Serenade Op. 25

Description

The initial sketches for this piece date to around 1797, but it was finally completed in 1801 and first published in 1802. It harks back to the Serenades of Mozart, in that it starts and ends with fast movements, and inbetween has a variety of slow movements mixed with minuets. The opening movement is the only one to receive a title (Entrata), and has fanfare like passages imitating trumpets. This is followed by a minuet with two trios. This is in a very traditional form, with the clear repeats and the minuet repeated between each trio. The next movement, although not marked as such, is another minuet with a bright trio in D major providing contrast. After is an an Andante with variations, in which each instrument takes the lead in turn with florid passages as the theme is varied. Following this is another minuet and trio (Allegro scherzando), and the a tiny adagio in D that ends on a dominant seventh chord. This propels the music into the final movement, Allegro vivace e disinvolto. A ternary Rondo (ABACABA) with a Presto coda. Dotted rhythms drive the main theme, which contrasts with the episodes exclusively through melodic material, and the entire movement never leaves D major. Originally scored for flute, violin and viola, in this arrangement the flute part has been left untouched apart from the addition of a few passages to cover some string double stopping. These are marked in this edition with brackets above.