Serenade for Strings (Dvorák)
Encyclopedia
Antonín Dvořák
's Serenade for Strings in E major
, Op.
22, was composed in just two weeks in May 1875. It remains one of the composer's more popular orchestral works to this day.
, String Quintet No. 2, Piano Trio No. 1, the opera Vanda, and the Moravian Duets
. These were happy times in his life. His marriage was young, and his first son had been born. For the first time in his life, he was starting to be recognized as a composer, and was able to live stably without fear of poverty. He received a generous stipend from a commission in Vienna
, which allowed him to compose his Fifth Symphony and several chamber works as well as the Serenade.
Allegedly, Dvořák wrote the Serenade in just 12 days, from 3–14 May. The piece was premiered in Prague
on 10 December 1876 by Adolf Čech and the combined orchestras of the Czech and German theatres. It was published in 1877 in the composer's piano duet arrangement by Emanuel Starý in Prague. The score was printed two years later by Bote and Bock, Berlin.
With the exception of the Finale, which is in modified sonata form
, the movements follow a rough A-B-A form. It is believed that Dvorak took up this small orchestral genre because it was less demanding than the symphony, but allowed for the provision of pleasure and entertainment. He combines several expressive characteristics throughout this piece; cantabile style (first movement), slow waltz (second movement), humorous high spirits (third movement), lyrical beauty (fourth movement) and exuberance (fifth movement).1
s and cello
s introduce the lyrical main theme
of the movement over an eighth note
pulse played by the viola
s. The main theme is traded back and forth, and then the second violins play it under a soaring passage in the first violins.
At measure 31, the movement modulates
into G major
and a new dancelike theme, based on a dotted eighth note/sixteenth note rhythm, is introduced. At measure 54, the movement modulates back into E major and we see the return of the primary theme. The movement ends on three E major chords.
C-sharp minor chord
.
Part B opens with a modulation into the enharmonic
parallel major
of C-sharp minor, D-flat major. The theme of this section is developed, and then Part A returns. The movement ends on a C-sharp major chord.
. The theme is stated and subsequently developed in sections of different tempos and moods, including a foray into A major
. The most monothematic movement yet, the scherzo ends with a coda combining material from the Scherzo and Trio.
pickups appears at bar 87. A wistful recollection of the melody from the preceding Larghetto appears and then diminuendos away.
The movement's recapitulation starts with the main theme, which is followed in turn by the second and third themes. A 20-bar eighth note passage leads into a quotation of the first movement's theme, bringing the piece full circle to its point of origin. A presto coda follows, and the Serenade is ended with three E major chords.
"Just like delivering good news to someone has a positive rub-off effect on the messenger, performing Dvorak's Serenade is really a very therapeutic endeavor for performers. There is so much "pure goodness" in it. Somehow even the moments which could cast a gloomy shadow - light melancholy of the Waltz, or the fragility of the opening of Larghetto - retain the wonderfully cloudless atmosphere... The remarkable thing about Dvorak's Serenade - this "cloudless goodness" is fully sufficient for sustaining meaningful communication for nearly half an hour of music." (Misha Rachlevsky, 2000)
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Serenade for Strings in E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
, Op.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
22, was composed in just two weeks in May 1875. It remains one of the composer's more popular orchestral works to this day.
Composition and Premiere
1875 was a fruitful year for Dvořák's composing. This was the same year that he wrote his Symphony No. 5Symphony No. 5 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76, B. 54 is a classical composition by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.-The work:Dvořák composed his fifth symphony in the summer months in June and July 1875. The opus number isn't actually correct, the autograph was marked with number 24, but the publisher...
, String Quintet No. 2, Piano Trio No. 1, the opera Vanda, and the Moravian Duets
Moravian Duets
Moravian Duets by Antonín Dvořák is a cycle of 23 Moravian folk poetry settings for two voices with piano accompaniment, composed between 1875 and 1881. The Duets, published in three volumes, Op. 20 , Op. 32 , and Op. 38 , occupy an important position among Dvořák's other works. The fifteen duets...
. These were happy times in his life. His marriage was young, and his first son had been born. For the first time in his life, he was starting to be recognized as a composer, and was able to live stably without fear of poverty. He received a generous stipend from a commission in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, which allowed him to compose his Fifth Symphony and several chamber works as well as the Serenade.
Allegedly, Dvořák wrote the Serenade in just 12 days, from 3–14 May. The piece was premiered in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
on 10 December 1876 by Adolf Čech and the combined orchestras of the Czech and German theatres. It was published in 1877 in the composer's piano duet arrangement by Emanuel Starý in Prague. The score was printed two years later by Bote and Bock, Berlin.
Form
Dvořák's Serenade for Strings consists of five movements:- ModeratoTempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
- Tempo di ValseWaltz (music)A waltz, or valse from the French term, is a piece of music in triple meter, most often written in time signature but sometimes in 3/8 or 3/2...
- ScherzoScherzoA scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
: VivaceVivaceVivace is Italian for "lively" and "vivid". It is pronounced in the International Phonetic Alphabet.Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively mood .... - Larghetto
- Finale: Allegro vivace
With the exception of the Finale, which is in modified sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, the movements follow a rough A-B-A form. It is believed that Dvorak took up this small orchestral genre because it was less demanding than the symphony, but allowed for the provision of pleasure and entertainment. He combines several expressive characteristics throughout this piece; cantabile style (first movement), slow waltz (second movement), humorous high spirits (third movement), lyrical beauty (fourth movement) and exuberance (fifth movement).1
I. Moderato
The first movement starts off the Serenade in the key of E major. The second violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s introduce the lyrical main theme
Theme (music)
In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
of the movement over an eighth note
Eighth note
thumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together....
pulse played by the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s. The main theme is traded back and forth, and then the second violins play it under a soaring passage in the first violins.
At measure 31, the movement modulates
Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...
into G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
and a new dancelike theme, based on a dotted eighth note/sixteenth note rhythm, is introduced. At measure 54, the movement modulates back into E major and we see the return of the primary theme. The movement ends on three E major chords.
II. Tempo di Valse
The second movement, a waltz, opens with a lilting dance melody in C-sharp minor. The first section repeats, and the second section begins in E major. A string of eighth notes in the violins transitions into the second theme, also in E major. The first theme returns, and Part A is closed with a cadential fortissimoDynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
C-sharp minor chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
.
Part B opens with a modulation into the enharmonic
Enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently...
parallel major
Parallel key
In music, parallel keys are the major and minor scales that have the same tonic. A major and minor scale sharing the same tonic are said to be in a parallel relationship...
of C-sharp minor, D-flat major. The theme of this section is developed, and then Part A returns. The movement ends on a C-sharp major chord.
III. Scherzo: Vivace
The third movement is a lively, hyperactive Scherzo in F majorF major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
. The theme is stated and subsequently developed in sections of different tempos and moods, including a foray into A major
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
. The most monothematic movement yet, the scherzo ends with a coda combining material from the Scherzo and Trio.
IV. Larghetto
The fourth movement of the Serenade is a tranquil, wistful slow movement. The movement's flowing melodies and tender phrases form a buffer between the vigorous third and fifth movements. The third theme of the Tempo di Valse is quoted repeatedly throughout the movement.V. Finale: Allegro vivace
The fifth and final movement is a lively, off-beat finale to the Serenade, conveying the spirit of a Bohemian village dance. The principal theme of the movement is a descending figure based on thirds with an accent off the second beat. More thematic material enters at bar 32 as the violins and cellos trade calls and responses over running eighth notes played by the violas. A third theme based primarily on sixteenth noteSixteenth note
thumb|right|Figure 1. A sixteenth note with stem facing up, a sixteenth note with stem facing down, and a sixteenth rest.thumb|right|Figure 2. Four sixteenth notes beamed together....
pickups appears at bar 87. A wistful recollection of the melody from the preceding Larghetto appears and then diminuendos away.
The movement's recapitulation starts with the main theme, which is followed in turn by the second and third themes. A 20-bar eighth note passage leads into a quotation of the first movement's theme, bringing the piece full circle to its point of origin. A presto coda follows, and the Serenade is ended with three E major chords.
Quotes and Interpretation
"The Serenade (Op. 22) was aptly entitled, since at least four of its five movements (the second of which was a delightful waltz) displayed an elegant touch suggestive of gracious living accompanied by ‘serenading’ in the stately home of some eighteenth-century aristocrat; in the finale alone did the composer discard periwid and lace cuffs, and even here the junketing, though lively, was well-bred, and in the closing moments there was a delicious return to the courtliness of the opening. Pastiche perhaps, but what excellent pastiche! Since Dvorak was as yet only on the threshold of developing an individual style, it is perhaps not surprising that this slightly uncharacteristic but extremely accomplished and enjoyable Serenade is the earliest of his compositions in which a detached listener is likely to discover enchantment." (Gervase Hughes 1967)2"Just like delivering good news to someone has a positive rub-off effect on the messenger, performing Dvorak's Serenade is really a very therapeutic endeavor for performers. There is so much "pure goodness" in it. Somehow even the moments which could cast a gloomy shadow - light melancholy of the Waltz, or the fragility of the opening of Larghetto - retain the wonderfully cloudless atmosphere... The remarkable thing about Dvorak's Serenade - this "cloudless goodness" is fully sufficient for sustaining meaningful communication for nearly half an hour of music." (Misha Rachlevsky, 2000)
External links
- Program Notes from the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra: http://www.chamberorchestrakremlin.ru/corner/notes.htm
- Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/Serenade_for_Strings%2C_Op.22_(Dvořák%2C_Antonín)