Romantic Serenades

Joseph Kreutzer (1790-1840): Trio op. 16, 3rd movement Alla Polacca

Wenzeslav Matiegka (1773-1830): Notturno op. 21, 3rd movement Lento e patetico

In the early 19th century the guitar experienced a true flowering in several European metropolises. Numerous guitar virtuosos kindled a wave of enthusiasm for the guitar, undertook extended concert tours through Europe and were extremely productive composers at the same time.

The guitar – which for a long time had gone unregarded and, in contrast to the lute, was without a tradition in art music – found entry into concert life and became a fashionable instrument.

A majority of the concerts, however, were not public performances in today’s sense of the word, but rather took place in the private salons of the nobility and well-to-do middle classes. Whoever had social ambitions, issued invitations to musical soirees.

The private venues for these soirees were naturally not of the size of a concert hall, and a pianoforte was not always available. For this reason, works for smaller chamber music formations with guitar, large numbers of which were published in the early nineteenth century, enjoyed great popularity.

This popularity was certainly also enhanced by the predominantly serenade-like character of these compositions. (Maximilian Mangold)