

Gallery Orchestra, the Washington Opera, and the Theater Chamber Players.

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CHRISTOPHER HITE

Born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in a musical family, clarinetist Christopher Hite received a bachelor of arts degree from Capital University, where

he studied with his father, clarinetist David L. Hite. He continued his clarinet

studies with Robert Marcellus, Earl Bates, Anthony Gigliotti, and Loren Kitt,

receiving a master ofmusic degree from the Catholic University of America.

As a member ofthe United States Air Force Band from 1974 to 1997, he

was a featured soloist in more than fifty performances worldwide. Hite has

performed regularly with many Washington area orchestras and chamber

ensembles, including the National Gallery ofArt Orchestra. He serves as

music director ofthe Dominion Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble that he

and his wife, flutist Angela Uperti-Hite, founded in 1999. He has been the

music director ofthe Manassas Ballet Theatre since 1997.

DANNY K. PHIPPS

A graduate ofthe Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was a

student ofbassoonist Sol Schoenbach, Danny IC Phipps earned the master

of arts and doctor ofmusical arts degrees from the Catholic University

ofAmerica. He was principal bassoonist with the United States Air Force

Concert Band for twenty years, retiring in 2002. From 2002 to 2006 he

served as associate dean ofthe music school at Shenandoah University in

Winchester, Virginia, where he also directed the graduate studies program

in music and taught bassoon and music history. He is presently professor of

music and chair ofthe department ofmusic and dance at Grand Valley State 

University in Allendale, Michigan.

THEODORE PETERS

A graduate ofthe Curtis Institute of Music, French horn player Theodore

Peters studied horn with Mason Jones and chamber music with John deLancie.

He continued his studies as a member ofthe New World Symphony, under

the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. He has served as principal French

horn player ofthe Baltimore Opera Company, the Chamber Orchestra of

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Philadelphia, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and L’Orchestra Communale di Firenze. Peters is currently performing with many ensembles in the

Washington, DC, area, including the National Gallery of Art Orchestra, the

National Theatre Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the PostClassical Ensemble, and the WolfTrap Opera Company.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PIANO TRIO

The newest ofthe Gallery’s resident ensembles, the Piano Trio was formed

in 2008 and has since played on several ofthe Gallery’s Sunday concerts. In

October 2009 the Trio performed a special program at the residence ofthe

Belgian Ambassador. In spring 2010 it played a complete program ofmusic

by early twentieth-century American composers in honor ofthe exhibition

American Modernism: The Skein Collection.

LUKE WEDGE

Luke Wedge received a master ofmusic degree in violin performance from

Northwestern University and a bachelor ofmusic degree in English literature

from the University of Kansas. His principal instructors included David Perry,

Gerardo Ribeiro, and Ben Sayevich. A member ofthe Covington String Quartet

from 2003-2009, Wedge has appeared as soloist and chamber musician in

Chicago, Illinois; Lawrence, Kansas; and Washington, DC. A member ofthe

United States Air Force Strings, he has also been engaged by the National

Gallery ofArt Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Ravinia

Festival Orchestra.

BENJAMIN R. WENSEL

A founding member ofthe Tarab Cello Ensemble, Benjamin R. Wensel has

performed in the premieres ofmore than twenty new works written by established and emerging American composers for that ensemble. A graduate of

the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music, Wensel

has participated in seminars and master classes conducted by members of

the Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Miami, and Ying quartets; studied chamber

music with Peter Salaff and members ofthe Audubon and Cavani Quartets;

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and participated in solo master classes with Clemens Michael Hagen, Steven 

Isserlis, and Michel Strauss. Wensel has performed with the National

Symphony Orchestra, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, the Rochester

Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra as well as

with many local ensembles. Wensel maintains a private studio in Fairfax,

Virginia, and plays with the newly formed Messiaen Quartet.

DANIELLE DESWERT HAHN

Brussels-born pianist Danielle DeSwert Hahn is a freelance collaborative

pianist and coach and the music program specialist at the National Gallery 

ofArt. She has worked as a pianist and coach with the Ash Lawn Highland

Opera Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, New

Orleans Opera Association, Portland (Oregon) Opera, San Francisco Opera

Center, Sarasota Opera, and Washington National Opera. From 2004-2006

she was the principal repetiteur with the Baltimore Opera Company and

Washington Concert Opera.

Hahn performs regularly in chamber music and voice recitals, including

performances at the Arts Club ofWashington, the Jewish Community Center

ofGreater Washington, the Kennedy Center, the Mexican Institute ofCulture,

the National Gallery, the Russian Embassy, and the White House. A former

apprentice coach under Placido Domingo at the Washington Opera, she is

currently principal pianist with the Inscape Chamber Music Project. A graduate ofthe Music Academy ofthe West, where she studied with Warren Jones 

and Anne Epperson, she earned a master ofmusic degree from the University 

of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she studied with Martin Katz, and a bachelor

ofmusic degree from the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara.

Program Notes

In 1785 Mozart wrote a set ofsix string quartets that he dedicated to his

friend and mentor Joseph Haydn. The inspiration for the six quartets came

from Haydn’s opus 33 quartets, also six in number. There is evidence that in

1782, shortly after Haydn’s opus 33 was completed, he and Mozart (along with

fellow composers Karl Dittersdorf and Johann Vanhall) participated together

in several quartet performances, giving Mozart an opportunity to hear and

grasp the style ofthe elder composer’s quartet writing, which features the

musical discourse offour equal partners.

The last of Mozart’s quartets in the set, K. 465, is in the ostensibly sunny

key of C major, but it owes its "Dissonant” nickname to its slow, tense introduction, full of unresolved dissonances over a throbbing cello line. This

disorienting Adagio gives way to the first movement’s bright main section,

marked allegro. The second movement, Andante cantabile, visits the warm

key F major, with all four instruments exploring a variety ofhighly lyrical

thematic passages. A witty, Haydnesque Minuet presents sudden dynamic

contrasts, pitting various combinations ofinstruments against one another. It

can be seen as a precursor of Beethoven’s early minuets. The brief Trio section

dips into C minor for an episode of agitated pathos. The finale (Allegro) opens

as a conventional rondo, but the music veers repeatedly into unexpected harmonic territory, including more than one minor key. Performers have varying 

opinions about this movement, some calling it comedic, others dramatic,

and still others identifying it as a bold melding ofthe two.

The National Gallery ofArt Woodwind Quintet performs four works

by Johann Sebastian Bach, as reimagined by of one ofthe great arrangers

for woodwinds, Mordechai Rechtman. A renowned bassoonist, conductor,

arranger, teacher, and educator, Rechtman left Germany in 1933 at age seven,

when his family immigrated to Israel. Between 1946 and 1991 he was 

principal bassoonist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to

his orchestral appearances and participation in music festivals worldwide,

Rechtman has devoted considerable time and energy to writing transcriptions and arrangements for wind quintet and larger wind ensembles. His

arrangements have been published by leading publishing houses, played by

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leading ensembles, and recorded in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Great

Britain, and the United States. His fresh approach to transcribing Bach’s

work has been deemed transformative by connoisseurs ofmusic for winds.

Bach’s chorale preludes for organ are peaks of human expression in

music. Though relatively short in length, each prelude presents a relationship between the music and the text that conveys both theological meaning

and emotion. Christ unser Herrzum Jordan ham, bwv 684, based on one of

the six catechism chorales by Martin Luther (1483-1546), refers to the sacrament of Holy Baptism; it features an undulating line ofsixteenth notes that

rises above the chorale melody three times, symbolizing the interaction

between the water and the person being baptized in a Christian baptismal

ceremony. Kommst du nun,Jesu, vom Himmel herunter, bwv 650, is a Lutheran

Hymn tune from the generation before Bach (mid to late seventeenth century), which he used on several occasions in cantatas and chorale preludes. 

If one were to use the human body as a metaphor for the piece, the chorale

melody is the backbone, and Bach’s expansive, flowing obbligato melody

and stepping bass line are agile arms and legs engaged in a joyful dance.

Bach first became acquainted with Antonio Vivaldi’s remarkable instrumental concertos during the early 1710s, when he was in the service ofthe 

Duke of Weimar. The scores that Bach obtained from musicians visiting the

ducal court would prove to have a tremendous influence on his own instrumental concertos as well as his writing in other genres. It was a short step

from copying borrowed scores, which was his primary means of enlarging

his library, to creating adaptations and transcriptions ofthe pieces. Concerto

no. 2 nach Vivaldi, bwv 593, is Bach’s arrangement—in fact a condensation

and refinement—of Vivaldi’s famous Concertofor Two Violins and Strings in

A Minor, rv 522, which first appeared in print in Amsterdam in 1711. In the

process ofreducing the concerto for two soloists, strings, and basso continuo 

to a work for one person to play on two keyboards and pedals, Bach not only

simplified some parts ofthe original but also tightened and enriched the 

counterpoint in Vivaldi’s music.

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Bach’s Fugue in G Minor (‘'Little”) for organ, bwv 578, carries a diminutive nickname to distinguish it from the G Minor Fantasia and Fugue, bwv

542 (“Great”). The smaller work probably dates from between 1703 and 1707,

when he was an up-and-coming organist in the city ofArnstadt. The four-anda-half-measure subject ofthis fugue is one of Bach’s most widely recognized

tunes. Over the centuries since its conception, this work has captured the 

imagination ofmany composers and has been rescored for every conceivable combination ofinstruments, including computer-generated sounds.

Mordechai Rechtman’s skillful application ofwind sonorities to the work

ranks as one ofthe finest settings ofthis fugue.

By November 1786, when Mozart wrote his Piano Trio in B-flat Major,

K. 502, the upheaval surrounding the creation, production, and staging of

The Marriage ofFigaro had passed, and he was turning his creative attention

to improving upon his previous work in several other genres. Within the span 

of a few months, he completed the famous C Major Piano Concerto, K. 503, the

seminal Symphony in D Major, K. 504 (“Prague”), and the above-mentioned 

piano trio. Moving on from the two trios he had already written, he broke

new ground by making the string instruments truly equal partners with the 

piano. Conceived with professional players in mind, the work is challenging 

and brilliant, and the composer’s satisfaction with it helped to make up for

the apparent failure ofthe premiere of Figaro in Vienna.

The trio opens with an Allegro in which sophisticated counterpoint is

plentiful. The second movement (Larghetto) is lyrical in the manner of a song

without words and features extended interplay among the three instruments.

The piano opens the concluding Allegretto, but shares the spotlight seamlessly

with the two string instruments throughout the remainder ofthe movement.

Program notes on Bach by Danny K. Phipps. Additional notes by Stephen Ackert,

head, music department, National Gallery ofArt.

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