77TH SEASON OF

CONCERTS

national gallery of art | march 10, 2019
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Peter Vinograde, piano

March 10, 2019 | 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

Seven Keyboard Toccatas

Toccata in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 910

Introduction; Adagio; Fugue 1; Transition; Fugue 2

Toccata in G Major, BWV 916

Presto e staccato; Adagio; Allegro e presto

Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913 

Introduction; Chorale; Fugue 1; Adagio transition; Fugue 2

Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914 

Introduction; Fugato; Adagio; Fugue

Intermission

Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911 

Introduction; Chorale; Fugue 1; Transition; Fugue 2

Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915 

Introduction; Allegro; Transition; Fugue

Toccata in D Major, BWV 912 

Fanfare; Allegro; Adagio; Fugue 1; Con discrezione; Fugue 2

PROGRAM

Photo by Jeffrey Langford 
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THE MUSICIAN

An outstanding interpreter of J. S. Bach and contemporary composers, pianist Peter 

Vinograde regularly tours the United States, Canada, and Asia. In recent seasons, he 

has presented a world premiere in New York City of Michael Matthews’s De Reflejo a 

Fulgor for piano and digital sound; recorded Arnold Rosner’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in 

London; and appeared at prominent venues in Nanjing, Santa Fe, San Francisco, 

Singapore, Rome, Taipei, and Xiamen. This season, in addition to today’s Seven Keyboard Toccatas by Bach at the National Gallery of Art, where he first appeared in 1987, 

he gave two recitals and a master class at the new Usina Art Center in Buenos Aires.

As a chamber musician, Vinograde has appeared at the Bard, Bargemusic, Caramoor, 

and Wolftrap festivals. As a collaborative artist, he toured throughout Asia with violinist 

Midori, including her Singapore debut. He has also performed with her at the Cape 

Cod and Mostly Mozart festivals.

Vinograde’s numerous distinctions began with first prize in the 1971 J. S. Bach 

International Competition, followed by a New York debut at Carnegie Hall and a 

Lincoln Center recital at Alice Tully Hall. He has been featured on NPR’s Performance 

Today and CBC-TV’s The Journal. His CD releases are on the Albany, CBC, Decca, and 

Phoenix labels. His primary teacher was Zenon Fishbein.

In conjunction with his class, Bach for Pianists, at the Manhattan School of Music, 

Vinograde annually presents Bach recitals and lectures at conservatories and universities. Last season’s program featured Bach’s Partitas in Taiwan and at the Juilliard, and 

this season features Bach’s Italian Concerto (BWV 971) and his Toccatas at conservatories in California and Canada. Vinograde also teaches at Lehman College (CUNY).

Bach’s Seven Keyboard Toccatas are freely constructed works, all quite different, 

alternating virtuosic display, slow expressive interludes, and contrapuntal dance forms. 

The D-Major, D-Minor, E-Minor, G-Minor, and G-Major Toccatas were written during 

Bach’s early Weimar period (1708 – 1717); the F-Sharp Minor and C-Minor Toccatas 

somewhat later.

The F-Sharp Minor Toccata is the most dramatic and disturbing, consisting of a 

sweeping opening, a beautiful chorale with falling half-steps, a thorny fugue, an 

inexplicable endless sequence, and the final tragic fugue — the subject of which is an 

extension of the half-step motif of the earlier chorale. The G-Major Toccata (originally 

titled Toccata and Concerto) begins in an exuberant Italian concerto style, followed by 

an expressive adagio and gigue-like fugue. 

The D-Minor Toccata, the longest of the seven, has an organ-like opening, a 

chorale, and two fugues, one in 4/4 time and the second in 3/4 time, based on the tail 

of the first fugue subject. Between the two fugues is a haunting, slow improvisation 

with falling thirds. The E-Minor Toccata has a short, slow introduction, a contrapuntal, 

fugato section with four voices, and a longer improvisatory section with sudden 

tremolos interrupting long, expressive lines, and it ends with a dramatic three-voice 

fugue (reminiscent of the famous fugue in the D-Minor Organ Toccata), which works 

out materials from the earlier, improvisatory sections. 

The C-Minor Toccata opens with dramatic improvisation, followed by a fugal 

chorale and two fugues, the second one a variation and interpolation of the first, 

frequently using an “obstinate” motive (repetition with slight changes) before ending 

with a final improvisation. The G-Minor Toccata, the most compact and probably the 

earliest of Bach’s seven toccatas, begins and ends with the same descending and 

ascending romp. In between are a short chorale, a brisk, concerto-style dance, an even 

shorter return of the chorale, and an extended gigue-fugue, clearly illustrating a variety 

of contrapuntal devices. 

The D-Major Toccata begins with a trumpeting, exuberant motif. A dance follows — 

an improvisation (with tremolos) — then, an unusual fugue in which the counter-subject 

comes before the subject. An extended improvisation, with many outbursts, leads to 

the final virtuosic gigue-fugue (again), this time with an added coda of great difficulty 

due to its unpredictable figurations. 

Program notes by Peter Vinograde

PROGRAM NOTES
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Upcoming Events of the SeventySeventh Season of The William Nelson 

Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin Concerts

Unless otherwise noted, concerts 

are held in the West Building, West 

Garden Court.

Parthenia 

with Ryland Angel, countertenor

Celebrating Drawing in Tintoretto’s 

Venice and Venetian Prints in the 

Time of Tintoretto

Tomb Sonnets

Featuring works by Martin Kennedy, 

Luca Marenzio, Philippe Verdelot, 

Jacques Arcadelt, Cipriano de Rore, 

Girolamo Frescobaldi, and Andrea and 

Giovanni Gabrieli

March 17, 3:30

Eya

Sound Sketches 

Location will be posted the day 

of the concert.

Medieval music for women’s voices 

March 22, 3:30

Natalie Clein, cello 

Dina Vainshtein, piano

Clein’s debut United States tour, with 

works by Nadia Boulanger, Frank Bridge, 

Rebecca Clarke, and Elisabeth Lutyens

March 24, 3:30

Fauré Quartett

Works by Fauré, Mahler, and Frank Bridge

March 31, 3:30

General Information

Admission to the National Gallery of Art 

and all of its programs is free of charge, 

except as noted.

The use of cameras or recording 

equipment during the performance 

is not allowed.

Please be sure that all portable electronic 

devices are turned off.

—

Concerts are made possible in part 

through the generosity of donors to the 

National Gallery of Art through The Circle. 

Reserved seating is available in recognition 

of their support. Please contact the 

development office at (202) 842-6450 or 

circle@nga.gov for more information.

—

The department of music produced 

these program notes. Copyright © 2019 

Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, 

Washington

Italian 18th Century, Design for a Wall of a Music Room [recto], National Gallery of Art, Washington, 

Gift of William B. O’Neal, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art 
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NGA.GOV/MUSIC