Serenade (2025)

for String Orchestra

in one movement

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Composed 2025, from sketches made in 2007 and 2013

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Scored for String Orchestra (min. 6/6/4/4/2).

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16 Minutes

 

Premiere:

Northwest Sinfonietta; Jeffrey Meyer conducting - March 8-9, 2025

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Subsequent performances:

Oberlin Conservatory Chamber Orchestra; Raphael Jimenez conducting - April 3, 2025

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Program Note:

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This ‘Serenade for Strings’ is a project many years in the making. The present composition is the result of musical ideas composed as far back as 2007 and 2013. In a sense, the piece has had multiple early lives and finally takes shape in its final life as this piece. In composing a ‘Serenade for Strings’, one mustn’t forget the masterworks that the genre boasts, such as those by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Dvořák and others. Therefore, I sought to use the groundwork they laid, but speak in my own voice (and use only one movement) in a mostly post-romantic style. From a slow-burn introduction, I write several contrasting fast sections that are melody focused, and build upon previous themes. However, despite these fast sections, the piece retains a dark, reflective and somewhat nostalgic color. While the piece glances back lovingly, it also looks forward dynamically and lyrically.