Samuel Barber wrote the Serenade for String Orchestra when he was one of Rosario Scalero's star composition students at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. The piece actually began life as a string quartet. A resident faculty ensemble, the famed Curtis Quartet, championed the work on their extensive concert tours, affording it great exposure. With an extra sixteen measures in the first movement and a bass part, the Serenade for String Orchestra received its premiere in 1943. The following year G. Schirmer published it in the original quartet version.

Barber's lush lyricism, so evident in his very popular Adagio for Strings, is already apparent in this early work. In his day, Barber was the target of much criticism from the musical elite for his conservative style and lack of innovation. To be sure, Barber's musical language was neo-Romantic: traditional use of melody, harmony, and form in a highly emotional context. However, this piece ventures into more chromaticism and tonal ambiguity than is typical. Written in three movements, the Serenade begins with a slow introduction that shares similar thematic material with an intense Allegro that follows. The second movement, Andante con moto, sweet and lilting, is in a minor mode with interesting tonal shifts. The mood brightens to a major key in the final movement, Allegro con brio. Again, Barber injects little unexpected harmonic twists that are both witty and mischievous.



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