For the convenience of concertgoers 

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:oo pm.

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 of

the West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

N ational Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

Mailing address

2000b South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-sixth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,654th Concert

Vilnius String Quartet

Audrone Vainiuaite and Arturas Silale, violinists

Girdutis Jakaitis, violist

Augustinas Vasiliauskas, cellist

January 13, 2008

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

String Quartet in D Major, op. 18, no. 3

Allegro

Andante con moto

Allegro

Presto

Onute Narbutaite (b. 1956)

String Quartet no. 2: Atverk uzmarsties vartus

(Open the Gates of Forgetfulness)

INTERMISSION

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

String Quartet in A Minor, op. 51, no. 2

Allegro non troppo

Andante moderato

Quasi minuetto, moderato—Allegretto vivace

Allegro non assai

The Musicians

The Vilnius String Quartet made its debut in 1965 and, three years later, began

to concertize intensively when the members ofthe quartet finished their postgraduate studies under Professor Gvozdetsky at the Moscow Conservatory.

They received further training in Budapest under Professor Andras Mihaly. In

1972 the quartet won the highest award at the international competition of

string quartets in Liege, Belgium.

The Vilnius Quartet has toured in fifty countries and each year gives

approximately eighty concerts in Lithuania and abroad. It has represented the

musical culture of Lithuania at international festivals, such as the Bregenz

(Austria), Burlingster (Luxembourg), Cervantes (Mexico), December Evenings 

(Moscow), Musica Viva (Germany), West-East (France), and West Cork (Ireland) festivals. The quartet has performed in renowned music halls worldwide, 

including the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich, the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, 

the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Merkin Concert Hall and Weill Recital

Hall in New York City, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Its wide repertoire

of450 works contains more than 150 quartets by contemporary composers,

about 100 ofwhom are Lithuanian. To date, fifty Lithuanian composers have 

dedicated works to the Vilnius Quartet. Its deep comprehension ofmusic

of diverse epochs enables the ensemble to employ a wide range ofmusical

expression in interpreting Beethoven, Brahms, Cage, Haydn, Schnittke,

Schonberg, or Schulhoff.

First violinist Audrone Vainiuaite is the daughter ofthe famous Lithuanian composer Stasys Vainiunas. She studied at the state conservatories

ofmusic ofVilnius and Moscow, where her teacher was David Oistrakh. A

member ofthe Vilnius Quartet since 1965, she has been awarded the Order

of Grand Duke Gediminas, fourth class.

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Second violinist Arturas Silale studied at the Lithuanian Music Academy

under Professor J. Urba. He has played with the Vilnius String Quartet

since 1999.

Violist Girdutis Jakaitis studied at the Lithuanian Music Academy and

in Salzburg. He joined the quartet in 1996.

Cellist Augustinas Vasiliauskas studied at the state conservatories of

Vilnius and Moscow. A member ofthe quartet since 1970, he has received

the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas, fifth class. He is a professor at the

Lithuanian Music Academy.

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Program Notes

Despite the opus number assigned by Beethoven’s publisher, the String

Quartet in D Major, op. 18, no. 3, is his first completed work in this genre.

It bears a strong resemblance to the late quartets of Haydn, which were 

written during the same period (1795-1800), but Beethoven’s work is

distinguished by a more democratic distribution ofimportant themes and

motives among the four instruments. The most innovative movement is

the last (Presto), which scampers along in a breathtaking jig and ends with

a puckish grimace.

The imagery ofOnute Narbutaite’s String Quartet no. 2: Atverk uzmarsties

vartus (Open the Gates of Forgetfulness) is both tragic and lyric. The quartet

is a single movement marked by a minimal use ofresources. The transparent

polyphonic texture renders each detail clearly. Individual sections ofthe

quartet are separate domains ofsound that reflect one another and intertwine

only at transitional moments. The course of development ofthe quartet is

based upon the juxtaposition ofpassive and active elements. Serene melancholy is dominant in the first section—the sound is muffled while new

rhythmic pulsations ofrepeated seconds and thirds seem to strike new poetic 

associations. The unreal, dreamy, and subconscious moods ofthe first section

are overcome by the active element ofthe second, as diverse rhythmic patterns

are achieved by the movement ofsixteenth notes. Gradually rising to a higher

register, the music moves to a climax that, in fact, brings no resolution. It is

rather a kind ofquestion mark, which is followed not by an answer but by a

micro-reprise ofthe first section, a reminder only ofthe initial melancholy.

Brahms composed the two string quartets in his opus 51 as a contrasting

pair. Opus 51, no. 1, is gloomy and moody, but far from boring, due to its bold 

and elaborate format. The quartet on this program, Opus 51, no. 2, is imbued

with the pale warmth ofIndian summer and serves as a relaxing foil to the first

quartet when both are heard in sequence. The first movement is drenched

with thirds and sixths in the manner ofthe great opera composers Bellini and

Rossini, giving it vocality and sweetness at the same time. The slow movement

(Andante moderato) features deleting downbeats within a melodic line to give it

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insistence and forward thrust. This movement has, uncharacteristically for

Brahms, only one theme. The third movement (Quasi minuetto, moderato—

Allegretto vivace) shows Brahms in an experimental mood. The lean and bare

perfect fifths, the unexpected double interruption ofthe Vivace passage, and

the absence ofa recognizable trio in what is supposed to be the minuet movement, leave the listener who thought he knew Brahms scratching his head.

The final movement (Allegro non assai) is marked by syncopations, cross 

accents, and other rhythmic surprises. These are used to supreme effect by

the master composer to add interest and energy to the music through to

its conclusion.

Notes on Beethoven and Brahms by Stephen Ackert

Notes on Narbutaite by Riita Gaidamaviciute

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Next Week at the National Gallery 

Jeni Slotchiver, pianist

Music with North and South American origins by

Busoni, Gottschalk, Guarnieri, Guastavino,

Mignone, Viana, and Villa-Lobos

January 20, 2008

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court