CXLIII. DVOŘÁK, Antonín: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22

CXLII. DVOŘÁK, Antonín (1841-1904)

Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22 (1875)
1. Moderato
2. Tempo di Valse
3. Scherzo: Vivace
4. Larghetto
5. Finale: Allegro vivace
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
(33:56)

All music retains a deep connection with a person's experiences upon first hearing a particular piece.

Is it a coincidence for me that this work was written during a very happy, peaceful time in Dvořák's own life and also my own?

The year was 1973, and I was helping out with my family's business -- a music store in Washington, PA.

Whenever we had a piano or organ to deliver, my best friend (the late, great John "Harpo" Whittington) and I loaded up my Ford Econoline "Ludwig van" and travelled the deeply green rural roads of Southerwestern Pennsylvania.

I had my Teac reel-to-reel tape deck, a Marantz amplifier and pre-amp, and a pair of incredible KLH 6 speakers all hooked up to an AC/DC generator so we could listen to music in high fidelity as we made our deliveries.

Somehow, this piece became the soundtrack for many of our country-roads travels. I can still recall the sound of the music combined with the verdant rural beauty.

**

The 2020 miniseries Unorthodox features a scene where the young woman -- who has escaped the confinement from the rigidity of her community, and is "free" in Germany -- meets a group of music students from the local Conservatory.

The first secular music she ever hears is this piece. The beauty of the music matches the unbelievable radiance on her face! What a joy to watch it enter her consciousness, as for ther first time she hears "real" music!

**

Another deep connection is that two of my daughters played this piece in Tucson Junior Strings, a fantastically advanced string orchestra group for such a small cow-town like Tucson.

First Movement

The melody gently rocks between the Seconds and the Celli until the fifth bar when the Firsts enter an octave higher -- soaring!

The pizz. in the Basses underpins the higher movement ...

A secondary theme in G Major (1:39):

and after much development, the movement ends in a hushed E Major ...

Second Movement (4:43):

A lilting waltz in C-Sharp Minor:

After moving to A Major, Dvořák introduces a Trio in the enharmonic major of D-Flat (6:53):

Third Movement (11:45):

A second Scherzo in 2/4. High celli and Firsts in a one-bar canon:

Fourth Movement (18:00):

A stunningly beautiful Larghetto, which begins in the Relative F-Sharp Minor:

Fifth Movement (25:19):

Another canon of one bar between the high and low strings starts off this thrilling finale:

Recollections from previous movements, much intense development, and the work ends triumphantly with accented E Major chords ...