Introduction
Published in 1892, the Serenade for Strings is amongst the composer’s most popular works. It is believed though, that it was a rework of a suite Elgar had written some years earlier.
Elgar was a violinist himself, and speaking of the serenade, much later in life, he wrote to a friend that the work was ‘real stringy in effect’. Certainly, despite its brevity, it shows Elgar’s mastery of string writing.

Edward Elgar, likely in the early 1900s.
The serenade – which suggests something to be played in the evening – is divided in 3 movements connected by harmonic and motivic elements.
The return of the first movement’s theme in the last one, for example. Something that suggests how Elgar conceived this as one long piece.
Elgar: an analysis of the Serenade for strings
First movement: Allegro piacevole
In case you don’t have it at hand, here’s a quick link to the score.
Let’s start with the tempo marking: Allegro piacevole. Piacevole does not have any meaning of slower or faster: it can be translated as “pleasurable” or “enjoyable“. It has the inner idea of something without too much tension, if at all. In turn, this tells you something both about the tempo – which shouldn’t be too nervously fast – and the general idea of the movement, which is not overly-romantic.
Pastoral in style, the movement starts with the violas, alone. Two bars of a rhythmic figure that will accompany us all the way to the end of the serenade
Technical tip
As a conductor, you have more than a decision to make in the first 2 bars. There is a sforzato marking but there is no dynamic. Is it a sforzato in forte? Or in mezzoforte?
There’s also a difference in weight between the sforzato and the accent on the second bar.
Watch the video for 3 different ways of conducting the opening.
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The phrase is retaken by the violins and we move to G major. The violas still insist on the rhythmic motive, this time on the dominant of G. The interesting thing is that 2 notes of that motive become an accompaniment at letter A.
One bar later, they turn into a 4-bars phrase in the first violins. If you look at it in terms of staccato and legato, this phrase is mirroring the 4 opening bars. The hairpins we saw in bars 3 and 4 however span now over 3 full bars.
and while they take a breath, the second violins now remind us of the rhythmic motive. Moving the line from the violas allows Elgar to naturally lift some of the weight, making everything lighter. The descending line of the bridge is now taken by the violas and cellos.
Just for a moment: after 2 bars the serenity of the violin’s phrase returns.
The same pattern is applied again but finally, the obsession is gone. Replaced by a new one, actually: the violins’ line becomes the model that is passed from section to section in the following passage, moving up
Second movement: Larghetto
A simple ABA form for an elegy that is certainly the most mature of the 3 movements. It’s a prelude to the kind of expressive writing Elgar will use in his symphonies.
It begins very simply, with a longing line of the first violins

answered by the second violins. The chromatism and the diminished chord enhance the romantic lusciousness of the movement. And there’s a surprise right away: 6 bars into the piece and Elgar suddenly increases the temperature with a big crescendo and stringendo.

It’s a very long phrase: from bar 17 we go all the way to the end of bar 32.
Notice the orchestration: there’s no double bass till bar 24; everyone is playing in their mid-low register, creating a warm sound; the melody, rich in jumps of 6th and 7th, moves gradually up. By the time the double basses come in, it’s in the high register of the violins. Look at how the contrast is created: the weight is increased but the dynamic is reduced to pianissimo, thinning out in the first violins line.
There are very small crescendos, all going back to pianissimo. The whole atmosphere is quite ethereal, very delicately longing for a resolution that keeps being pushed back.
At letter K we have a new episode. From C major we jump into A minor and E minor. The second violins line is the connecting element with the previous part. Everything is still very thin: no cellos or basses, violas and first violins in their mid-high register, second violins answering by themselves.
The last section of the movement, starting at letter L, begins with the second theme we heard in the first section.
With some variations in the orchestration, now much more active: first violins in octaves, cellos divisi, and second violins and violas with turmoiled triplets. But notice that the dynamic remains triple piano until bar 55. The luscious, romantic sound is achieved by the doubling of the melody in the first cellos
Technical tip
This movement can be quite tricky: the most important thing you need to keep in mind is the control of the speed of your baton.
For a full technical analysis of the 2nd movement, look up the video in the repertoire section
Third movement: Allegretto
The Allegretto is quite a brief movement. It sets the tone in G major, with a pastoral-like rhythm in the melodic lines.

The viola entrance at bar 4 has a seemingly more heroic character, but, in fact, everything remains in a very relaxed atmosphere for the whole movement. This thematic idea forms the backbone of the first part of this last movement, passed around from section to section. Until the introductory bars come back on measure 32, closing the circle of the first part.

Then, the surprise: the idea of closing the circle enlarges to the whole serenade. The rhythmic figure of the first movement is back in the second violins

We briefly hear the long lines of the violins, again from the first movement

and we come to the coda, built, once more, on the rhythmic motive

Finally, the piece comes to an end in a serene E major in pianissimo, completing the circle.

In conclusion
Elgar’s Serenade is the music of youth, filled with vitality and naive tenderness. By definition, the title “Serenade” reminds of something nocturnal, played outdoors in nature. If you want to be Shakespearean, of course, it can remind you of Romeo and Juliet, and a ballad sung to a woman in the moonlight. It’s a magical walk late at night, and, like a dream, it magically disappears.
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