Serenade in E Minor

The Serenade in E Minor for string orchestra is one of Elgar’s earlier works, written in 1892 before he found fame, and compressing into just 12 minutes what’s effectively a guide to the composer’s future soundworld. It takes ideas Elgar drew from 19th-century German music—Mendelssohn especially—and turns them into something English, marked by “really stringy” textures (as the composer himself put it) and heart-rending upward leaps that then subside into a slowly spiralling descent. All precedents for things to come. In three movements, the Serenade starts with a lilting “Allegro piacevole” (“Lively and pleasant” or “agreeable”) introduced by the violas with a spinning motif that underpins a broader, sweeping tune for violins. A poignant “Larghetto” delivers the spiritual core of the piece, along with one of Elgar’s achingly idiomatic upward leaps in its opening phrase. A short “Allegretto” offers something of a warm and tender farewell, before concluding with a recollection of the first movement’s main theme.