Dvoark Serenade

The Serenade in B flat major "Gran Partita" K 361, completed in 1781, is without doubt one of Mozart's most beautiful instrumental works..

Barber provided these program notes for the premiere performance of his violin concerto: The first movement — allegro molto moderato — begins with a lyrical first subject announced at once by the solo violin, without any orchestral introduction. This movement as a whole has perhaps more the character of a sonata than concerto form. The second movement — andante sostenuto — is introduced by an extended oboe solo. The violin enters with a contrasting and rhapsodic theme, after which it repeats the oboe melody of the beginning. The last movement, a perpetuum mobile, exploits the more brilliant and virtuosic character of the violin.

Commissioned by the champion of modern music in the United States, Elizabeth Coolidge, Les rèves de Jacob was written in 1949 and scored for oboe and four stringed instruments. In its five movements, Milhaud depicts stages in the life of the Old Testament Jacob, from the book of Genesis. The composer indicated that the oboe serves as the divine and it is interesting how he could take an ordinary …..