Piotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Serenade in C major Op.48

The composer wrote in September 1880 that he was thinking of a new composition, “a symphony or a quintet.” But then, in October, he declared: “Out of the blue, I have written a serenade.” It was performed in St. Petersburg in the following year and in Moscow in 1882.
The serenade was originally “night-time music,” sung with a lute under a beloved’s window, very much like the ones we know from operas by Mozart and Rossini. The 18th century also saw the emergence of an instrumental serenade consisting of several movements, which soon took the form of an orchestra piece. Serenades such Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik for strings assume the external features of symphony – yet not its structural framework. A number of celebrated Romantic serenades written for string orchestra appeared in the 19th century (Dvořák, 1878; Elgar, 1892). Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C major, one of his favourite works, is also one of them. It contains many beautiful melodies, and its tone still enchants audiences with its richness and consistency.
∙ According to the composer, Movement One is a tribute to Mozart: “It is an intentional imitation of his mannerisms, and I should be happy if it were found not very distant from the famous model.” Although the introductory Andante non troppo is indeed maintained in the style of 18th-century instrumental music, the texture of Allegro moderato makes it a true work of its time.
∙ The second movement, Moderato, dolce e molto grazioso, is a beautiful waltz, full of life, sensuous, enrapturing. At the same time, it is remarkably graceful and elegant.
∙ Elegy is a contrast in the serene and joyful serenade. It ushers in a moment of poetic musing (the dialogue of the cello and the violin) and meditation.
∙ The folk tunes in the finale impart on this movement a truly Russian character. The introduction, Andante, is based on a Russian barge-hauler song, and Allegro con spirito – on a theme from a folk dance tune.

Wiesława Berny-Negrey