Larghetto in C for strings

Serenades and cassations are two types of orchestral music written for outdoor performance in Salzburg during the summer months. These works were usually commissioned, either for private occasions or for university events such as commencement (Finalmusiken). They tend to contain more than four movements, and many begin and end with a march (see work group 13a).

According to Salzburg traditions of the 1750s and 1760s, Mozart’s orchestral serenades consist of movements of different types. The first and last movements tend to be symphonic Allegros, with the work expanded by a slow movement in a different key and often two pairs of minuets with trios. The inclusion of 2 to 4 movements with solo instruments, after the opening Allegro and often in an unrelated key, is a feature peculiar to works from Salzburg.

The juxtaposition of movements of very different types encouraged selections of movements to be performed separately, and Mozart converted most if not all orchestral serenades into symphonies by reducing the number of movements to three or four. In a similar manner, the concerted movements were sometimes used as concertos or symphonies concertantes. Compared with the serenades, some of Mozart’s cassations are more modest in scoring and size. The terms were used interchangeably in Southern Germany and Austria in this period.