Hyperion Records

A well-known pre-war recording of Françaix’ music was of his Sérénade for small orchestra by the Hamburg Chamber Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. It is in four movements – Vif; Andantino con moto; Un poco allegretto; Vivace – and can be played by twelve instrumentalists (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and string quintet), as well as with a fuller string strength, as here. The Sérénade, a highly entertaining work of 1934, may appear indebted to Stravinsky at his most neo-classical, but pre-dates the latter’s similar Dumbarton Oaks.

from notes by Robert Matthew-Walker © 2002