Explore: the serenade
Archetypally denoting a musical salutation sung under an inamorata’s casement, the “Serenade” tag was also long associated with pleasant evening entertainment, as opposed to the aubade, which was performed in the morning, and the nocturne, associated with night.
Read more…Allusions to the serenader’s traditionally portable, plucked-string accompaniment also appear in the alternative class of concert works designed to be played by instrumental groups to a cultivated audience of more than one. This genre reached its apogee with Mozart before morphing into something looser in the mid-19thcentury. In general, serenades of whatever provenance and epoch share a carefree atmosphere, marked melodiousness and a classically selective approach to instrumentation.