Serenade for Wind Instruments (Dvořák)

Serenade for wind instruments, cello and double-bass in D minor (Czech: Serenáda pro dechové nástroje d moll), Op. 44, B. 77, is a chamber composition by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The work is dedicated to composer and music critic Louis Ehlert who highly credited the Slavonic Dances in the German press.

It was created in 1878, shortly after the première of the opera The Cunning Peasant, alongside 15 other compositions for the Austrian State Stipendium. The work was premiered on 17 November 1878 at a concert featuring exclusively Dvořák's works, with the Prague orchestra of the Provisional Theatre (Czech: Prozatímní). The composition was performed under the composer's baton.

The Serenade evokes the old-world atmosphere of the musical performances on the castles of the Rococo period, where the worlds of the aristocracy and the common folk merged.^[1] It is composed in a "Slavonic style" (shortly before the Slavonic Dances), and the middle part of the second movement contains rhythms reminiscent of the furiant dance form.^[2]

Structure

The work consists of four movements:

	"Antonín Dvořák, Serenade op.44, I Moderato quasi marcia Performed by the Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra (Reinhold Behringer) with digital samples
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• I. Moderato, quasi marcia

	"Antonín Dvořák, Serenade op.44, II Minuetto Performed by the Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra (Reinhold Behringer) with digital samples
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• II. Minuetto. Tempo di minuetto

	"Antonín Dvořák, Serenade op.44, III Andante con moto Performed by the Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra (Reinhold Behringer) with digital samples
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• III. Andante con moto

	"Antonín Dvořák, Serenade op.44, IV Finale Performed by the Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra (Reinhold Behringer) with digital samples
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• IV. Finale. Allegro molto

The Serenade is written for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and for three horns. The composer later added parts for cello and double bass to enhance the force of the bass line.^[2] The double bassoon part was attached ad lib, since in Dvořák's time it was not easy to obtain this unusual instrument.^[2]

In popular culture

An excerpt from the third movement is performed by a chamber ensemble in a scene from the film Iron Jawed Angels.

Selected recordings

• Dvořák: Serenades in E major and in D minor. Supraphon (SU 3776-2 011). (Performed by the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble)

Footnotes

References

• Jarmil Burghauser: Antonín Dvořák. Prague: Koniasch Latin Press, 2006. ISBN 80-86791-26-2

External links

• About Serenade for Winds on a comprehensive Dvorak site
• Serenade for Wind Instruments: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Performance of Serenade for Winds by the Gardner Chamber Orchestra conducted by Douglas Boyd, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format

Antonín Dvořák
Operas	Alfred Armida Dimitrij King and Charcoal Burner Rusalka The Cunning Peasant The Devil and Kate The Jacobin The Stubborn Lovers Vanda
Symphonies	No. 1 in C minor (The Bells of Zlonice) No. 2 in B♭ major No. 3 in E♭ major No. 4 in D minor No. 5 in F major No. 6 in D major No. 7 in D minor No. 8 in G major No. 9 in E minor (From the New World)
Concertos	Cello Concerto in B minor Cello Concerto in A major Piano Concerto in G minor Violin Concerto in A minor Romance in F minor for violin and orchestra
Orchestra works	A Hero's Song Carnival Overture Czech Suite in D major Hussite Overture In Nature's Realm Legends My Home Nocturne in B Othello Overture Serenade for Strings in E major Slavonic Dances Suite in A major (American) Symphonic Variations The Golden Spinning Wheel The Noon Witch The Water Goblin The Wild Dove Tragic Overture
Vocal music	Moravian Duets Psalm 149 Requiem Saint Ludmilla Stabat Mater
Chamber music	String quartets No. 1 in A major No. 2 in B♭ major No. 3 in D major No. 4 in E minor No. 5 in F minor No. 6 in A minor, Op. 12, B. 40 Andante appassionato in F major B.40a No. 7 in A minor, Op. 16, B. 45 No. 8 in E major No. 9 in D minor, Op. 34, B. 75 No. 10 in E♭ major (Slavonic) String Quartet movement in F major B. 120 No. 11 in C major No. 12 in F major (American) No. 13 in G major No. 14 in A♭ major Cypresses B. 152 Other Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor (Dumky) Romantic Pieces Serenade in D minor for Wind Instruments Silent Woods Sonatina in G major String Quintet No. 2 in G major String Quintet No. 3 in E♭ major (American) String Sextet in A major Terzetto in C
Piano music	Humoresques Legends Slavonic Dances Suite in A major (American)
Named for Dvořák	Dvorak (crater) Antonín Dvořák Theatre
Related articles	List of compositions Antonín Dvořák Museum Dvorak - In Love?
Portal:Classical music