Serenade
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 1949
- Duration
- 10'
- Publisher
- Schott Music
Purchase or download
About this piece
Henze's early Serenade (1949) is a suite of nine miniatures for unaccompanied cello: Adagio rubato, Un poco allegretto, Pastorale, Andante con moto rubato, Vivace, Tango, Allegro marziale, Allegretto and a closing Menuett. It was first broadcast in 1950 on Swiss radio (Sender Beromünster) by Albert Lorkens and lasts about ten minutes. The quick changes of character, from a tango to a march to a minuet, make it an attractive recital or audition piece, and Schott sells it as a four-page print edition or PDF.
Technical overview
Sources give no technical description; the nine movements are short and contrasting (dance, pastoral and march characters), so the demands lie in rapid changes of style and colour rather than in extended virtuosity.