Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Serenade for Strings -- Dvorak


This entire work is very nice, I think it is well-built and has some very beautiful themes. Overall a rather "moderate" piece in some sense of the word (the first movement is even marked Moderato), in that it mainly focuses on subtler emotions evoked by a character a bit more lacking in the sheer grandeur and emotional range that can be present in a lot of the major Romantic works (and especially late Romantic, and especially some nationalist music). Despite the more subtle nature of the work, it still contains parts very diverse in character, but I will focus on the 2nd movement.

This recording is the best I've found so far, and all the other movements of the work can be accessed through the related videos. I picked the 2nd movement because it is my favorite, for a few reasons. For one, I've always been partial to certain waltzes, and this movement is marked "Tempo Di Valse," lending it that flowing, graceful character found in those waltzes. However, this is accompanied by a very nice implementation of a 5-bar phrase for the main theme. The choice of 5 bars, being a bit less common in general, not only makes the piece more unique but also makes the listener (at least in my case) listen a bit more intently so as to keep track of the beats and phrases.

I group Dvorak with composers like Grieg, Sibelius, and Chopin as one who was able to distill the beauty and essence of their native culture and express it musically, so I think it's important to try to bear in mind any understanding of Czech culture when listening to this music as that is where it has its origins.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm in total agreement. The second movement is by far the best, and if you'd like music for it and the others I have it. It's not very hard and I think you would find it enjoyable. Also, the recording you have is of some of the best quality on utube, but i think the tempo should be just a few beats faster than that. - Danielle

Post a Comment