“Summer Serenades” concert

This evening’s concert, titled Summer Serenades, is a celebration of lyrical elegance, musical conversation, and the warmth of ensemble playing—qualities that perfectly capture the spirit of summer. The term “serenade” traditionally refers to music meant to be performed outdoors in the evening, often light in character and intimate in scale. Tonight’s programme embraces that idea in both literal and poetic ways: from Mozart’s classical wind Serenade and Schubert’s tender Ständchen to Tchaikovsky’s lushly evocative Souvenir de Florence, each work offers a different kind of musical offering—graceful, heartfelt, and rich in sonority. Even Gabrieli’s grand Renaissance antiphony fits the theme, conjuring the splendor of open-air Venetian festivities. Together, these pieces form a tapestry of serenades across centuries, inviting SSO listeners into a summer night of reflective beauty and vibrant expression.

Giovanni Gabrieli – Sonata pian e forte (1597)

Giovanni Gabrieli was a towering figure of the late Renaissance, serving as organist and composer at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. His Sonata pian e forte, published in 1597 in the Sacrae Symphoniae, is a landmark in Western music history. It is among the first compositions to include dynamic markings (piano and forte) and one of the earliest to specify exact instrumentation. These innovations were groundbreaking at a time when such details were usually left to the discretion of performers.

The piece is written for two spatially separated brass choirs—an early example of what is known as cori spezzati, or “split choirs”—a technique ideally suited to the grand, echoing acoustics of St. Mark’s Basilica. This antiphonal style creates a sense of dialogue and drama, as musical motifs are passed back and forth across the space. The Sonata is not only a showcase of Renaissance brass brilliance, but also a precursor to the Baroque concerto and the modern orchestral tradition. Its formal clarity, solemn tone, and carefully sculpted dynamics continue to impress listeners more than four centuries after its composition.

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Franz Schubert – Ständchen (Serenade), D. 957 (arranged for brass quintet)

Ständchen, or “Serenade,” is one of Franz Schubert’s most cherished lieder, taken from the posthumous collection Schwanengesang (“Swan Song”), a set of songs composed in the final months of his life in 1828. The poem, by Ludwig Rellstab, captures a nocturnal scene of longing and devotion, as a lover gently implores his beloved to appear at her window and share in the beauty of the night.

In its original form for voice and piano, Ständchen is a masterclass in melodic intimacy and emotional directness. The lilting, almost hypnotic accompaniment conjures the gentle rustle of leaves and the stillness of night, while the vocal line floats above with poignant sincerity. In this arrangement for brass quintet, the piece is transformed while retaining its essential character. The mellow warmth of the brass brings a new, rich sonority to the work, casting it in golden hues and enhancing its expressive depth. Far from losing the fragility of the original, this version evokes a kind of noble nostalgia, a gentle reimagining of one of Schubert’s most iconic songs.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Serenade in C minor, K. 388 (K. 384a)

Composed in the early 1780s, the Serenade in C minor, K. 388, is one of Mozart’s most striking and serious works for winds. Unlike the majority of his serenades, which were often conceived as light, outdoor entertainment music (Tafelmusik), this piece delves into darker, more dramatic territory. Scored for wind octet—two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, and two horns—it stands as a powerful statement of Mozart’s ability to bring gravitas and expressive depth to a genre usually associated with elegance and levity.

The first movement opens with stormy, urgent motifs in the key of C minor, a key Mozart often reserved for music of great intensity (Don Giovanni and the Piano Concerto No. 24 share this tonality). The minuet that follows is similarly weighty, with a canonic trio that adds a sense of intellectual rigor. The slow movement offers some respite, but even here the harmonic language remains searching and sophisticated. The final movement is a brilliant fugal tour de force—rare in a serenade—highlighting Mozart’s contrapuntal skill and ending the work on a note of both precision and vitality.

Some scholars believe the piece reflects Mozart’s response to the more academic and structured works of composers like Haydn or even Bach, whose music he was studying at the time. Whatever its inspiration, this serenade is a remarkable synthesis of Classical elegance and Baroque craftsmanship, and it remains one of the masterpieces of the wind ensemble repertoire.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70 (arranged for string orchestra)

Tchaikovsky began work on Souvenir de Florence in 1887 but did not complete it until 1890, during a period marked by both artistic productivity and emotional turbulence. Originally conceived as a string sextet (two violins, two violas, and two cellos), the work was inspired by the composer’s time in Florence, Italy—a city he loved for its beauty, warmth, and artistic heritage. Though the title suggests an evocation of Italian life, the music itself is unmistakably Russian in character, full of Tchaikovsky’s hallmark lyricism, dramatic contrasts, and rich harmonic language.

The first movement is vigorous and expansive, with sweeping melodic lines that seem to yearn and strive, alternating between tender lyricism and urgent rhythmic drive. The second movement is a deeply expressive Adagio cantabile, unfolding with an operatic quality that recalls the composer’s most passionate arias. The third and fourth movements are infused with Slavic folk influences, their infectious rhythms and melodic vivacity providing a joyful and exhilarating conclusion.

In its arrangement for string orchestra, Souvenir de Florence gains new dimensions of power and color. The fuller string forces amplify the emotional scope of the work, allowing its textures to shine more vividly. This version also pays homage to the great Romantic tradition of lush, expressive string writing—something Tchaikovsky mastered like few others. It stands today not only as a personal remembrance of a beloved place, but also as one of the composer’s finest chamber works, brimming with intensity, lyricism, and sheer beauty.