Tchaikovsky and Dvořák Serenades for Strings Orchestral Favourites Volume 9

In the autumn of 1880, while at Kamenka, Tchaikovsky wrote two highly contrasting works in rapid succession; the bombastic 1812 Overture, and the elegant Serenade for Strings in C. His opinion as to their comparative merit was laconically expressed in a letter to his benefactress and confidante Nadezhda von Meek: "The overture will be very noisy. I wrote it with little feeling of love; therefore it has no great artistic value. The Serenade, on the contrary, I wrote from inner compulsion; it is a work from the heart and thus, I venture to say, it is not without artistic qualities."