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 the:

  • Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 69a. Andante assai
  • Serenade No. 2 in G minor, Op. 69b. Lento assai
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 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
12 Sir Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra James Ehnes 2023 Grieg Hall Chandos

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.