#79– January 25, 2021

EMIL HARTMANN (1836 – 1898)

SERENADE OP.43 for Wind Octet, Cello and Double Bass

I. Andante – Allegro, ma non tanto pastorale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPdrB9Oim4

II. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con fuoco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChK1Vt-rvA

III. Intermezzo: Andante
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUjI1XjIBQc

IV. Finale : Allegro moderato – Andantino religioso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzQlwtuRBQc

Serenade Op. 43 for chamber winds by Danish composer Emil Hartmann is our Composition of the Week.
Serenade is likely the only work for winds by Hartmann and it was written around 1885.
It is cast in four movements: I. Andante – Allegro, ma non tanto pastorale; II. Scherzo; III. Intermezzo; and IV. Finale.
It has a duration of around 20 minutes and calls for the following instrumentation:

1122/2000.Cello.Double Bass

The first movement has a pastoral beginning in sonata form, followed by a high-energy scherzo and a very romantic intermezzo. A rondo
(finale) concludes the work with its main theme in a march-style, highly accented and full of wit.
Serenade should be thought of in the same vein as similar works of the romantic period such as Dvorak or Richard Strauss.