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 (Op. 82), as well as the tone poem The Oceanides (Op. 78).
Instrumentation The Serenade No. 1 is scored for the following instruments:
Soloist: violin Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A), and 2 bassoons Brass: 4 horns (in F) 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 venueLabel1Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra197513:27Southampton GuildhallEMI Classics2Philharmonia Orchestra197914:55Kingsway HallDecca3Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin198013:33Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin Schwann, Koch4Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra198913:16Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS5Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2)199012:42KulttuuritaloRCA Red Seal6Staatskapelle Dresden199513:25Lukaskirche, DresdenDeutsche Grammophon7199914:44Kuopio Music CenterFinlandia8Danish National Symphony Orchestra200211:40Danish Radio Concert Hall (old)Virgin Classics9Tapiola Sinfonietta200611:22Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural CentreOndine10Gothenburg-Aarhus Philharmonic200712:20, AarhusClassico11Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra201514:23Tampere HallOrfeo12Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra202311:47Grieg HallChandos
Notes, references, and sources