Beethoven: Serenade for flute, violin and viola in D major, Op. 25 (with Score)

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Serenade for flute, violin and viola in D major, Op. 25 (with Score)
Composed: 1801
Performance: Sir James Galway, The London Virtuosi

00:00 1. Entrata, Allegro (D major)
03:45 2. Tempo ordinario d'un Menuetto (D major)
09:01 3. Allegro molto (D minor)
11:18 4. Andante con Variazioni (G major)
17:36 5. Allegro scherzando e vivace (D major - D minor)
19:37 6. Adagio – Allegro vivace e disinvolto (D major)

Although 1801 is generally the year given for the composition of the Serenade, Op. 25, there exist preliminary sketches that are earlier, and some scholars believe the work dates from 1797, around the time Beethoven completed his Serenade, Op. 8. The Serenade, Op. 25, was certainly finished by late 1801 when Beethoven offered it to fledgling publisher G. Cappi, who printed the work in early 1802.

In 1803 Franz X. Kleinheinz arranged the Serenade, Op. 25, for flute/violin and piano, which Beethoven checked and approved. This was printed in December 1803 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel in Leipzig as Op. 41.

By Mozart's time, the term "serenade" was not necessarily associated with a piece played in the evening and directed toward a lover. Serenades were still, however, pieces written for particular occasions and often performed outdoors. In Vienna it became common to compose such works for very small ensembles. Beethoven's Serenade in D major, Op. 25 for flute, violin, and viola, follows the pattern of Mozart's great serenades in that it opens and closes with fast movements that enclose at least one slow movement mixed with minuets. The forces, however, are reduced, consisting of only a flute, violin, and viola, and the structure of the work is also much smaller in scale.