Le Serin

A serin is a small, finch-like songbird — closely related to the canary, found across Europe and North Africa — known for its bright yellow-green plumage and melodious song. This piece by Aubert is included in his New Method for the Five or Six String Guitar (Op. 18). The melodic theme and each subsequent variation are introduced as small airs in sonata form, the structure lending the piece a lightness suited to its subject.

Pierre François Olivier Aubert (1763–c.1830) was a French cellist, guitarist, and composer active during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Born in Amiens, he was a self-taught cellist who became a cello teacher in Paris and spent 25 years with the Opéra-Comique orchestra. After hearing Ferdinando Carulli in 1808, he took up the guitar and went on to compose for both instruments, publishing instructional books for each.