ognized or appreciated by subsequent generations ofstring play

­

ers, who used them primarily as pedagogical aids. They were not

brought to the concert stage until near the end ofthe nineteenth

century, when the great Hungarian-born violinist,Joseph Joachim,

began to play them in his recital programs.

The remarkable musicianship oftwo Czechs, violinistJosefSlavik

and pianist Karl Maria von Booklet, inspired Schubert to com­

pose for them his seldom performed, but splendidly conceived

Fantasia in CMajor, D. 934. An episodic work, the fantasy begins

with an introduction marked andantemoderato. This leads shortly

to an allegretto section,a forceful workout that starts in minor key

and ends in major. The ensuing andantino,a theme and varia­

tions, is based on Schubert’s song, Seimirgegriisst (Greetingsto Thee).

At this point, the introductory andante returns before launching

into the allegro vivace, tagged witha presto stretto that races toa

breathtaking conclusion, marked bya tremendous burst of en­

ergy and dizzying technical acrobatics.

Composed during World War I, Janacek’s Sonatafor Violin and

Piano in its present form represents the third and final version, in

whicha Ballada that was originally composed and printed sepa­

rately replaced the second movement, while an Adagio (thought

to represent an emotional summation ofthe entire work) replaced

the last movement. Janacek wrote this, his only violin sonata,

late in his career, and it heavily reflects his attachment to his 

national heritage.

By the time Messiaen composed his Themeand Variationsfor Vio­

lin andPiano, rhythm, which had dominated his earlier composi­

tions, had become secondary to color in his scheme of composi­

tion. The Parisian music critic Jean Roy, in reviewinga perfor­

mance of this work, attempted to put into words the mysticism

of Messiaen’s music: “His inexplicable sense of time, with its

opposite, the image of eternity, are perceived as living realities....

The piece isa triumph of color and [possesses]a lyricism which

goes beyond exultation and finds rest in spiritual light and in the

Heavenly City promised to those who believe.”

Zigeunerweisen is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous

and beloved violin masterpieces. Although widely thought ofasa

derivative ofthe gypsy music ofSpain, Zigeunerweisen relates more

to the violin music of the Hungarian gypsies. Although one may

debate the success of Sarasate’s attempt to integrate all the

themes he uses into one complete whole, the work sustains the

listener’s fascination with the violin’s pyrotechnics, even as each

section stands on its own.

-Program notes by Elmer Booze

The Fifty-seventh Season of

THE WILLIAM NELSON CROMWELL and E LAMMOT BELIN CONCERTS

National Gallery of Art

2300th Concert

JENNIFER KOH, violinist

SIMONE DINNERSTEIN, pianist

Sunday Evening, February 28, 1999

SevenO’clock

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach Sonata No. 1 in G Minor for Solo Violin 

(1685-1750) BWV 1001 (c. 1720)

Franz Schubert

(1797-1828)

Adagio

Fuga: Allegro

Siciliano

Presto

Fantasia in C Major for Volin and Piano

D. 934 (1827)

Andante molto

Allegretto

Andantino; tempo I; allegro; allegretto;

presto

INTERMISSION

Olivier Messiaen Theme and Variations for

(1908-1992) Violin and Piano (1932)

Modere

Modere

Un peu moins modere

Modere, avec eclat

Vif et passionne

Tres modere

Leos Janacek

(1854-1928)

Sonata for Volin and Piano

(1913-1921)

Con moto

Ballada: Con moto

Allegretto

Adagio

Pablo Sarasate

(1844-1908)

Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs)

Opus 20, No. 1 (1878)

Though still in her early twenties, Jennifer Koh already has four

exhilarating years as a soloist behind her. Her solo career began

when she won the highest prize given at the 1994 Tchaikovsky International Competition, first prize in the 1994 ConcertArtists Guild

Competition, and an Avery Fisher career grant in 1995. A graduate

ofthe Oberlin Conservatory, she is currently studying at the Curtis

Institute with Jaime Laredo. Born in Chicago of Korean parents,

Koh performs on the 1727 Ex Grumiaux Ex General Dupont

Stradivarius violin, generously loaned to her by a private patron.

She has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Chicago and St. Louis, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Moscow Radio Symphony, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the City of London

Sinfonia. During the 1998-1999 season, she performed atWolfTrap

with the National Symphony, at Lincoln Center in the Mostly Mozart

Festival, and at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Before the season

ends, she will also have appeared with the San Diego Symphony,

the Kyushu Symphony ofJapan, the Dortmund (Germany) Philharmonic, and the Jacksonville, Florida, Philharmonic.

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a recent graduate of

the Juilliard School ofMusic, where she was a student ofPeter Serkin. 

Among her many scholarships and awards at Juilliard were the William Petschek Piano Scholarship, the Vadimir Horowitz Scholarship, and the Chopin Award. In addition to having been a pupil of

Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory

Division, Dinnerstein spent three years studying in London with

Maria Curcio, a distinguished pupil ofArtur Schnabel. Dinnerstein

has appeared widely in the United States and abroad, performing

both solo and chamber music repertoire. In the summer of 1998,

she was for the second time one of the few pianists invited to be a

fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she performed at

Ozawa Hall and in Tanglewood’s festival of contemporary music.

The SonataNo. 1 in GMinor, BWV1001, is one ofsix that Bach wrote

for solo violin. Bach’s contributions to this genre are ofa sophistication and significance that remain unchallenged even today. Although

he was an accomplished violinist, his skill as an improviser at the

keyboard was also an important factor in his creativity. The resulting highly polyphonic textures present special challenges to players

of the violin and other sustaining instruments, on which it is difficult, if not impossible, to play the music exactly as Bach wrote it.

The intrinsic musical value of Bach’s solo violin works was not rec-