Conductor, Ian Whyte *
Elgar's Serenade for strings is one of the most important of the composer's early works. Consisting of three short movements, it is a little masterpiece of pure melody and beautiful and delicate writing. The slow movement, the gem of the piece, is based on an exquisite theme that anticipates the Elgar of the slow movement of the A flat Symphony. 'It is one of the finest and most sustained that ever came from Elgar's pen '. says Ernest Newman.