Organization

Conductor

Leonard Bernstein

Orchestra

Wiener Philharmoniker

Musikverein

Brahms, Serenade Nr. 2

Vienna

Austria

Like the Orchestral Serenade No. 1, Op. 11, the companion piece, Op. 16, was written in the small princely residence of Detmold in the summers of 1858 and 1859. Brahms, then in his mid-twenties, enjoyed the summers in the service of the princely family, as did theirs Works reflect filigree lightness and cheerful exuberance. The two compositions are so gentle, so modest in sound volume, so tender and in such an idyllic mood that they appear as a conscious reaction to the monumentality of the immediately preceding work, the First Piano Concerto in D minor op. 15.

Brahms expressed his joy at Serenade No. 2 in the following words: "I felt very blissful doing it. I have rarely written notes with such joy, the tones penetrated me so lovingly and softly that I was cheerful through and through ." The premiere took place on February 10, 1860 in Hamburg.

On the occasion of Johannes Brahms' 150th birthday in 1983, Leonard Bernstein recorded almost all of the composer's orchestral works for disc and video with the Vienna Philharmonic between 1981 and 1984. Today this cycle is considered a milestone in the interpretation of the music of Johannes Brahms. For Bernstein, Brahms was "a true romantic who clothed his passions in a classical guise", but also "a north German classicist who ended up in Vienna, where he was inspired by the Danube, the Carpathians and the temperament of the gypsies". Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic took this dualism into account, emphasizing both the classical and romantic elements, the dramatic intensity and the sober restraint of Brahms' music.

The concerts took place in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein, the venue for the premiere of two Brahms symphonies, where the composer himself had also conducted.

Brahms, Serenade Nr. 2: Concert Various

Public

Concert

Approved

Like the Orchestral Serenade No. 1, Op. 11, the companion piece, Op. 16, was written in the small princely residence of Detmold in the summers of 1858 and 1859. Brahms, then in his mid-twenties, enjoyed the summers in the service of the princely family, as did theirs Works reflect filigree lightness and cheerful exuberance. The two compositions are so gentle, so modest in sound volume, so tender and in such an idyllic mood that they appear as a conscious reaction to the monumentality of the immediately preceding work, the First Piano Concerto in D minor op. 15.

Brahms expressed his joy at Serenade No. 2 in the following words: "I felt very blissful doing it. I have rarely written notes with such joy, the tones penetrated me so lovingly and softly that I was cheerful through and through ." The premiere took place on February 10, 1860 in Hamburg.

On the occasion of Johannes Brahms' 150th birthday in 1983, Leonard Bernstein recorded almost all of the composer's orchestral works for disc and video with the Vienna Philharmonic between 1981 and 1984. Today this cycle is considered a milestone in the interpretation of the music of Johannes Brahms. For Bernstein, Brahms was "a true romantic who clothed his passions in a classical guise", but also "a north German classicist who ended up in Vienna, where he was inspired by the Danube, the Carpathians and the temperament of the gypsies". Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic took this dualism into account, emphasizing both the classical and romantic elements, the dramatic intensity and the sober restraint of Brahms' music.

English

Brahms, Serenade Nr. 2 by Various, From (1982/1982), Conductor Leonard Bernstein, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

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Venues