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 after 6:30 pm 

is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

Mailing address

2000b South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-third Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery of Art

2,538th Concert

National Gallery Orchestra

Emil de Cou, guest conductor

Sara Nichols and Nancy Stagnitta, flutists

June 5, 2005

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
Program

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Suite bergamasque (1890-1905)

Orchestrated by Andre Caplet and Gustave Cloez

Prelude: Moderate

Menuet: Andantino 

Clair de lune

Passepied: Allegretto ma non troppo

Franz and Karl Doppler (1812-1883; and 1825-1900)

Fantaisie sur des motifs hongrois op. 35 (c. i860)

Sara Nichols and Nancy Stagnitta, flutists

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony no. 4 in B-fat Major, op. 60

Adagio; allegro vivace

Adagio

Allegro vivace

Allegro ma non troppo

The Musicians

NATIONAL GALLERY ORCHESTRA

The National Gallery Orchestra was founded in 1943 and initially consisted 

of approximately twenty-five players who were also members ofthe National

Symphony. Gradually growing in numbers, it eventually reached the size

and status of a symphony orchestra. The ensemble undertakes the full range 

of chamber and symphonic repertoire and has frequently presented first

performances of works by American composers, most notably the 1953 premiere ofCharles Ives’s First Symphony under the direction of Richard Bales.

EMIL DE COU

The National Gallery Orchestra welcomes as guest conductor Emil de Cou,

who is the associate conductor and WolfTrap Festival conductor ofthe

National Symphony Orchestra. In the latter capacity, he conducts all of

the National Symphony’s performances at Wolf Trap and serves as the

media spokesperson for the entire WolfTrap program. Washington audiences have enjoyed de Cou’s dynamic conducting in the traditional Labor

Day concerts on the West Lawn of the Capitol and the National Symphony’s

performances of Handel's Messiah. De Cou has also been guest conductor

for the symphony orchestras of Houston, Detroit, Montreal, Philadelphia,

St. Louis, and Milwaukee as well as many ofthe nation’s regional orchestras. He has appeared on the podium at Lincoln Center, Boston’s Symphony

Hall, and the Chicago Lyric Opera, and he was principal conductor for the 

San Francisco Symphony Pops Orchestra from 1994 to 1996. De Cou conducted the world premiere recording ofthe original version of Debussy’s

Printemps—Suite symphonique. His other recordings with orchestras reflect

his interest in American music and include works by Elliot Goldenthal 

and Charles T. Griffes.

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Bom in Los Angeles, Emil de Cou studied the French horn and the

piano. After piano studies with Herbert Blomstedt, he was admitted to the 

Music Academy of Vienna. While in Vienna, he complemented his studies

in conducting and composition by playing first horn in the Baden State

Theater Orchestra and the Mozart Opera of Salzburg. De Cou also studied

conducting under Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California.

SARA NICHOLS

Sara Nichols is the principal flutist ofthe Baltimore Opera Orchestra. An

active performer in the Baltimore and Washington areas, she has played

with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Opera 

Theater of St. Louis, the St. Louis Symphony, and at Wolf Trap. A member

ofthe National Gallery Chamber Players Wind Quintet, Nichols also performs on the Jlauto traverso as a member of Pro Musica Rara. A faculty

member of Towson University and the Baltimore School for the Arts, she 

is on the advisory board ofthe Flute Society of Washington.

NANCY STAGNITTA

A member ofthe faculty ofthe Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, 

Michigan, flutist Nancy Stagnitta performs in Washington with the National

Gallery Orchestra and the National Philharmonic and is the principal flutist 

ofthe Traverse Symphony Orchestra ofTraverse City, Michigan. She is often

called upon to perform on the piccolo with the Sarasota and Baltimore Opera

Orchestras. She was appointed by the United States Information Agency

as artistic ambassador to southern Africa, where she presented recitals and 

master classes in Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,

and Namibia. A two-time recipient ofthe Maryland State Arts Council

Individual Artist Award, Stagnitta appeared as both classical soloist and 

featured jazz artist at the 2002 National Flute Convention and has been

invited to perform again at the 2005 Convention in San Diego.

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Program Notes

Debussy’s Suite bergamasque was written at a time when the composer was

only beginning to formulate his style. The Prelude and the Menuet are

revivals ofthe romantic and classical styles, respectively, while the Passepied

is modeled on the pavane, a dance movement from the baroque period. It

is only in Clair de lune, which subsequendy became immensely popular 

on its own, that one hears a hint of Debussy’s characteristic “impressionism.” Originally composed for solo piano, the movements were arranged for

orchestra in 1927 (Clair de lune by Andre Caplet, the other movements by

Gustave Cloez) on a commission from the ballet company ofthe marquis

de Cuevas. The ballet was presented often in the 1950s under the tide L'Ange

gris (The Gray Angel).

Franz Doppler and his brother Karl were born into a family of composers and instrumentalists. Both chose the flute as their main instrument

and had significant careers as performers, conductors, and composers. 

They often toured as a duo, giving pun-loving journalists and music 

critics a golden opportunity, as their surname is the masculine form ofthe

German adjective for “double.” The Dopplers were founding members

ofthe Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra in 1853 and provided a number

of works for its repertoire, including transcriptions ofthe Hungarian

Rhapsodies by Franz Liszt.

Between 1804 and 1806 Beethoven produced some of his most monumental works, including the Symphony no. 3 (“Eroica”), the Piano Sonata

no. 23 (“Appassionata”), and the Piano Concerto no. 4. An inner need for

equilibrium may have inspired him to set aside yet another powerful work,

a symphony in the key of C minor, in favor of a gentler and more lyrical

symphony in the key of B-flat major. Because the latter was finished before

the former, it took its place as Beethoven’s Symphony no. 4. The work in 

C minor, when finally finished, became Beethoven’s Fifth.

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While he was writing the Symphony no. 4, Beethoven was a guest in

Silesia at the summer palace of one of his patrons, Prince Lichnowsky.

Another guest at the time was Count Franz von Oppersdorf, whose property 

lay just to the north ofthe prince’s estate. Oppersdorf’s love of music was

such that he hired as domestic servants only people who could play an

orchestral instrument. The count had heard Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2

in D Major and liked it so much that he commissioned a new symphony 

from the composer, paying in advance, and invited both Beethoven and

Prince Lichnowsky to be his guests for the premiere performance at his

estate. Beethoven had not completed the symphony when the date of

the performance arrived, but Oppersdorf hosted an event anyway, settling 

for a presentation by his house orchestra of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2.

In March 1807, when the Symphony no. 4 was at last finished, Beethoven

dedicated the piece to the count but “sold” it to another of his patrons,

Prince Lobkowitz, and premiered it in a private concert on the latter’s

estate. Oppersdorf understandably took offense, and he never did business

with Beethoven again.

The first movement ofthe Symphony no. 4 begins with a slow introduction that suggests a work of a mysterious and quiet nature. All at once the

mood is broken by eight crashing chords, the tempo changes to allegro

vivace, and the movement continues with humming activity and buoyancy.

After a shorter than usual recapitulation, the movement ends with a florid

coda. In the second movement a lyrical melody creates an elegant atmosphere embued with sublime emotion. The melody appears first in the 

violin section, and a second theme appears in the clarinet section. The third

movement follows the ternary aba form typical in classical symphonies.

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Beethoven calls this energetic movement a menuetto (minuet), as his predecessors Haydn and Mozart would have done, but he has definitely composed 

a scherzo. (In his later symphonies, he abandons the term menuetto altogether, as he completes the transition from classicism to romanticism.) The

fourth movement, marked by sudden dynamic changes, is cheerful to the

point of giddiness. As the end approaches, Beethoven slows the main theme

until it is barely recognizable. Then, with a sudden burst ofscales in the double bass and cello sections, he rushes the symphony to a boisterous finish.