Kalmus Orchestra Library

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844-1908) Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 30, was written at the request of Mily Balakirev and was premiered at one of his Free Music School concerts in St. Petersburg...

Though Hubay was best known as a violinist, he also distinguished himself as a composer. His FANTAISIE BRILLANTE was written in 1877. Demanding considerable technique, it contains the opera's greatest...

This is the beautiful slow movement from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. This abridged version adds two alternate orchestrations to the original and is suitable for better orchestras everywhere. Inst...

The history of Beethoven's only opera, FIDELIO, is rife with twists and turns, among them that the opera was originally to be called LEONORE. Additionally, the opera is unique in that Beethoven compos...

Jacques Offenbach's (1819-1880) opéra bouffe in three acts, La belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen) parodies the Greek myth of Helen and Paris' elopement, which set off the Trojan War according to Homer...

The opera LA FORZA DEL DESTINO by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was written in 1862 and premiered in the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre of Saint Petersburg, Russia on November 10 of that same year. Following ma...

LOHENGRIN, first performed in 1850, is a Romantic opera in three acts, written by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) . Based on the legendary 13th century romance of Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, who...

Zaïs by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) was first performed on February 29, 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. It is a pastorale héroïque, a form of the opéra-ballet genre of French Baroque opera that draws...

Ariane et Barbe-bleue: Act III, Introduction forms part of Paul Dukas' (1865-1935) only completed opera, composed between 1899 and 1906, and premiered on May 10, 1907, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. D...

LOHENGRIN, first performed in 1850, is a Romantic opera in three acts, written by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Based on the legendary 13th century romance of Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, who...

Maurice Ravel's (1875-1937) Boléro, M. 81/ IMR 4, is a piece that grew out of an orchestration exercise based on a rhythm common in the title Spanish dance. Today, it's usually performed as an orchest...

Maurice Ravel's (1875-1937) Boléro, M. 81/ IMR 4, is a piece that grew out of an orchestration exercise based on a rhythm common in the title Spanish dance. Today, it's usually performed as an orchest...

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: "Jesu, bleibet meine Freude"), orchestrated by Alfred Reed, originates from Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) cantata comp...

Originally written for piano four hands in 1879, this set of 21 lively dance tunes, mostly on Hungarian themes, are among Johannes Brahms' most popular works today, and they were the most profitable f...

Written in 1891 as Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) was considering Jeannette Thurber's generous offer to move to the United States and serve as director of her National Conservatory of Music in New York, C...

The first performance of I VESPRI SICILIANI (THE SICILIAN VESPERS), a five-act opera by Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901), took place at the Paris Opera on June 13, 1855, under the direction of Narcisse Gira...

Written between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Concerto for Piano No. 2 remains one of the composer's most enduringly popular pieces and cemented his reputation as composer o...

Originally written by Debussy for piano four hands, PETITE SUITE has been transcribed many times, with this orchestral version by Henri Büsser being the most well-known. Perhaps due to a request from...

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote his Symphony in C minor, Op. 68 between 1854 and 1876. The long period of composition resulted from Brahms' self-criticism, with the composer destroying much of his e...

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1858 and performed the work’s debut in Hanover, Germany, in 1859, to mixed reviews. The work initially began as a sonata for two pianos...

Habanera, composed for piano in October 1885, explores a folk tune that Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) collected on his five-month trip to Spain. The habanera derives its name from Havana, Cuba, charac...

Written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) in 1868, the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 is the only concerto completed by Grieg. It remains one of his most popular works and is among the...

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) drew material for his NORWEGISCHE TÄNZE, Op. 35 (4 NORWEGIAN DANCES), originally scored for piano and four hands, from an 1853 collection of Norwegian folk tunes compiled by L...

Franz Joseph Haydn's (1732-1809) Symphony No. 101 in D major, Hob. 1:101, is the ninth of his twelve London symphonies. It is known as 'The Clock' due to the "ticking" rhythm that pervades the second...

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) wrote 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies for piano as a way to incorporate the music of his youth into his compositions, and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2 (1847) is b...