In 1878 Dvorák was in Vienna and was so impressed by a performance of Mozart’s Wind Serenade in B-flat major K. 361 that he wrote his own wind serenade within the space of two weeks after his return. Taking Mozart’s piece as his model, he supplemented the wind band with a bass part for violoncello and double bass. The op. 44 Serenade, which also delighted Johannes Brahms, was issued by Dvorák’s publisher Simrock shortly after its première. Our new Urtext edition draws on this first print while using the autograph to correct a number of mistakes and above all inconsistencies in articulation.
