Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

Written right after he turned 17 and studying at the Paris Conservatoire, this early work by Georges Bizet (1838-1875) is thought to have been a student assignment written for his teacher, Charles Gou...

NABUCCO is the four-act Italian-language opera by Giuseppe Verdi that permanently established Verdi's reputation as a composer. The opera, borrowed from the Bible, follows the plight of the Jews as th...

NABUCCO is the four-act Italian-language opera by Giuseppe Verdi that permanently established Verdi's reputation as a composer. The opera, borrowed from the Bible, follows the plight of the Jews as th...

KOMM, SÜSSER TOD (Come, Sweet Death) was originally written for solo voice and basso continuo as part of the 69 SACRED SONGS AND ARIAS that J. S. Bach contributed to MUSICALISCHES GESANGBUCH by Georg...

One of Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) more joyful compositions, this Symphony No. 2 was highly regarded and successful from its premiere, which took place on February 7, 1873. Despite this in...

Including "Turkey in the Straw," "Chicken Reel" is among the two most well-known poultry-inspired folk tunes. Originally composed by Joseph M. (Michael) Daly in 1910, the novelty song turned folk song...

Known as "the Cuban Gershwin," Lecuona influenced the Latin American music world in a manner quite similar to the way Gershwin elevated jazz music, in his case raising the status of Cuban music to the...

This light and exuberant piece has melodies one might associate with the life of a pirate. Written for the Tony award-winning musical GOLDILOCKS, the score was well-received at the time, though the mu...

This light and exuberant piece has melodies one might associate with the life of a pirate. Written for the Tony award-winning musical GOLDILOCKS, the score was well-received at the time, though the mu...

Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947), while born in Venezuela, moved to Paris at the age of three where he proved himself a child prodigy and learned to compose in the French style of that time. "Le Bal de Béatr...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote the two-act opera DON GIOVANNI, K. 527, in 1787 following a commission from Prague impresario Pasquale Bondini. With the success of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Mo...

Künstler-Quadrille nach Motiven berühmter Meister (Artist's Quadrille based on Themes of famous Masters), Op. 201, was written in 1858 by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899). The quadrille was a lively, sty...

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) originally wrote Ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) in 1910 as a piano duet for the Godebski children, Mimi (6) and Jean (7). In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the work into a five-piece...

Ravel's longest work at almost an hour, the complete one-act ballet Daphnis et Chloe was described by the composer as a "symphonie choregraphique" (choreographic symphony). Ravel began the work, a rom...

Ravel's longest work at almost an hour, the complete one-act ballet Daphnis et Chloe was described by the composer as a "symphonie choregraphique" (choreographic symphony). Ravel began the work, a rom...

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...

The second of two serenades for a simplified orchestra, this one for winds, violoncello and double bass rank among the most characteristic and also the loveliest expressions of Dvorák's creative spiri...

The second of two serenades for a simplified orchestra, this one for winds, violoncello and double bass rank among the most characteristic and also the loveliest expressions of Dvorák's creative spiri...

Two series of "Slavonic Dances," each of them consisting of eight numbers and separated by eight years, were composed by Antonín Dvorák. The idea was suggested to the composer by the publisher, N. Sim...

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, is Sergei Rachmaninoff's (1873-1943) final score, composed in 1940. The only work he composed wholly in the United States, to which he fled when he saw the coming world war,...

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844-1908) path to completion of his Symphony No. 1, Op. 1 was less direct than is usual. While he had sketched ideas for the symphony as a result of his compositions lesson...

The Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163 by Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) was composed in 1889 at Vysoká u Príbrame, Bohemia, on the occasion of his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Lite...

In 1945 Strauss allowed an orchestral Rosenkavalier Suite to be published, but he was apparently not involved in creating it. It is likely that conductor Artur Rodzinski arranged it, as he had conduct...

In 1945 Strauss allowed an orchestral Rosenkavalier Suite to be published, but he was apparently not involved in creating it. It is likely that conductor Artur Rodzinski arranged it, as he had conduct...