Little Serenade (Larsson) Explained

Little Serenade
Type:Suite
Image Upright:1
Border:Yes
Publisher:Universal Edition (1936)
Native Name:Swedish: Liten serenad
Opus:12
Movements:4
Duration: 11 minutes
Premiere Location:Gävle, Sweden
Premiere Conductor:Lars-Erik Larsson

The Little Serenade (in Swedish: Swedish: Liten serenad), Op. 12, is a four-movement suite for string orchestra written in 1934 by Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson. The piece premiered in Gävle, Sweden, on 7 March 1934 with Larsson conducting the Gävleborg Orchestral Society.

On 5 April 1934 at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days in Florence, Hermann Scherchen conducted Larsson's Sinfonietta to considerable acclaim, scoring for the composer the first international success of his career. In response, Universal Edition in Vienna signed a contract with the composer and published a number of his early works, among them the Sinfonietta, the Little Serenade, and the Concert Overture No. 2 (Swedish: Konsertouverture Nr. 2|italics=no; Op. 13, 1934).

Structure

The Little Serenade, which lasts about 11 minutes, is in four movements. They are as follows:

Instrumentation

The Sinfonietta is scored for the following instruments:

Universal Edition published the suite in 1936.

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Little Serenade:

ConductorOrchestraTimeRecording venueLabel
1Stockholm Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble196510:18Europafilm studio
2Stockholm Sinfonietta198411:10BIS
3Örebro Symphony Orchestra1986-->10:09Örebro Concert Hall-->
4 (1)198810:58BIS
5 (2)199011:01St John's, Smith SquareChamber Sound
6Swedish Chamber Orchestra199510:49Örebro Concert HallNaxos
7The Berg Summer Ensemble199910:28
8Jönköping Sinfonietta200210:34Jönköping Concert Hall
9Orquestra de Cambra Terrassa 48200711:04Spanish; Castilian: L'Auditori Municipal de Terrassa|italics=noArs Harmonica
10Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra201410:21Snellmann Hall, Kokkola

Notes, references, and sources