accompaniment.” Imperfections in construction and style can be expected

from a young person’s initial attempt at composition. On the other hand,

even as ajewelerfinds gems among raw stones, the members ofthe National

GalleryChamber Players String Quartet have found three nearly perfect and

polished “gems” from the young Rossini’s collection. The outer movements,

taken from the first sonata, are lively and charming, while the inner

movement, from the second sonata, has a lyrical melody that is hauntingly

beautiful. Taken together, the three movements afford a satisfying sample

from the great Italian opera composer’s youthful precocity.

Bartok was twenty-seven years old when he composed his first major

chamber work, the String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 7. Subsequent

generations of performers and musicologists have agreed that it is a

masterpiece. The string quartets of Bartok and Beethoven have often

been compared and were found to have striking similarities. For example,

each quartet represents a particular creative period in the composer’s life.

Both composers wrote quartets over the entire span of their lives, and the

quartets became the vehicle for the composers’ deepest and most personal 

thoughts and feelings, a distillation of their art in its purest terms. The

opening movement {Lento) of the A Minor Quartet begins with a fugue,

at the end of which the tempo quickens, connecting it to the second

movement, a quasi scherzo-intermezzo {Allegretto). Although the first and

second movements contain touches that mimic Brahms and Wagner, the

highly animated third movement {Introduzkme: Allegro vivace) incorporates

vigorous Hungarian dance rhythms and veiled folk songs, Bartok’s special 

gift to the medium.

Like Bartok’s Op. 7, No. 1, Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13,

is his first work in this genre. In the first movement {Adagio; allegro vivace),

Mendelssohn borrows a three-note motive from the song, Frage {Question),

from his Twelve Songs, Op. 9, which forms the kernel of the first theme. A 

fugal subject is the second theme. A cavatina, reminiscent of a theme in

Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 130, is employed in the second movement

{Adagio non lento) with a short recitative. The third movement {Intermezzo:

Allegretto con moto; allegro di molto) has a refined and elegant melody over 

a pizzicato accompaniment played by the violins, with a scherzo middle

section that reminds the listener of Mendelssohn’s gift for expressing the

entertaining world of the make-believe. The fourth movement (Presto;

adagio non lento) is markedly majestic. Whereas the flavor of Frage is present

to some extent in each of the previous movements, this movement utilizes

the entire second halfofthe song, including a lengthy recitative. This material

is woven into the framework of the sonata form, bringing the entire work 

to a splendid conclusion.

Program notes by Elmer Booze

The use ofcameras orrecordingequipment

duringtheperformance is notallowed.

Forthe convenience ofconcertgoers

the Garden Cafe remains open until6:30p.m.

The Fifty-eighth Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and

F. LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery ofArt

2353d Concert

NATIONAL GALLERY CHAMBER PLAYERS

STRING QUARTET

GEORGE MANOS, artistic director

CLAUDIA CHUDACOFF, violin ERIC deWAARDT, viola

MARGARET SOPER GUTIERREZ, violin DIANA FISH, cello

Sunday Evening, 18 June 2000

Seven O’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Gioachino Rossini Selections from String

(1792-1868) Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2

Arranged for String Quartet (1804)

Moderato (from String Sonata No. 1)

Andantino (from String Sonata No. 2)

Allegro (from String Sonata No. 1)

Bela Bartok

(1881-1945)

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7

(1908)

Lento

Allegretto; adagio

Introduzione: (Allegro); allegro vivace

INTERMISSION

Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor

(1809-1847) Op. 13 (1827)

Adagio; allegro vivace

Adagio non lento

Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto; allegro di molto

Presto; adagio non lento

Selectionsfrom concerts atthe Gallery

can be heard on the second Sunday ofeach month

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

Composed of members of the National Gallery Orchestra, the National

Gallery Chamber Players String Quartet appears as a regular feature

of each season of concerts at the Gallery. Under the guidance of Gallery 

music director George Manos, the quartet has acquired a splendid

ensemble reputation since its debut performance in 1995. In addition to 

performing the standard quartet literature, the National Gallery Chamber

Players String Quartet surveys and performs rarely heard masterpieces

of chamber music.

A graduate ofthe Eastman School ofMusic, violinist Claudia Chudacoff

has among her credits several solo appearances with the National Gallery 

Orchestra under George Manos, including a recent performance ofBrahms’

Concertofor Violin, Cello, andOrchestra. Otherguest orchestral appearances have

been with the Toledo Symphony, the Louisville Ballet, and the Ann Arbor 

Symphony. She has been first violinist of the National Gallery Chamber

Players String Quartet since its inception.

Violinist Margaret Soper Gutierrez has won top prizes in both the Des

Moines and theCedar Falls/Waterloo SymphonyYouthArtists Competitions.

An active chamber and orchestral musician, she performs regularlywith the

Washington Chamber Symphony and the Washington Bach Consort and

as a substitute violinist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She is

currently enjoying a one-year appointment as a full-time violinist with the

National Symphony Orchestra.

Violist Eric deWaardt, a native of Delft, Holland, studied the viola with

Ramon Scavelli, William Lincer, and the Cleveland Quartet’s Atar Arad.

He has performed as principal violist with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra,

the Heidelberg Festival Orchestra, and the Columbus, Ohio, Symphony

Orchestra. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he has presented

recitals in Holland and in many Washington venues, including The Jewish

Community Center of Rockville, Maryland, the United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum, and the Embassy ofThe Netherlands.

Cellist Diana Fish came to Washington in 1994 as a member of the

Marine Band’s White House Chamber Orchestra. She graduated from the

Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Orlando Cole and undertook

graduate studies at Indiana University, where her teacher wasJanos Starker.

A founding member oftheWhitney Trio, she has performed throughout the

United States, including chamber music concerts at the National Gallery 

and the Phillips Collection.

Rossini’s Six Sonatasfor Strings, which he wrote at the very young age 

of twelve, were believed to be lost until they were rediscovered in the

collections of the Library of Congress after World War II. The sonatas are 

not ofthe same caliber as chamber works written by Mozart at the same age,

but they show remarkable musical skill and insight. While Mozart’s father

tutored him at an early age, Rossini’s parents, who were also professional

musicians, made no attempt to train their son. Rossini himself demurred

on the subject ofthese sonatas, saying: “These works were composed when

I was still a complete child, and before I had even once received lessons in