Kuffner - Serenade op 4 for flute,Violin and piano

The Op.4 Serenade was composed around 1812. It was a time during which the serenade was an exceptionally popular format among the music public and home music makers. Küffner's were among the very best. This Serenade was scored for Flute or Violin, Viola or Violin and Piano or Guitar. It is in four charming movements—–Allegro, Andante con moto, Minuetto and Rondo scherzando, which interestingly juxtaposes Russian and Hungarian themes. The work was quite popular and went through several reprints  and editions with the version for Flute, Violin and Piano ultimately becoming the most popular.

Joseph Küffner (1776-1856) was born in the Bavarian city of Wurzburg where his father was the court music director. Küffner studied violin and served as a member of the Ducal Orchestra as well as a soloist. Besides the violin, he was proficient on the harpsichord, piano, organ, clarinet, bassethorn and guitar. He later was appointed Military Music Director of Bavaria. His works for military band were so well thought of that for several decades the Armies of the Bavaria marched to his music. He wrote over 300 works in all genres, of which the bulk were for chamber ensembles and which were extraordinarily popular during his lifetime. Today, he is exclusively remembered for his compositions for the guitar and for wind instruments. Although primarily a violinist, like Paganini, Küffner's reached a very high level of proficiency on the guitar because he not only included it in his chamber music compositions, but also wrote etudes for it.