Edward Elgar’s Spanish Serenade “Stars of the Summer Night,” written in 1892 for mixed choir and orchestra, paints an enchanting picture of a balmy night in Spain. The text comes from a play by Henry Longfellow, where it appears as a nocturnal serenade beneath the house of a pair of clandestine lovers. With muted strings, mysteriously restrained voices, and only occasional interjections from the woodwinds, Elgar’s choral song captures the hushed nocturnal mood of the scene. At the same time, t...