The Serenade for orchestra in D major,
K. 250 (248b), popularly known as the Haffner Serenade, is a
serenade
In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...
by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
named for the Haffner family. Mozart's friend and contemporary commissioned the serenade to be used in the course of the festivities before the wedding of his sister Marie Elisabeth Haffner and her intended, Franz Xaver Spaeth. The Serenade was first played on 21 July 1776, on the eve of the wedding. It is in eight
movements:
*I. Allegro maestoso - Allegro molto
*II. Andante
*III. Menuetto
*IV. Rondeau: Allegro
*V. Menuetto galante
*VI. Andante
*VII. Menuetto
*VIII. Adagio - Allegro assai
The second, third and fourth movements feature prominent violin solos. Indeed, the
rondeau (the fourth movement) has been arranged for solo violin and used as a popular virtuoso piece.
It is assumed that the Marcia K. 249 was intended as entrance and exit music together with this Serenade.
A typical performance lasts approximately 55 minutes.
See also
*
Haffner Symphony
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, also known as the ''Haffner Symphony'', was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782. It was commissioned by the Haffners, a prominent Salzburg family, for the occasion of the ennoblement of . The ''Haffner ...
, K. 385, another celebrated piece commissioned by Haffner
External links
*
Program notes on the Haffner Serenadefor its performance by the
New York Philharmonic
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Serenade 07
Compositions in D major
1776 compositions