Zsolt Serei

Serenade for horn and chamber ensemble

In view of its arrangement Serenade, written for horn and chamber orchestra of fourteen instruments, may be regarded as a chamber concert. The one-movement piece written on command of horn player László Rákos is at the same time related to the notturno music of the 18th-19th centuries. It is a character piece in which a subdued, subtle irony makes itself felt alongside the characteristically night-time atmosphere. The solo role of the horn is obvious throughout, though the initial impetus is not sustained, and in the course of the movement the instrument falls silent. The instruments of the accompanying group join in with the horn in three ways: the clarinet, the English horn, the bassoon, the viola, the violoncello play the melodies of the horn, delicately repeating them, supplementing them or slowing them down, the flute, the violin, the trumpet and the double bass counterpoint the horn?s solos or hold dialogues with it, the third group ? the harp, the guitar, the vibraphone, the cimbalom and the piano ? plays soft, veiled, evenly progressing harmonies. In the last section of the piece, when the first and second group of instruments are no longer playing, these veiled sounds hold together, their rhythm gradually breaks up - the sound environment is reduced, progressively emptied. World premi?re: June 2, 1993, Budapest, László Rákos - horn, Componensemble, cond. Zsolt Serei.