2 Flutes
Oboe / E.H.)
2 Clarinets (Bb)
Bassoon
2 Horns (F)
Timpani
Harp
Violins
I
Violins 2
Violas
Cellos
Basses
Score in C
OR Non-C
Timing - 5:00
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The Serenade for small orchestra was written in the summer of 1994 while I was
house-sitting for a friend. The environment - a quiet house in a big, wooded yard in
suburban Maryland - was conducive to writing, and the piece progressed swiftly, even
though this was (and is) my first orchestral piece. Being alone in an empty house
inclined me somewhat to melancholy, which put me in the mood for one of my favorite
films, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This lovely film, with its evocative score by
Bernard Herrmann, proved a great inspiration, and I think my Serenade expresses a
haunted wistfulness that is reminiscent of the film.
Originally, the Serenade encompassed three movements, but I grew unhappy with
the third movement and discarded it a few years after completion. The two remaining
movements seemed unbalanced, so I gave the second movement, a scherzo, to my
Semi-Suite, a work that contains two or three orphaned movements. The
remaining original movement has stood well on its own, and I've revised it very
little over the last ten years. I've come much more into my own voice as a composer
since 1994, but I'm still quite proud, and fond, of this little serenade.
© Karen Amrhein. All Rights Reserved.
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