PROGRAMBeethoven, Rondino in E-flat major, WoO 25 Dvořák, Serenade for Winds, Cello and Double Bass in D minor, Op. 44Brahms, Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40Program NotesThe last concert of the SPO’s 2023 Chamber Music Series presents an all-Czech program for chamber orchestra led by the SPO’s Assistant Conductor David Yi. The first piece, Martinu’s Partita Suite for string orchestra, is rarely performed in concert and you can find diverse influences in there such as Czech folk rhythm, Debussy’s impressionistic harmony and jazz. And every movement of the suite requires virtuosic technique and refined tones from the players.Two serenades for string orchestra follow and the composers of these two pieces are in in-laws and student-teacher relationship. When teaching Josef Suk at Prague Conservatory, Dvořák encouraged his way-too-serious student to write a little ‘lighter’ music and the end result is Serenade for string orchestra Op.6. Praised not only by the teacher but also by Brahms that Suk was admiring, this piece was in fact inspired by Dvořák’s Serenade for strings in E major written in the composer’s early happy days.