Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

Although it has a four movement formal structure like the German symphonies, Borodin's Second Symphony is purely Russian. No listener can fail to identify its nationality as Russian - for all purposes...

From the end of Act 2 from Borodin's opera Prince Igor, which remained unfinished at the time of the composer's death in 1887, this most famous version of the Polovtsian Dances (or Polevetsian Dances)...

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...

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...

French Spanish Tone Poems, Nieweg Performance Editions Study Scores

French Spanish Tone Poems, Nieweg Performance Editions Study Scores

This symphonic poem by French composer Paul Dukas was completed in 1897.  Subtitled "Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe," the piece was based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1797 poem of...

This symphonic poem by French composer Paul Dukas was completed in 1897.  Subtitled "Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe," the piece was based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1797 poem of...

Dvorák's Symphony No. 6 bears many similarities to the symphonies of Brahms and Beethoven, and incorporates several Czech folk tunes. It was first performed in Vienna in 1883 by the Gesellschaft der M...

Dvorák's Symphony No. 6 bears many similarities to the symphonies of Brahms and Beethoven, and incorporates several Czech folk tunes. It was first performed in Vienna in 1883 by the Gesellschaft der M...

Popularly know as the "New World Symphony," Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor was composed in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. A major part of...

Popularly know as the "New World Symphony," Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor was composed in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. A major part of...

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...

César Franck's (1822-1890) SYMPHONY IN D MINOR is the French composer's best-known orchestral work. In three, rather than four, movements, the work's shape is attained through thematic transformation,...

César Franck's (1822-1890) SYMPHONY IN D MINOR is the French composer's best-known orchestral work. In three, rather than four, movements, the work's shape is attained through thematic transformation,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...