Category Archives: A Quick Note

Summer serenades: Stenhammar

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This Sunday Arcana returns to the serenade, looking at an example from Sweden that has acquired something of a cult following. The music of Wilhelm Stenhammar is not as well known as it might be, but his attractive orchestral canon is headed by this tuneful and airy Serenade. Cast in five movements, the piece was inspired by a trip to Italy in 1909, and completed by the Swede in 1913. Here it is performed by the Gävle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Koivula:

Published post no.2,270 – Sunday 4 August 2024

Summer serenades: Beethoven

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This Sunday Arcana’s look at the serenade alights, perhaps unexpectedly, on Beethoven. While he didn’t write in the form anywhere near as comprehensively as Mozart, Beethoven did nonetheless complete a multi-movement serenade for an unusual trio of instruments.

When Arcana visited the Serenade as part of our ongoing Beethoven series, we found that “the air of Spring, so prevalent in the sonata for piano and violin of the same name, is here in abundance too. The bright sound of the flute is one of the reasons for this, but so are the busy parts Beethoven assigns to violin and viola. There are few if any breaks for the instruments, and because of the almost complete lack of a bass instrument the piece has the lightest of textures.”

Published post no.2,239 – Sunday 16 July 2024

Summer serenades: Mozart

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As part of Arcana’s occasional Sunday look at the serenade, we cannot leave out one of the finest examples in the form. Mozart‘s Gran Partita, composed in 1781, was written for 13 instruments – wind ensemble and double bass – and is in seven movements. It is a special piece of music, not least in the third movement Adagio. Here it is in a 1991 performance from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis:

Published post no.2,232 – Sunday 7 July 2024

Another serenade for an early summer evening…

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…from the pen of Antonin Dvořák, who wrote two irresistibly charming works in the form – one for strings, and this Serenade for Wind Instruments in D minor, published as Op.44. It has quite a serious tone to begin with – but the wonderful sonorities come through, as in this performance from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, filmed in Cadogan Hall in 2021:

Published post no.2,225 – Sunday 30 June 2024

Another serenade for an early summer evening…

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…this time in the form of one of the most charming works by Johannes Brahms, his Serenade no.1 in D major. An early work – published as Op.11 – it is full of good tunes and has a sunny disposition. Here it is in a performance on period instruments, with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan:

Published post no.2,211 – Sunday 16 June 2024