It was not unusual for Mozart to rework an already completed

composition, as he did in the case of the Viola Quintet in C Minor, K.

406. It appeared originally as his Serenade for Winds, K. 388. The

musicologist and Mozart biographer, Alfred Einstein, maintains that

Mozart planned to submit a set ofsix viola quintets to Friedrich Wilhelm II

of Prussia, in hopes of receiving a further commission or a court

appointment. Even though the composer accelerated the process of

completing six works by changing an extant work into a viola quintet,

there is no evidence that the full project ever came to fruition. In spite of

the reduction from eight parts in the Serenade to five in the Quintet, the

work is perfectly suited to the smaller medium and projects great power.

After a stark, ominous opening passage in unison, the first movement of

the quintet proceeds with four distinct motives, corresponding to the

following characteristics: beseeching, defiant, flirtatious, and stubborn.

The second movement moves to the major mode, and its tranquility eases

the tensions that were built up by the first movement. The third

movement, a minuet, reveals Mozart’s potential for astounding

contrapuntal writing. Once the melody has been subject to numerous

intricate contrapuntal treatments in the minuet, the Trio in rovescio (Tno

in Reverse) presents the melody both in its original form and its 

inversion. The final movement begins, as did the first, with a sober

theme. The theme is subject to seven variations, in each of which it

becomes progressively more obscure. The seventh variation carries the

work to a depth of chromatic anguish, but its positive mood is restored

by a glistening coda.

Prokofiev had already been actively composing for fifteen years when

in 1924 he wrote the music now known as his Quintet, Opus 39.

However, he had little success up to that time in selling his scores, which

were too traditional for the Paris publishers, and too unconventional for

those in New York. In need of funds, he accepted a commission to write

the music for a ballet about the circus, Trapeze, for a small traveling

dance company. The company soon folded, and the music would have

been completely forgotten had not Prokofiev reworked it into a quintet.

Stylistically related to his Second Symphony, which also dates from

1924, the quintet has six movements, the first of which calls to mind the

antics of clowns, with the woodwinds tumbling over one another. Each

of the successive movements features an unusual acoustical effect, with

special emphasis on the possibilities of the double bass in the second,

fourth, fifth, and sixth movements.

The artistry of clarinetist Richard Miihlfeld (1856-1907) was a great

inspiration for Brahms, who in 1891 wrote two major works with

Miihlfeld in mind: the Trio in A Minor, Opus 114, and the Quintet, Opus

115. In a letter to his friend Eusebius Mandyczeweski, the ever selfdeprecating Brahms referred to the latter as a “piece of foolishness” that

he was trying to “nurse along.” The work, to the contrary, is a 

masterpiece in its genre, displaying the clarinet’s most telling effects,

from the high wail of its clarino register to the dark, romantic shades of

its low chalumeau range. On the occasion of the quintet’s first

performance on 12 December 1891 in Berlin, Miihlfeld was the

clarinetist, with the Joachim Quartet providing the other four parts.

The Fifty-ninth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

at 9:00p.m. on WGMS, 103.5 FM.

2355th Concert

NEW YORK CHAMBER SOLOISTS

Allen Blustine, clarinet Melvin Kaplan, oboe

Helen Kwalwasser, violin Michael Roth, violin and viola

Ynez Lynch, viola Matthew Herren, cello

Lisa Chin, double bass

Sunday Evening, 1 October 2000

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756-1791)

Viola Quintet in C Minor

K. 406 (1787)

Sergey Prokofiev

(1891-1953)

Johannes Brahms

(1833-1897)

Allegro

Andante

Menuetto in canone; trio al rovescio

Allegro

Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin,

Viola, and Double Bass (1924)

Moderato: Tema con variatione

Andante energico

Allegro sostenuto ma con brio

Adagio pesante

Allegro precipitato, ma non troppo presto

Andantino

INTERMISSION

Quintet in B Minor

Op. 115 (1891)

Allegro

Adagio

Andantino; presto non assai, ma con sentimento

Con moto

Since 1957 the New York Chamber Soloists have been acclaimed as an 

outstanding ensemble of distinguished virtuosi, performing widely diverse

repertoire in creatively programmed concerts. Eleven musicians make up

the core ensemble of strings, winds, and keyboard. In response to the

demands of the repertoire, the Chamber Soloists, with the help of guest

artists, have increased their number to as many as twenty. This flexibility

has allowed the group to perform many works that are seldom heard,

owing to the unusual instrumental combinations for which they were

written. The Chamber Soloists’ programming innovations have included

Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concerti in a single concert; the complete

Mozart horn concerti; and song cycles, cantatas, and operas from Claudio

Monteverdi to Hugh Aitken. The ensemble has appeared at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and at the Mostly

Mozart, Sun Valley, and Caramoor Festivals. The New York Chamber

Soloists appear at the National Gallery by arrangement with Melvin

Kaplan, Inc., ofBurlington, Vermont.

Allen Blustine is one of New York’s busiest and most versatile

clarinetists. He has performed with a broad spectrum of musical

organizations, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the New York

Philharmonic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Chamber Music

Society ofLincoln Center. He teaches at Columbia University.

For more than twenty-five years, Melvin Kaplan, founder and oboist of

the New York Chamber Soloists, has been one of the nation’s most

influential figures in chamber music. As a soloist, he premiered works by

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ezra Laderman, Hugh Aitken, Karl Korte, and

William Sydeman. He is a regular lecturer and performer at The

Metropolitan Museum of Art and was on the faculty ofthe Juilliard School

for more than twenty years.

Violinist Helen Kwalwasser has concertized throughout North and

South America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. A graduate

ofthe Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School, she

has played with the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, the Princeton Chamber

Orchestra, the American Chamber Orchestra, and the Galimir Quartet. She

is professor of violin at Temple University, from which she received the

Creative Achievement Award in 1984.

Violinist Michael Roth is a member of both the American Composers

Orchestra and the New Orchestra of Westchester, Connecticut, and a

former member of the critically acclaimed Oberlin Piano Trio. A graduate

of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he taught at the University of

Massachusetts, where he received the Julian Olvesky Award. A regular

participant in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Saratoga, and Vermont Mozart

Festivals, he currently teaches at the Westchester Conservatory ofMusic.

Violist Inez Lynch is a charter member ofthe Chamber Soloists. She has

appeared as soloist with the Musica Aetema Orchestra and the Festival

Orchestra ofNew York and has performed with the Fine Arts and Emerson

String Quartets. She was a member of the original cast for the groundbreaking New York Pro Musica production and recording of The Play of

Daniel.

Cellist Matthew Herren has appeared in chamber music and recital

performances throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, France, and

Italy. The long list of festivals at which he has performed includes

Ravinia, Sarasota, New York’s Alice Tully, and Philadelphia’s Mozart

on the Square. A founding member of the Concertante Chamber

Ensemble, the Yellowstone Music Festival, and the Boston Modem

Orchestra Project, he serves as principal cellist with the Manhattan

Chamber Orchestra.

Double bassist Lisa Chin graduated from the Manhattan School of

Music in 1996. In 1997 she toured Europe with the American Institute of

Musical Studies Festival Orchestra and participated in the National

Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ “Grammys in the Schools”

program. She has performed with the Riverside Symphony, the

Allentown, Pennsylvania, Symphony, the Seoul Symphony of New

York, and the Manhattan Virtuosi.