# Little Serenade (Larsson)

The Little Serenade (in Swedish: Liten serenad), Op. 12, is a four-movement suite for string orchestra written in 1934 by Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson. The piece premiered in Gävle, Sweden, on 7 March 1934 with Larsson conducting the Gävleborg Orchestral Society.
On 5 April 1934 at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days in Florence, Hermann Scherchen conducted Larsson's Sinfonietta to considerable acclaim, scoring for the composer the first international success of his career. In response, Universal Edition in Vienna signed a contract with the composer and published a number of his early works, among them the Sinfonietta, the Little Serenade, and the Concert Overture No. 2 (Konsertouverture Nr. 2; Op. 13, 1934).

## Structure

The Little Serenade, which lasts about 11 minutes, is in four movements. They are as follows:
* Allegro
* Adagio cantabile
* Allegro vivace
* Allegro

## Instrumentation

The Sinfonietta is scored for the following instruments:
* Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
Universal Edition published the suite in 1936.

## Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Little Serenade:
| No. | Conductor | Orchestra | Rec. | Time | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | Leo Berlin [sv] | Stockholm Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble | 1965 | 10:18 | Europafilm studio | Swedish Society Discofil [sv] |
| 2 | Esa-Pekka Salonen | Stockholm Sinfonietta | 1984 | 11:10 | Petrus Church [sv] | BIS |
| 3 | Göran Nilson [sv] | Örebro Symphony Orchestra | 1986 | 10:09 | Örebro Concert Hall | Bluebell of Sweden [sv] |
| 4 | Wojciech Rajski | Musica Vitae [sv] (1) | 1988 | 10:58 | Furuby Church [sv] | BIS |
| 5 | Petri Sakari [fi] | Musica Vitae [sv] (2) | 1990 | 11:01 | St John's, Smith Square | Chamber Sound |
| 6 | Petter Sundkvist [sv] | Swedish Chamber Orchestra | 1995 | 10:49 | Örebro Concert Hall | Naxos |
| 7 | Karl-Ove Mannberg [sv] | The Berg Summer Ensemble | 1999 | 10:28 | Ovikens New Church [sv] | Bluebell of Sweden [sv] |
| 8 | Christopher Warren-Green | Jönköping Sinfonietta | 2002 | 10:34 | Jönköping Concert Hall | Intim Musik [sv] |
| 9 | Quim Termens | Orquestra de Cambra Terrassa 48 | 2007 | 11:04 | L'Auditori Municipal de Terrassa | Ars Harmonica |
| 10 | Juha Kangas [fi] | Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra | 2014 | 10:21 | Snellmann Hall, Kokkola | Alba Records [fi] |

## Notes, references, and sources
### Notes

* ↑ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
* ↑ Leo Berlin [sv] is the concertmaster; no conductor is listed.
* ↑ L. Berlin–Swedish Society (SCD 1051) 1997
* ↑ E. Salonen–BIS (CD–285) 1984
* ↑ G. Nilson–Bluebell (ABCD 012) 1987
* ↑ W. Rajski–BIS (CD–460) 1990
* ↑ P. Sakari–Chamber Sound (CD 9102) 1991
* ↑ P. Sundkvist–Naxos (8.553715) 2000
* ↑ K. Mannberg–Bluebell (ABCD 3008) 1999
* ↑ C. Warren-Green–Intim Musik (IMCD 082) 2003
* ↑ Q. Termens–Ars Harmonica (AH184) 2007
* ↑ J. Kangas–Alba (ABCD380) 2015

### References

* 1 2 3 Schlüren 2002.
* ↑ Schlüren 2015, p. 15.

### Sources

* Schlüren, Christoph (2002). "Lars-Erik Larsson: Liten Serenad (Little Serenade) in G op. 12 for String Orchestra". musikmph.de. Universal Edition. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
* Schlüren, Christoph (2015). Lars-Erik Larsson: Symphony No. 2 / Variations, Op. 50 / Barococo Suite, Op. 64 (CD booklet). Translated by Robinson, J. Bradford. Andrew Manze & Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. cpo. p. 14–20. 777 672–2. OCLC 965545444
* Classical music
* Music