27 Zuill Bailey, cellist

j. y. song, pianist

May

4 Julius Berger and

Hyun-Jung Berger, cellists

Presented in honor of the

exhibition Houdon:

Sculptor ofthe

Enlightenment

11 The Aulos Ensemble

Presented in honor of the

exhibition Houdon:

Sculptor ofthe

Enlightenment

18 Livia Sohn, violinist

25 Klaus Hellwig, pianist

Mendelssohn: Variations

concertantes

Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 4

Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello

Prokofiev: Sonata, Op. 119

Barriere: Sonata in G Major

Mozart: O Isis and Osiris

Haydn: Duet in G Major

Boccherini: Adagio and Allegro

Rameau: Suites from Les Eetes

d'Hebe and Les hides galantes

Works by Jacques Duphly and Jean

Jacques Rousseau

Works by Jonathan Berger and

Jeno Hubay

J.S. Bach, Sonata, BWV 1016

Grieg; Sonata No. 2

Beethoven: Sonata, Op. 14/2

Schumann: Davidsbiindlertanze,

Op. 6

The use of cameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed. Please he sure that cell

phones, pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Eor the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

The Sixty-first Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2453d Concert

RALPH VOTAPEK, pianist

Sunday Evening, 30 March 2003

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
Program

Claude Debussy

(1862-1918)

Twenty-four Preludes in Two Books

(1894)

Book I

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Book II

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Danseuses de Delphes

Voiles

Le vent dans la plaine

Les sons et les parfums tournent dans Pair du soir

Les collines d’Anacapri

Des pas sur la neige

Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest

La fille aux cheveux de 1 in

La serenade interrompue

La cathedrale engloutie

La danse de Puck

Minstrels

Intermission

Brouillards

Feuilles mortes

La Puerta del Vino

Les fees sont d’exquises danseuses

Bruyere

General Lavine—Eccentric

La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune

Ondine

Hommage a S. Pickwick, Esq., P.P.M.P.C.

Canope

Les tierces alternees

Feux d’artifice

The Musician

Ralph Votapek’s early triumphs as a winner of two prestigious

competitions, the Naumburg and the first Van Cliburn International

Piano Competition, were an auspicious prelude to an even more

remarkable career. His compelling keyboard style embodies the best in

twentieth-century piano traditions, combining the fire, poetry, and tonal

warmth of the grand-manner prewar era with the modern virtues of

fastidious clarity and electrifying rhythmic flair.

Ralph Votapek has made hundreds of appearances with major

orchestras under such legendary conductors as Rafael Kubelik, William

Steinberg, Joseph Krips, and Erich Leinsdorf. Featured no less than

sixteen times as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s guest soloist, he has

frequently played with the Boston Pops, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the

New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh

Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony, and

leading orchestras in Saint Louis, Houston, Dallas, Louisville, and

elsewhere.

With concerto appearances abroad including London, Lisbon,

Saint Petersburg, and the Far East, Votapek has made a special 

commitment to Latin America, where he has toured every other year for

three decades, performing in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Asuncion,

Montevideo, Sao Paulo, Caracas, Santiago, and numerous smaller cities.

In June 2000 he completed his nineteenth concert tour of South America.

He is equally familiar as a solo recitalist throughout four continents. His

guest appearances with the Juilliard String Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet,

and the New World Quartet are highlights of his extensive chamber 

music experience. The PBS network and other educational stations draw

frequently on his video series of forty recitals for broadcast throughout

the United States.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Votapek began his musical education

at age nine, when he was enrolled in the Wisconsin Conservatory of

Music. He continued his studies at Northwestern University, the

Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, where his principal teachers

were Rosina Lhevinne and Robert Goldsand.
Ralph Votapek has recorded for the RCA, London, Cambridge,

CRI, Music and Arts, Mace, Grenadilla, Concert Disc, EDUL, and Audio

Arts labels. He was the soloist on Arthur Fiedler’s last Boston Pops

recording, a Gershwin program re-released on CD by Pickwick. His most

recent CD for Ivory Classics features the music of Ginastera,

Szymanowski, Poulenc, and Piazzolla.

Presently serving as artist-in-residence at Michigan State

University in East Lansing, Ralph Votapek appears at the National

Gallery by arrangement with Parsons Artists Management of Highland

Park, Illinois.

Program Notes

Book I

1. Danseuses de Delphes (Delphic Dancers): As the title implies, is a

religious dance of the sort performed during rites in the Temple of

Apollo at Delphi [in Greece]. The music is slow, stately, and tranquil

with harmonies evocative of mystery. 2. Voiles: This title may be

translated either as “veils” or “sails,” but Debussy probably had in mind

a seascape. With the exception of six bars of pentatonic harmony, the

prelude is based on the whole-tone scale. 3. Le vent dans la plaine {The

Wind in the Plain): The music suggests a strong breeze, rather than a

mighty wind. The listener may visualize tall grass dancing about on the

plain. 4. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans Pair du soir (Sounds and

Perfumes Swirl in the Evening Air): This title is a quotation from a poem

in Baudelaire’s Les fieurs du mal. The poet speaks of the senses drinking

in the sounds and odors of evening. Debussy’s harmonies evoke the

perfumes of the night.

5. Les collines d’Anacapri (The Hills of Anacapri): Anacapri is

one of the two villages on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. From

a distance, one hears cowbells and the strains of a tarantella. The dance

tune becomes more prominent and soon we hear a Neapolitan-style

melody. A second folklike theme is introduced in the middle section. A

reminiscence of the opening dance leads to a brilliant ending. 6. Des pas

sur la neige {Footprints in the Snow): Footprints in the snow are clues to

a mysterious and seemingly endless journey. A persistent figure in the

accompaniment creates an impression of weariness. According to the

composer, the dominant rhythm “should have the sonorous value of a

melancholy ice-bound landscape.” The mood here is one of extreme

solitude. One feels a spiritual numbness. 7. Ce qua vu le vent d'ouest

{What the West Wind Saw) is a musical picture of a storm at sea, or

perhaps a storm coming off the sea, in this case, of course, the Atlantic.

8. La fdle aux cheveux de lin {The Girl with the Flaxen Hair):

The title of this well-known piece is that of a poem by Leconte de Lisle

[from his collection of poems, Chansons ecossaises]. The Girl with the

Flaxen Hair displays a simple lyricism that recalls an earlier stage in the

composer’s career. De Lisle’s poem is the song of a young Scottish girl

singing in the morning sunshine. 9. La serenade interrompue {The

Interrupted Serenade) is a Spanish-style serenade with a guitarlike 

accompaniment. The timid serenader is twice interrupted, once by a

slammed window and again by the sound of distant merrymaking. The

second interruption sparks a display of rage. The singer finishes his song

sadly and departs indifferently. 10. La cathedrale engloutie {The Sunken

Cathedral) is a musical picture of the submerged cathedral of Ys, which,

according to legend, sank off the coast of Brittany as punishment for the

sins of the populace. It rises to the surface occasionally as a warning

symbol. The piece begins calmly as submerged bells become louder, and

we hear the sound of plainchant and the boom of the organ pedal.

Gradually, the cathedral disappears from view and the ghostly sounds

grow fainter. 11. Dance de Puck (Puck's Dance): Shakespeare’s A

Midsummer Night’s Dream inspired this whimsical piece. Puck leaps

about gleefully, then stops at the sound of an elfin horn. At the end he

vanishes in a puff of smoke. 12. Minstrels: In this hilarious piece,

Debussy recalls the music hall acts that were popular early in the

twentieth century. There are passing references to dance routines and
comical stunts. Instrumental effects include those of a banjo, a drum, and

an out-of-tune cornet.

Book II

1. Brouillards (Mists): The effect of mist is produced by one hand

playing exclusively on the white keys while the other controls the black

keys. 2. Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves): The impression here is autumnal

[and tinged with] melancholy, yet beautiful with Debussy’s chords of the

ninth and eleventh. 3. La Puerta del Vino (The Wine Gate) can be

politely translated as the Gateway to the Vineyard. However, the music is

more suggestive of a gateway to drunkenness. Actually, the title is the

name of a cafe in Spain that Debussy saw on a postcard. The rhythm is

that of an incessant Habanera. 4. Les fees sont d’exquises danseuses

(.Fairies are Exquisite Dancers): This piece is light and airy, but one

doesn’t have to wait long for unexpected harmonic and tempo changes.

5. Bruyeres (Heather or Heaths) bears some similarity in form

and mood to The Girl with the Flaxen Hair. Its pastoral quality reminds

of a Scottish landscape. 6. General Lavine—Eccentric: This personage

was an old American soldier, a real character in Parisian vaudeville,

whose act consisted solely of marching stiffly around the stage with his

rifle. He was billed as one who had soldiered all his life. 7. La terrasse

des audiences du clair de lune (The Terrace for Audiences of the

Moonlight) evokes mysterious India, as one imagines a vast crowd

hypnotized by the moon. 8. Ondine: Debussy’s water sprite is not as

brilliant or as serious as Ravel’s, but it nevertheless playfully splashes

about.

9. Hommage a S. Pickwick, Esq., PPM.P.C.: After a blatant

quote of God Save the Queen, Debussy gently pokes fun at this proper 

English gentleman. Toward the end he goes off whistling a happy tune.

10. Canope: Quiet parallel chords evoke the distant star, Canopus.

11. Les tierces alternees (Alternating Thirds) is certainly the most

abstract of the Twenty-four Preludes. In the consistent pursuit of its

technical aim, [this work] could easily have been included in the set of

etudes that Debussy was to write a few years later. 12. Feux d'artifice

(Fireworks): Debussy’s fireworks at first only pop and fizzle, but soon

there are much more brilliant displays, culminating in a furious double

glissando. However, the end is quiet with a snatch of the Marseillaise.

Program notes by Ralph Votapek,

edited and adapted by Elmer Booze

Concerts at the National Gallery of Art

Under the direction of George Manos

Concerts in April and May 2003

April

6 Louis Lortie, pianist

Presented in honor of

the exhibition Frederic

Remington: The Color

ofNight

13 Valerie Tryon, pianist

Presented in honor of

the exhibition Frederic

Remington: The Color

ofNight

20 No concert

Schumann: Friihlingsnacht

Phantasiestiicke, Op. Ill

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes

Nos. 5 and 6

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9

Carnaval de Pest

Elliott Carter: Night Fantasies

Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

Chopin: Two Nocturnes

Liszt: Harmonies du soir

Granados: The Lover and the

Nightingale

Poulenc: Three Nocturnes