Ignaz Brüll (1846-1907)
Sérénade n° 2 en mi, op. 36

Salomon Jadassohn (1831-1902)
Sérénade n° 1 en quatre canons, op. 42
Sérénade n° 2 en ré, op. 46

Orchestre Philharmonique de Malte
Marius Stravinski, direction

Ignaz Brüll was the eldest son of a prosperous Jewish merchant. In 1850, at the age of four, he moved with his parents from the provincial town of Prossnitz in Moravia to Vienna, which henceforth became the centre of his life and work. He displayed precocious musical talent and was permitted to study the piano with Julius Epstein, and composition with Johann Rufinatscha. Brüll wrote three orchestral serenades, Op.36 in E being the second. Jadassohn is a shamefully neglected composer. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and privately with Liszt at Weimar, but because he was Jewish he could not qualify for the many church jobs as music directors or organists which were usually available to Christian graduates of a conservatory such as Leipzig. This was the first of four orchestral serenades; Jadassohn also wrote one for flute and strings (Op.80) and another for wind band (Op.104) as well as a number for solo piano.