(Leader, ALFRED BARKER )
Conductor, T. H. MORRISON
BOOTH UNWIN (bass) A serenade need not be in any specified form, and a composer who sets out to write one is free of the restrictions which ought to bind him if a symphony is the task in hand. But in the first movement of this light-hearted piece for strings Tchaikovsky has chosen the form of a sonatina-a sonata in miniature.
There is a short, rather solemn
Introduction and then a bright, quick movement with the usual two tunes stated, briefly developed, and repeated. At the end there is a short reminder of the Introduction.
The second movement is a Waltz, and listeners know well by this time what good-going waltz tunes Tchaikovsky could write.
The third has a hint of melancholy which pervades a good deal of modern Russian music, but it has its brighter moments, too. The tune with which it opens is a simple one, easily recognised and remembered.
The last movement is based on a very simple Russian tune, made up of only five notes of the scale.