Two Serenades

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Two Serenades
Concertante pieces by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1913)
Opus69
Composed1912 (1912)–1913
PublisherBreitkopf & Härtel (1913)[1]
Duration13 mins.[2]
Premiere
Date8 December 1915 (1915-12-08)[2]
LocationHelsinki, Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersHelsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Richard Burgin (violin)

The Two Serenades, Op. 69, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra, written from 1912 to 1913 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They are:

  • Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 69a (Andante assai)
  • Serenade No. 2 in G minor, Op. 69b (Lento assai)

The Two Serenades premiered on 8 December 1915 during the composer's semicentennial celebration. Sibelius conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the soloist was Polish-American violinist Richard Burgin. Also on the program was the initial version of the Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major (Op. 82), as well as the tone poem The Oceanides (Op. 78).[3][4]

Instrumentation[edit]

The Serenade No. 1 is scored for the following instruments:

The Serenade No. 2 has identical scoring, except for the addition of triangle to the percussion section; it also has the clarinetists switch to B clarinet.

Recordings[edit]

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the complete Two Serenades:

No. Conductor Orchestra Soloist Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Paavo Berglund Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Ida Haendel 1975 13:27 Southampton Guildhall EMI Classics
2 Vladimir Ashkenazy Philharmonia Orchestra Boris Belkin 1979 14:55 Kingsway Hall Decca
3 Vernon Handley Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Ralph Holmes 1980 13:33 Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin Schwann, Koch
4 Neeme Järvi Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Dong-Suk Kang 1989 13:16 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
5 Jukka-Pekka Saraste Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2) Joseph Swensen 1990 12:42 Kulttuuritalo RCA Red Seal
6 André Previn Staatskapelle Dresden Anne-Sophie Mutter 1995 13:25 Lukaskirche, Dresden Deutsche Grammophon
7 Atso Almila Kuopio Symphony Orchestra [fi] Jaakko Kuusisto 1999 14:44 Kuopio Music Center Finlandia
8 Thomas Dausgaard Danish National Symphony Orchestra Christian Tetzlaff 2002 11:40 Danish Radio Concert Hall (old) Virgin Classics
9 Pekka Kuusisto Tapiola Sinfonietta Pekka Kuusisto 2006 11:22 Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre Ondine
10 Douglas Bostock Gothenburg-Aarhus Philharmonic Sakari Tapponen 2007 12:20 Frichsparken [da], Aarhus Classico
11 Santtu-Matias Rouvali Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra Baiba Skride 2015 14:23 Tampere Hall Orfeo

Notes, references, and sources[edit]

Notes
References
  1. ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 304–305.
  2. ^ a b Dahlström 2003, pp. 303, 305.
  3. ^ Tawaststjerna 1997, pp. 69–70.
  4. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 255.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
  • Tawaststjerna, Erik (1986). Sibelius: Volume 2, 1904–1914. (Robert Layton, English translation). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24773-8.
  • Tawaststjerna, Erik (1997). Sibelius: Volume 3, 1914–1957. (Robert Layton, English translation). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24774-5.