Mendelssohn’s Quintet in B-flat Major, Op. 87, was written when he

was thirty-six years old, just two years before his untimely death.

Mendelssohn was expressively sentimental and romantic in many of his

chamber works, as is evident in his Octet in E-flat, Op. 20, and Sextet in

D, Op. 110. He divested himself of such emotional gestures in this

quintet, however, preferring instead to return to the serene and more

controlled atmosphere of the classical tradition. Music critic Allan Rich

(New York Magazine), in his critique of a performance of the work,

noted that “it (Op. 87) is a well-made work of little emotional 

consequence, aside from the pure emotion of giving pleasure to player 

and listener alike.”

The opening movement (Allegro vivace), with its hint at drama through 

the use of massive chordal tremolos, follows the layout of the sonataallegro form and is a prime example of the strengths and brilliance of

Mendelssohn’s string writing. Laid out in binary song form, the second

movement (Andante scherzando) is a typical Mendelssohnian venture

into the play world of the elf or the mischievous fairy. Oddly enough, it

is without the evanescence of his more familiar scherzos, such as those

of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream or the Octet, Op. 20; it is performed at

a lower speed with a tone that is a little less than gleeful. The third 

movement (Adagio e lento) presents a moment of sublime intervention, 

mystical yet divine. Here Mendelssohn judiciously manipulates his

strings to “suggest deep contrasts of light and shadow” (Rich). Entering 

without a break, the finale (Allegro molto vivace) may not be perceived 

to have reached the level of the previous movements, but the tension 

derived from its momentous drive and energy balances the jewel-like

quality of the sonata itself. A rarity in the repertoire of many of

contemporary chamber groups, this exceedingly animated and wellorganized quintet deserves to be reevaluated and given a permanent 

place in the repertoire.

Ernest Chausson’s Concerto in D for Violin, Piano, and String

Quartet, Op. 21, was written for and dedicated to the Belgian violinist 

Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931). In the early 1880s, Chausson took lessons

in composition from Jules Massenet (1842-1912) and Cesar Franck 

(1822-1890), but would soon feel the influence of the music of

Germany, with Richard Wagner exercising the greatest impact.

Chausson, who made every attempt in his music to avoid overindulgence 

in the follies of the declining romantic period, embraced wholeheartedly 

the prismatic harmonies of his mentors, Franck and Wagner.

Consequently, the listener is able to experience in Chausson the rapid 

surge of lyricism that is associated with French music, coupled with

repetitive exhibitions of inherent turbulence, a recurring feature in

German romantic music.

Beginning with a nucleus that is defined by a three-note motive, the

first movement of the concerto (Decide; calme; anime) unfolds in

several disjointed sections, in each of which a solo instrument vies for 

dominance. The opening theme grows out of the three-note motive and

gives away to a second theme that is presented by the solo violin. The

same instrument plays the principal melody of the second movement 

(Sicilienne: Pas vite), which is an expression of luxury and elegance, 

with a surrounding presence of intimacy. The third movement (Grave)

opens with a slow-moving chromatic passage in the bottom register of

the piano, followed by a soulful melody in the violin. The solo

instruments are the protagonists at this juncture. The finale (Pres anime)

is rhythmically energetic and harmonically spicy, bringing the work to a

brilliant close.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras or recording equipment during

the performance is not allowed.

For the convenience ofconcertgoers

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

Selectionsfrom concerts at the Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

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

The Fifty-ninth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2374th Concert

THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

David Shifrin, artistic director

The Miami String Quartet

Ivan Chan, violin Cathy Meng Robinson, violin

Chauncey Patterson, viola Keith Robinson, cello

with Ida Kavafian, violin, and Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

Sunday Evening, 25 February 2001

Seven O'clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission free
Ned Rorem

(b.1923)

PROGRAM

Autumn Music for Violin and Piano

(1996)

Felix Mendelssohn Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major

(1809-1847) Op. 87 (1845)

Allegro vivace

Andante scherzando

Adagio e lento

Allegro molto vivace

INTERMISSION

Ernest Chausson Concerto in D Major for Violin, Piano,

(1855-1899) and String Quartet, Op. 21 (1889-1891)

Decide; calme; anime

Sicilienne: Pas vite

Grave

Tres anime

The Miami String Quartet has recently been appointed to the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Chamber Music Society

H” program for emerging young musicians. The quartet won the 1989

Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and first prize at the Concert

Artists Guild New York Competition in 1992. The Miami String

Quartet’s most recent performances have included concerts in New

York, Paris, Lausanne, Champaign-Urbana, Houston, Los Angeles, and

San Diego. In addition, it maintains its own concert series in Palm

Beach, Florida, and at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The quartet

is deeply committed to the performance of new music; several new

works have been written for it by composers Maurice Gardner, Bruce

Adolphe, and David Baker, among others. Orchestral collaboration for the

quartet has included the American Sinfonietta, the New World Symphony,

and the Miami Chamber Symphony. The recording labels on which the 

quartet can be heard are Pyramid and BMG Conifer.

Violinist Ivan Chan joined the Miami String Quartet in January 1999. As

a soloist, he has appeared with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the

Detroit, Indianapolis, Houston, and New World Symphonies. He was a 

founding member of the Windham String Quartet and the Felix Quartet.

Violinist Cathy Meng Robinson, a founding member of the Miami String

Quartet, received the bachelor of music degree from the Curtis Institute of

Music and the master of music degree from the San Francisco

Conservatory of Music. As a soloist, she has performed with the Deerfield

Beach Symphony, the West Palm Beach Symphony, and the Greenville

Symphony. Violist Chauncey Patterson joined the Miami String Quartet

in 1990. His solo performances have included appearances with the Buffalo

Philharmonic, the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra, the Eastern Philharmonic,

the Blossom Festival Orchestra, and the Colorado Philharmonic. He

attended the Curtis Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music

and is currently on the faculty of the Florida International University, the

Kent/Blossom Music Festival, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Cellist

Keith Robinson, also a founding member, was a member of the Thouvel

and Montani Quartets. In 1989 he won the P.A.C.E. Classical Artist of the 

Year Award, which allowed him to engage in numerous solo performances

throughout South Florida. A member of the faculty of the Florida

International University and the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, he 

continues to perform with orchestras throughout Florida and Texas.

Violinist Ida Kavafian has performed in solo recital, as soloist with

leading orchestras, and in chamber music concerts that include duos with

her sister, violinist Ani Kavafian. An artist and board member of the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1989 to 1993, she joined

the Beaux Arts Trio for a period of six years, returning to the Society as

an artist member in 1996. She appears regularly with the Guarneri

Quartet and is the artistic director of New Mexico’s Music from Angel

Fire. A teacher at the Curtis Institute and the Mannes College of Music,

she recently co-founded the piano quartet Opus One, together with

pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, violist Steven Tenenbom, and cellist

Peter Wiley.

Anne-Marie McDermott, an artist member of the Chamber Music

Society since 1995, studied piano with Constance Keene and John

Browning at the Manhattan School of Music before winning the 1983

Young Concert Artists International Auditions. The 1987 Avery Fisher

Career Grant, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, and the Silver Medal

of the first Hamamatsu Piano Competition in Japan are also among her

many awards. As a chamber musician, she participates in various major

festivals and is a member of the Opus One Piano Quartet and the

McDermott Trio, in which the string players are her sisters, violinist

Kerry McDermott and cellist Maureen McDermott.

Ned Rorem’s Autumn Music for violin and piano is a cocommissioned work by the McKim Fund of the Library of Congress and

the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, with a grant from

the Payn Fund. In one movement, the work opens with a protracted

recitative on the violin that is both gallant and resolute in its delivery. At

the end of the violin’s introductory solo, the piano enters, changing the

milieu from an agitated state to a more placid one. Rorem depicts this

state aptly through his employment of smooth, nonarticulated passages

on the violin over extended arpeggios on the piano. Following this

period of respite there is a gradual increase in loudness in which the

violin’s full tessitura is exploited, utilizing rhythmic note groupings of

five, six, nine, and ten. The work continues with a visceral display of

technical prowess on the violin with pizzicato and bowed passages,

while the piano gives a lofty show of fulminating arpeggios covering its

full range. After a last-ditch attempt by the violin to surge once again,

the work is brought to a serene close, blending the two instruments into a

blissful autumnal state.