Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

LA TRAVIATA (THE FALLEN WOMAN), an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The opera was originall...

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...

La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. Piave...

La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. Piave...

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...

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...