Dvořák – Serenade for strings [analysis] – PART 1: movements 1 and 2

Last updated Jan 7, 2025 | Published on Dec 17, 2020

Winner of a fellowship at the Bayreuther Festspiele, Mr. Griglio’s conducting has been praised for his “energy” and “fine details”. Mr. Griglio took part in the first world recording of music by composer Irwin Bazelon and conducted several world premieres like "The song of Eddie", by Harold Farberman, a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize. Principal Conductor of International Opera Theater Philadelphia for four years, Mr.Griglio is also active as a composer. His first opera, Camille Claudel, debuted in 2013 to a great success of audience and critics. Mr. Griglio is presently working on an opera on Caravaggio and Music Director of Opera Odyssey.
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Table of contents

Introduction

1875, the year in which the Serenade for strings op.22 was written, was quite an intense one for Dvořák. It’s the year that marks his 5th symphony, the 2nd string quintet, and the famous Moravian duets among other works. Dvořák was beginning to be recognized as a composer which eased his mind of financial burdens.

Apparently, the serenade for strings was written in less than a couple of weeks, and was premiered in Prague in 1876.

The work holds for the most part that same spirit of an outdoor evening we recognized in Elgar’s serenade.

Scheherazade by Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter (1844-1913)

Antonín Dvořák in 1882 

Antonín Dvořák: an analysis of the Serenade for strings – Mov. 1 and 2

First movement: Moderato

In case you don’t have it at hand, here’s a quick link to the score.

The first movement smells of a serene night in late spring, with a lovely breeze. It’s in an ABA structure, beginning with a delicate theme that – just like with Elgar’s piece – will come back in the last movement.
Played by the second violins, it’s accompanied by a gentle pulsing of the violas, while the cellos answer in the second bar

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.1
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Take a note of that small cell of 1 eight note and 2 16th notes: we’ll see plenty of it along the movement.

The first violins take the lead in bar 5, extending the same musical idea. They get more active in bars 8 and 9: perhaps the breeze got slightly stronger for a moment and took your hat away

Notice the double bass: it’s in pizzicato all the way until bar 11. The phrase slowly closes, the breeze calms down, and the double basses add a bit of weight with the arco marking, on the dominant; on top, the small lyrical and rhythmical cell repeated throughout

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.2

Technical tip

Right from the start, visual score study will tell you how to make the most of your conductor’s space: start at waist level; small gestures because of the dynamic; legato stroke; and switch between right and left hand, following the alternating lines of the second violins and cellos.

For a full technical analysis, look up the video in the repertoire section

As if it was nothing, we go back to the main theme. It’s slightly more intense: the violas are playing 3 notes now, not 2; the second violins are echoed by both the cellos and the double basses; the first violins add a counterline on top

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.3

The phrase gains courage and moves up, in a progression that takes it up to a forte dynamic. It’s just a moment and it retreats almost immediately to a softer dynamic.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.4

The arpeggio of the cellos leads to the head of the theme again played by the second violins. This idea keeps bouncing back and forth through the sections in the coda of this A section, until it’s reduced to its smallest element.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.5

And just like that, Dvořák takes us to a gentle dance in G major. Based on a dotted rhythm, it never loses its delicate touch. It remains all the time in the dynamic spectrum of pp to mf, orchestrated very lightly. Notice the quadruplet of 16th at the end of bar 31: again we’ll see more of it. Following the model of the first section, the idea is repeated twice 

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.6

before taking off in a different direction.

There’s a crescendo but the phrase folds back returning to the same motive on bar 43. But this time, it’s enriched by a lovely lyrical line sung by half of the cellos

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.7

It’s a brief affair. We’re put on hold for a moment, and then we seem to go back to the dance. But there’s a surprise: a forzato marking makes use of those 4 16th notes and across the following 3 bars takes us back to the A section

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.8

Those same 4 notes become an accompaniment played by the second violins, while the 1st sing out the theme in octaves. 

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.9

When the theme is repeated on bar 66, it’s now in the hands of 2 solo cellos, playing in the high register of the instrument. This increases the delicacy of the line. The theme echoes in the coda of the section and the piece ends in the most gentle way.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.1 - ex.10

Second movement: Tempo di Valse

The second movement changes the tone, in contrast with the first one: Dvořák moves to the relative minor of E major, C# minor. He chooses another dance form: the valse. The structure is, again, ABA. The first part of section A presents the 5 bars long theme for 4 times.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.1

Each time adding something new to it: the violas split, the double basses enter on the 3rd iteration; and the theme itself undergoes slight rhythmic variations. All of this, on top of the increase in dynamics, creates a wonderful 16 bars long crescendo

After repeating all the 20 bars once, the crescendo snaps into a bridging section built exclusively on the head of the theme. It’s in a mixolydian mode which uses a dominant 7th on E as a base which will eventually lead to A major

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.2

Notice this: the bar phrasing is changing. The first part was built on cycles of 5 bars, giving a total sense of balance in its 20 bars length. The second part starts with regular 2 bars phrasing, but on bar 31 Dvořák tricks us with a 3 bars phrasing followed by the hemiolas of the violins over 2 bars. All of this has the effect of throwing off the ear of the listener, creating an element of surprise.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.3

Technical tip

Bar 31-33 can be grouped together, and keep very small gestures on the hemiolas on bars 34-35. These rhythms can be really tricky. Most of the time, less is more.

For a full technical analysis, look up the video in the repertoire section

The surprise continues: the next musical idea is another dance. On a dotted rhythm, as we heard in the first movement. But look, the cadence is in 2, nested into the 3 of the movement.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.4

This part is repeated again and then we’re taken back to the lyricism of the first theme. Notice, again, the hemiolas in bars 53-54.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.5

The theme seems to fold on itself, dying away in a triple piano dynamic. But the last 2 chords, in an abrupt fortissimo, tell us otherwise.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.6

The B section enharmonically moves to Db major. We’re back in pianissimo and dolce with a serene melody sung by the first violins.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.7

The serenity is clouded by the second part of the phrase which ends up on an F minor.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.8

The motive is retaken, again by the violins, in octave this time. They are echoed by the second violins and half of the cellos, while the other half keeps a lively pizzicato underneath.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.9

There are no more clouds and the episode is repeated. After that, the second part of the B section comes along: the idea is now underlined by a counterpoint reminiscent of the first theme, passing from the violas, to the second violins to the cellos and basses

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.10

A short extension of it brings back a cell from the first theme. In piano first, then in pianissimo. But Dvořák isn’t ready to go back just yet. The pianissimo explodes in a fortissimo and marcatissimo.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.11

This full force episode ends once more in a diminuendo where a downward chromatic scale topped by the hemiolas of the first violins reintroduce the cantabile theme of the B section.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.12

Notice how that small thematic cell from the opening idea is now used as a counterpoint and as a connecting element to the A section. When it does come back, the A section is identical to the first time. Except for the very end: the last chord is not a minor but a major one, preluding to the happier time that’s coming up in the 3rd movement.

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov.2 - ex.13

In conclusion

This concludes the analysis of the first part of this serenade. Hope you’ve enjoyed it and do let me know what you think in the comments!

Notes

Cover image by Lucas Craig from Pexels

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Gianmaria Griglio is an intelligent, exceptional musician. There is no question about his conducting abilities: he has exceptionally clear baton technique that allows him to articulate whatever decisions he has made about the music.

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