Two Serenades


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
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, as well as the tone poem The Oceanides.

Instrumentation

The Serenade No. 1 for the following instruments:
  • Soloist: violin
  • Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons
  • Brass: 4 horns
  • Percussion: timpani
  • Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
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

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Two Serenades:
ConductorOrchestraSoloistTimeRecording venueLabel
1Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra197513:27Southampton GuildhallEMI Classics
2Philharmonia Orchestra197914:55Kingsway HallDecca
3Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin198013:33Jesus-Christus-Kirche, BerlinSchwann, Koch
4Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra198913:16Gothenburg Concert HallBIS
5Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 199012:42KulttuuritaloRCA Red Seal
6Staatskapelle Dresden199513:25Lukaskirche, DresdenDeutsche Grammophon
7199914:44Kuopio Music CenterFinlandia
8Danish National Symphony Orchestra200211:40Danish Radio Concert Hall Virgin Classics
9Tapiola Sinfonietta200611:22Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural CentreOndine
10Gothenburg-Aarhus Philharmonic200712:20, AarhusClassico
11Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra201514:23Tampere HallOrfeo
12Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra202311:47Grieg HallChandos