Kalmus Orchestra Library

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...

Written in 1900-1901, COCKAIGNE OVERTURE (IN LONDON TOWN) marked a returned confidence to Edward Elgar (1857-1934). The success of 1899's ENIGMA VARIATIONS was followed by an initial failure of THE DR...

Written in 1900-1901, COCKAIGNE OVERTURE (IN LONDON TOWN) marked a returned confidence to Edward Elgar (1857-1934). The success of 1899's ENIGMA VARIATIONS was followed by an initial failure of THE DR...

A radical innovation when it first appeared in 1762, Christoph Willibald Gluck's (1714-1787) dramatic opera based on the Greek myth of Orpheus resurfaced in a variety of later editions at the hand of...

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...

The great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's poem "Peer Gynt," one of his greatest works, tells the tale of a young man so full of bravado, exuberance of spirit, wanderlust, and wantonness, that his...

The great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's poem "Peer Gynt," one of his greatest works, tells the tale of a young man so full of bravado, exuberance of spirit, wanderlust, and wantonness, that his...

The great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's poem "Peer Gynt," one of his greatest works, tells the tale of a young man so full of bravado, exuberance of spirit, wanderlust, and wantonness, that his...

Édouard Lalo (1823-1892) wrote his SYMPHONIE ESPAGNOLE (also sometimes called his VIOLIN CONCERTO No. 2 as it is more a violin concerto than symphony), for the famed violinist Pablo Sarate in 1874. Th...

Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886) began to develop the concept of the symphonic poem (symphonische dichtung; poème symphonique) following his 1847 retirement from concert...

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is subtitled "Resurrection Symphony", and is the first major work that established the composer's lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection. Written over...

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is subtitled "Resurrection Symphony", and is the first major work that established the composer's lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection. Written over...

Published in 1874, this fourth of seven orchestral suites by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) premiered on March 22, 1874, in Paris at Châtelet, Colonne conducting. Titled "Scènes pittoresques," t...

Published in 1874, this fourth of seven orchestral suites by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) premiered on March 22, 1874, in Paris at Châtelet, Colonne conducting. Titled "Scènes pittoresques," t...

Jules Massenet (1842-1912) based his opera THAÏS on the novel of the same name by Anatole France. The titular role was created for American soprano Sibyl Sanderson, who first performed it for the prem...

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote his Symphony No. 5 in D, Op. 107 'Reformation' in 1830. It was composed to honor the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, a Lutheran ho...

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote his Symphony No. 5 in D, Op. 107 'Reformation' in 1830. It was composed to honor the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, a Lutheran ho...

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote music for William Shakespeare's play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM on two separate occasions. He first wrote the concert overture in E Major, Op. 21 in 1826 at the age...

Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impressario) is a comic singspiel written by W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) as "a parody on the vanity of singers," who argue over status and pay. Described by Mozart as "comedy w...

Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impressario) is a comic singspiel written by W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) as "a parody on the vanity of singers," who argue over status and pay. Described by Mozart as "comedy w...

The BASSOON CONCERTO IN B-FLAT MAJOR, K. 191/186E, was composed in June 1774 by eighteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). It is widely believed to be the result of a commission by Thaddae...

The BASSOON CONCERTO IN B-FLAT MAJOR, K. 191/186E, was composed in June 1774 by eighteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). It is widely believed to be the result of a commission by Thaddae...

Sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony" to distinguish it from the the "Little G minor symphony" (No. 25), SYMPHONY NO. 40 in G minor, K. 550 was completed on July 25...

Mikhail Tushmalov (1861-1896), a Russian Georgian whose career eventually led to posts in Warsaw and Tiflis (Tbilisi) conducting opera, was a student of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and is most widely disc...

Composed in the summer of 1909, Sergei Rachmaninoff's (1873-1943) CONCERTO FOR PIANO No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, was premiered that year with the composer as soloist, though he was forced to practice th...