Serenade, from Don Juan (string quartet)

Title: Serenade, from the opera Don Juan

Composer: Christoph Gluck, arr. David Gable

Instrumentation: Violin 1; Violin 2; Viola; Cello

Printout: 5 pages, including cover

Note: Gluck was the most celebrated opera composer of his time and did more than any other composer to reshape the genre. This serenade from Don Juan consists of two parts which are often paired in da capo form. The melody of the minore is played by the oboe in the opera, and the first violin part of both sections can be played on oboe or flute. With the exception of some octave transpositions to avoid harmonic inversions resulting from the omission of a double bass, the voicing in this adaptation of Gluck’s. The octave doubling between viola and cello is characteristic of much of his music.