The Sinfonietta in

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel minor ...

, Op. 10, is a three-movement composition for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

written in 1932 by the Swedish composer

Lars-Erik Larsson Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 190827 December 1986) was a Swedish composer, conductor, radio producer, and educator. He wrote three of the most popular works (each a suite) in Swedish art music: ''A Winter's Tale'' (; 1937–1938), the '' P ...

. The piece premiered in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

on 14 December 1932 with

Tor Mann Tor Mann (25 February 1894 in Stockholm – 29 March 1974 in Stockholm) was a Swedish conductor. Mann was principal conductor of the Göteborgs Symfoniker from 1925 to 1939, and the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester from 1939 to 1959. He ...

conducting the Gothenburg Orchestral Society. A few years later, on 5 April 1934 at the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

(ISCM) World Music Days in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor, who was principal conductor of the city orchestra of Winterthur from 1922 to 1950. He promoted contemporary music, beginning with Schoenberg's '' Pierrot Lunaire'', follow ...

conducted the Sinfonietta to considerable acclaim, scoring for Larsson the first international success of his career. In response,

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is an Austrian classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, it originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market. The firm soon expanded to become one of t ...

in Vienna signed a contract with the composer and published a number of his early works, among them the Sinfonietta, the '' Little Serenade'' (; Op. 12, 1934), and the Concert Overture No. 2 (; Op. 13, 1934).

Structure

The Sinfonietta is in three movements. They are as follows:

Instrumentation

The Sinfonietta is scored for the following instruments: *

String String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

s, and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

es Universal Edition published the suite in 1935.

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Sinfonietta:

Notes, references, and sources

; ; ; * * * * {{portal bar, Classical music, Music Symphonies by Lars-Erik Larsson 20th-century classical music Classical music in Sweden 1932 compositions Sinfoniettas