Symphonic Serenade

What a piece, full of sparkling magic! The sound of the strings unfolds, in a highly differentiated way throughout, through multiple but never monochrome divisions, yet always remains compact. A score that is vertically finely calibrated and of instinctive formal certainty and perfection. The dedication 'dedicated to Luzi, my beloved wife, my best friend' shows how personal this music is to Korngold. The opening melody of the first movement with its floating lightness already has the qualities of a declaration of love, until, at the end of the movement, it floats away into other ethereal spheres, as if dematerialized. The second movement, the scherzo movement, is a pizzicato miracle movement. Difficult to play ("as fast as possible!"); it needs to be thoroughly rehearsed with all its rhythmic spikes and complexities. The short contrasting parts seem to be absolutely futuristic in harmony and sonority: one part of the solo strings plays sul tasto, the other part at the same time (!) sul ponticello; in the violas, crazy-seeming semiquaver passages are whizzing past like signal rockets. The central movement, undoubtedly, is the slow "Lento religioso" movement. It is of timeless depth and beauty. Again and again, however, as in other movements, the emotionally most dense and moving passages are those which dream of a real or imagined Mahlerian or Alban Bergian, i.e. forward-looking, Vienna – heartbreaking, but never sentimental. What a shame and tragedy that this great artist felt himself compelled to flee his hometown for America. May his touching, masterfully composed music be played as often as possible with equal love and masterly skill. 
Jörg Widmann