Although it was common in the early nineteenth century to play Beethoven's string quartets with a flute replacing one of the violins, Beethoven wrote very little original chamber music for flute. Aside from a couple of sets of variations and a pair of dance movements, his only mature and substantial flute piece is the Serenade, Op. 25. The instrumentation is oddly bass-shy, with the viola providing the lowest voice. In 1803 Beethoven arranged this work as a duo for flute or violin with piano, and published it as his Op. 41.

The Serenade is in six concise movements in the form of a Classical divertimento, but exchanging the customary second minuet for a scherzo. The first movement, Entrada: Allegro, is a perky march. Most of the music is based on the chipper motto stated at the very beginning by the flute, although slightly smoother material offers some contrast midway through. The second movement, Tempo ordinario d'un Minuetto, is a graceful minuet that periodically loses its dignity to surprising little Haydnesque "whooshes" in the strings. Those strings, by the way, have the first trio section to themselves, with some quick and intricate two-part writing. The second trio is a fleet showcase of the flute, with modest string accompaniment.

Third comes an Allegro molto, a stormy interlude in an ABA pattern, the central "eye" of the mini-hurricane providing a calmer, if hesitant, dialogue between the flute and strings. The serenade's most extended movement is the Andante con variazioni, which begins with a string hymn that the flute joins only upon the melody's second statement. The first variation reshapes the theme into something reminiscent of the slow movement of Haydn's "Emperor" Quartet. The tempo picks up in the jaunty second variation, and this mood carries into the next variation, which features busy passagework for the strings. All three instruments are better integrated in the following section, although the strings' material is quite similar to what they've just played. A slower treatment of the theme concludes the set, with the melody traded off among the three instruments.

The brief Allegro scherzando e vivace is jittery music that skips lightly up the scale in the outer sections, but it entwines the instruments in smoother material in the middle portion. The serenade ends with an Adagio-a conversation between the double-stopped viola on one side and the flute and violin on the other-which gives way to an Allegro vivace disinvolto that opens with a fluttering melody (first on the flute, then the violin) with an agitated accompaniment. This turns out to be a rondo refrain, alternating with passages that are just as bright but less melodically distinctive.



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