Glazunov, born in the same year as Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius, was a prodigy of such promise and early accomplishment that Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, otherwise icily polite polarities, praised him equally. This boy with a phonographic memory composed a symphony by the age of 16 (seven more would follow), and before 20 was introduced by Anton Rubinstein to Liszt, who opened up Germany to him as a composer/conductor. Paris capitulated next, then the rest of Europe's musical capitals. For Stravinsky, he was "the most disagreeable man I have ever met; but Glazunov was a time-to-time drunkard which redeemed him—from time to time. He would lock his door for two-week binges on Château Yquiem!" (whereas I.S., also a time-to-time drunkard, binged on whiskey without bothering to close the door). For a more affectionate portrait of the man who was Rimsky's favorite pupil, see Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich, Glazunov's special protégé.

The F major rondo serenade on today's program is one of his many morceaux de concert that appeared before a "creative crisis" in 1890. It is a single movement in 3/4 time, marked Allegro scherzando, for oboe, pairs of flutes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns, plus strings. A solo flute straightaway plays a 15-bar principal subject that is briefly elaborated. A second subject, also marked dolce, is introduced by the oboe over pizzicato strings while cellos sing a countermelody. The rest is rondo variants, only twice rising to forte, never louder, until a quiet last word from the clarinet sounds over pizzicato string chords. The work had its premiere in 1885 under Rimsky-Korsakov's baton.

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