Serenade for Winds (Wilder)
General Info
Year: 1980
Duration: c. 17:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Shawnee Press
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of Print.
Movements
1. Dolce e Rubato (Sweetly and freely) - 2:50
Gently (First interlude) - 1:25
2. Quarter Note = 58-60 - 4:15
3. In a jazz style - 2:10
Gently (Second interlude) - 1:55
4. Slow and rubato - 3:55
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon (or Tuba)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Alec Wilder was very fond of popular jazz singers, particularly those who were known for their versions of jazz-style love songs. His fondness of this style of music can be heard in the smooth, jazz-like sounds of his Serenade for Winds. A serenade is a piece of music that one might play or sing to (or serenade) a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Wilder’s Serenade was written for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, a contrabassoon, and 2 horns. It is written in four sections or movements that are briefly interrupted by two interludes (like an intermission in a play).
- Program Note from Gateway Chamber Orchestra concert program, 27 October 2014
Serenade for Winds was composed in 1979 for Donald Hunsberger and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, one of Wilder’s final compositions before his death on Christmas Eve in 1980.
- Program Note from Eastman School of Music Wind Ensemble concert program, 9 November 2022
Media
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Eastman Harmonie (Mason St. Pierre, conductor) - 9 November 2022
- University of Minnesota Summer Chamber Winds (Kirsten Hoogstraten, conductor) – 2019
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Air for Horn and Wind Ensemble (1963)
- Beginner's Luck (1953)
- Children's Plea for Peace (1968)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1966)
- Concerto for Tuba and Wind Ensemble (1968)
- Interlude No. 1
- It's Silk--Feel It! (1939/1989)
- Kindergarten Flower Pageant (1941/1981)
- Seldom the Sun (1940/1989)
- Serenade for Winds (1980)
- Three Octets
Resources
- Wilder, A. (1980). Serenade For Winds : For 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon (or Tuba) and 2 Horns [score]. Margun Music: [s.l.].