Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

L'ARLÉSIENNE (THE WOMAN FROM ARLES), a play produced in 1872, was adapted from an 1868 novel by the author Alphonse Daudet. Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was commissioned to write the incidental music for...

L'ARLÉSIENNE (THE WOMAN FROM ARLES), a play produced in 1872, was adapted from an 1868 novel by the author Alphonse Daudet. Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was commissioned to write the incidental music for...

The Brandenburg Concertos are a collection of six instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) written around or before 1721 to be presented to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg...

Honoring Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven's First Symphony is a relatively conservative work from an otherwise bold composer. Despite its classical scoring and form, the symphony is uniquely Beethoven, wit...

Considered one of the cornerstrones of western music, this bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras is among the best-known and most frequently performed works in classical music. Instrumentatio...

Written between October 1809 and June 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) Egmont, Op. 84 is a set of ten incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed the Coriolanus Overture (or just Coriolan Overture), Op. 62, in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragic play Coriolan, a 1904 forgotten drama about the R...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed the Coriolanus Overture (or just Coriolan Overture), Op. 62, in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragic play Coriolan, a 1904 forgotten drama about the R...

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...

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,...