Serenade, Op. 7

Written in 1881, this Serenade for 13 wind instruments was written by Richard Strauss when he was only 17 years old. His father, the principal horn player with Munich’s court orchestra, had a select list of older composers that he preferred, including Mozart and Mendelssohn, and his father’s influence can be seen in his son’s work, both in the inclusion of a larger horn section and the use of his father’s more conservative musical preferences. The work is much more than simply a capable imitation of Mozart and Mendelssohn, though. It represents Strauss’ filtering and distillation of these influences into something remarkably original and identifies the young man’s future as one of the great composers.