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.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development

office at (202) 842-6450 or circle@nga.gov for more information.

cover: Nicholas Roerich, Costume designfor two Clownsfrom The Rite ofSpring,

1913, watercolor and pencil on illustration board, Howard D. Rothschild Collection 

on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev, MS Thr 414.4 (119). Houghton Library,

Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University, Gift of Howard D. Rothschild, 1990

The Seventy-first Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,948th Concert

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Kim Allen Kluge, music director

with

Bowen McCauley Dance

Lisa Bowen McCauley, artistic director

Presented in in honor of

Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909 - 1929:

When Art Danced with Music

May 19, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

East Building Atrium

Admissionfree
Program

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

Scheherazade, op. 35 (1888)

The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship

The Kalendar Prince

The Young Prince and Princess

Festival at Baghdad; The Sea; The Ship Breaks against a

Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman

INTERMISSION

Igor Stravinsky (1882 -1971)

The Rite ofSpring (1911-1913)

Part 1: L’Adoration de la terre (Adoration ofthe Earth)

Introduction

Les Augures printaniers (Augurs of Spring)

The celebration ofspring begins in the hills, with pipers

piping and young men telling fortunes.

Jeu du rapt (Ritual ofAbduction)

An old woman enters and begins to foretell the future.

Young girls arrive from the river, in single file. They begin

the “Dance ofthe Abduction.”

Rondes printanieres (Spring Rounds)

The young girls dance the “Spring Rounds” (Khorovod).

Jeux des cites rivales (Rituals ofthe Rival Tribes)

The people divide into two opposing groups and begin a

ritual dance ofrivalry.

Cortege du sage: Le Sage (Procession ofthe Sage)

A holy procession leads to the entry ofthe wise elders,

headed by the Sage, who brings the spring games to a

pause and blesses the earth.

Danse de la terre (Dance ofthe Earth)

The people break into a passionate dance, sanctifying and

becoming one with the earth.

Part 11: Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice)

Introduction

Cercles mysterieux des adolescentes (Mystic Circles ofYoung Girls)

The young girls engage in mysterious games, walking

in circles.

Glorification de l’elue (Glorification ofthe Chosen One)

One ofthe young girls is selected by fate, having been

caught twice in the perpetual circle, and is honored as the

Chosen One with a marital dance.

Evocation des ancetres (Evocation ofthe Ancestors)

In a brief dance, the young girls invoke the ancestors.

Action rituelle des ancetres (Ritual Action ofthe Ancestors)

The Chosen One is entrusted to the care ofthe old

wise men.

Danse sacrale (Sacrifical Dance)

The Chosen One dances to her death in the presence of

the old men.

This concert is sponsored in part by the Billy Rose Foundation.
The Musicians and Dancers

ALEXANDRIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Founded in 1954, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra has established a

reputation for thematic and multi-disciplinary programming that features a

mix of classical and contemporary music. Under the baton ofmusic director

Kim Allen Kluge, the orchestra showcases the region’s top freelance professional musicians alongside world-class soloists such as Yefim Bronfman,

Branford Marsalis, Midori, Elizabeth Pitcairn, and violinist Sarah Chang,

who will be the aso’s featured soloist next season. Each year, the orchestra

produces a five-concert main series, a children’s holiday concert, and an

annual pops concert as part ofthe Alexandria Birthday Celebration. This is

the fourth time that Maestro Kluge and the ensemble have brought a special

symphonic program to the National Gallery. Previous concerts have included

the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss, with soprano Alessandra Marc, and

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 (“Titan”).

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KIM ALLEN KLUGE

Recognized throughout the region as an orchestra builder, conductor Kim 

Allen Kluge celebrates twenty-six years as music director ofthe Alexandria

Symphony Orchestra. Noting his accomplishments, the Washington Post

wrote: “Kluge’s sense of drama was evident...relentless pressure I associate

with Arturo Toscanini,” and the Alexandria Journal wrote, “In its power, 

Kluge’s performance bore the hallmarks ofthe work ofsuch mesmerizing

conductors as Artur Nikisch and Leonard Bernstein.” Maestro Kluge has

also made his mark as an arranger, recitalist, and composer. In 2012 he and

his wife, Kathryn Vassar Kluge, collaborated to compose a musical tribute

to the Potomac River and the city ofAlexandria, Virginia, titled River Poem.

The work received its world premiere performance in February 2013.

A graduate ofthe Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Kluge pursued

graduate studies in piano and conducting at the University of Maryland and

received a conducting diploma from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in

Siena, Italy. At the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, he studied

with Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, and Simon Rattle. Kluge has been a guest

conductor ofthe Baltimore Lyric Opera, Boston Pops, Mannheim Chamber

Orchestra, Sinfonietta de Paris, and Les Solistes Parisiens.

BOWEN MCCAULEY DANCE

Now in its seventeenth season, Bowen McCauley Dance is renowned for its 

corps of professional dancers and the unique choreography of Lucy Bowen 

McCauley. Chosen to perform at Jacob’s Pillow as well as festivals in Germany, 

Mexico, and New York City, the company has performed locally at the Arlington

Arts Center, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Kenmore Performing Arts Center, 

Signature Theatre, and for the Washington Performing Arts Society. In addition to previous collaborations with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra,

the troupe has appeared with the Cantate Chamber Singers and Liz Lerman

Dance Exchange. In recognition of outstanding community service, Bowen 

McCauley Dance has received “Nonprofit ofthe Year” awards from the

Arlington Chamber ofCommerce (2009) and Leadership Arlington (2012).

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Program Notes

For his second season as director ofthe Ballets Russes in Paris (1909-1910),

Diaghilev turned for musical material to an orchestral suite by Nikolai

Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, which had become a popular favorite of

symphony orchestras worldwide since its publication in 1888. The ballet 

adaptation featured choreography by Michel Fokine and sets and costumes

by Leon Bakst. The result pleased almost everyone, except for RimskyKorsakov’s widow, Nadezhda Purgold, who protested what she saw as the

“disarrangement” of her husband’s music in this choreographic drama.

As the teacher who had the most influence on Igor Stravinsky, RimskyKorsakov is sometimes identified as Stravinsky’s musical “godfather.”

Taking on the metaphor of godparents, it can also be said that Scheherazade

is the “godmother” of The Rite ofSpring. Both works embody the Russian 

tradition ofincorporating exotic stories and customs into contemporary

musical works; both involve a series ofdramatic tableaux, as opposed to a

tightly knit plot; and both were choreographed and performed in the first 

few years ofthe Ballets Russes era. Although the harmonies and rhythms of

The Rite ofSpring are a radical departure from any precedents, both musical

scores feature bold and colorful orchestration and can be seen as distinctively Russian in their mosaic construction and ornamental motifs.

Remembering Petruchka, the charming Diaghilev-Stravinsky-Nijinsky

collaboration they had seen in 1911, the audience at the May 29,1913, opening performance of The Rite ofSpring at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees

was not prepared for what that creative trio had in store for them. Based on 

Russian folklore, the ballet tells the story of a pre-Christian Russian ritual in 

which a young girl is sacrificed in a celebration ofthe return ofspring. After

just a few moments of music, jeers and catcalls threatened to drown out the

orchestra. The audience was just about evenly divided between people who

were horrified by the heavy-footed choreography and pounding music and

those who were excited by the innovations on the stage and angered by the 

disruption. A riot broke out in the theater, and it took a squad of Paris police

to restore order.

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During the one hundred years since its premiere, The Rite ofSpring has

evolved from a shocking innovation to a staple of orchestral repertoire that

continues to fascinate audiences as well as the musicians who study and play

it. The seductive power ofthe music lies in what musicians call “the beat” or

“the groove”—an unrelenting, and at times savage pulse that tends to increase 

the pulse rate ofthe listener as well. Intended to evoke pagan rituals, this

intoxicating beat reminds audiences all over the world oftribal dances from

prehistoric times. Add to this the visceral playing techniques in the horns

and other wind instruments and the wild gesticulations ofthe dancers—

often with implicit sexual overtones—and the result can be overwhelming. 

These elements were not a part of mainstream urban culture before The Rite

ofSpring, but today they have become a dominant feature ofpopular music,

particularly rock music. Thanks to the internet, an insatiable appetite for “the 

beat” and primal music-making is a world-wide phenomenon.

Program notes based on materials provided by Kim Allen Kluge

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