Aubade

Aubade
Composer: Libby Larsen
Publisher: E.C. Schirmer
Instrumentation: Flute

AUBADE is a word drawn from several sources: Auba (dawn), Alborada (Spanish), Albus (white). The word means morning music, as opposed to the serenade, or evening music. It is a song, or a poem to greet the dawn and usually denotes music of a quiet, idyllic nature. It is also seen as a morning love song, or song or poem of parting lovers at dawn. In the 17th century noblemen held gatherings, feasts in the morning for which aubades were composed. They were played in the open air just as the sun began to break the horizon. 
– L.L.