What is "serenate"

Serenata \Ser`e*na"ta\, Serenate \Ser"e*nate\, n. [It. serenata. See Serenade.] (Mus.) A piece of vocal music, especially one on an amoreus subject; a serenade.

Or serenate, which the starved lover sings To his pround fair.
--Milton.

Note: The name serenata was given by Italian composers in the time of Handel, and by Handel himself, to a cantata of a pastoreal of dramatic character, to a secular ode, etc.; also by Mozart and others to an orchectral composition, in several movements, midway between the suite of an earlier period and the modern symphony.
--Grove.