MAGNIFICENT SERENADES FOR STRINGS

The grand finale. To bring his cycle to a close, Christian Altenburger has programmed two works for string ensemble, both of them serenades: Edward Elgar’s pastoral “Serenade for Strings”, inspired by the English Middle Ages; and Antonín Dvorák’s warm and intimate Opus 22. Another well-known piece is Franz Schubert’s sonata for the long-forgotten arpeggione (a kind of six-stringed cello, fretted like a guitar, invented in Vienna in 1823). This piece is performed nowadays in many different versions. The setting performed here is arranged for cello and string ensemble.