Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) wrote his Oratorio de Noël in a matter of weeks, completing the work ten days before it premiered on Christmas in 1858 in Paris. Written and structured in a style that...

2, 2, 2, 2 - 2, 2, 3, 0, timp, str (2.2.1.1.1)

2, 2, 2, 2 - 2, 2, 3, 0, timp, str (2.2.1.1.1)

Norma is a two-act lyric tragedy by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). A leading example of the bel canto genre, the opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on December 26th, 1831. The story tells of a love t...

Charles Gounod (1818-1893) completed the five-act opera Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) in 1867. With a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michael Carré, the opera tells the tragic story of Shakespear...

Dietrich Buxtehude's (1637-1707) choral work Das neugeborne Kindelein, das herzeliebe Jesulein (The Newborn Babe, the Heavenly Child), BuxWV 13 is particularly well-suited for smaller ensembles and ch...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote his SYMPHONY No. 1 in D major, Hob. I:1, at the beginning of his role as music director for Count Karl Joseph Franz Morzin. Composed in 1757, it opens with a slow...

Italian composer Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) wrote L'amico Fritz in 1891 only one year after his masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana began the Versimo movement. A charming light opera in three acts, L'am...

Italian composer Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) wrote L'amico Fritz in 1891 only one year after his masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana began the Versimo movement. A charming light opera in three acts, L'am...

MANON, written by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was composed in 1883 and premiered the following year on January 19 at the Opéra-Comique. It tells the story of a young woman who, despite being a good per...

Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 63, was composed in 1911, with the premiere taking place at the London Musical Festival by the Queen's Hall Orchestra, Elgar conducting, on May 2...

Gabriel Fauré, then director of the Conservatoire de Paris, named Claude Debussy (1862-1918) to the Conservatoire's board of directors in 1909, and promptly commissioned two works from Debussy for the...

French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) originally composed the ballet La tragédie de Salomé in 1907 for a commission from Jacques Rouché for American dancer Loie Fuller and the Théâtre des Arts,...

French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) wrote the first version of Lied et Scherzo, Op. 54 for solo horn and wind nonet in 1910. It was composed to be the horn examination piece for the Conservato...

The piano trio version of La muse et le poète, Op. 132 was written by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) in 1910 during a vacation to North Africa, and that version premiered at Queen's Hall on June 7, 1...

The piano trio version of La muse et le poète, Op. 132 was written by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) in 1910 during a vacation to North Africa, and that version premiered at Queen's Hall on June 7, 1...

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) began composition of his setting of the Stabat Mater text in 1876 and finally finishing the orchestral version in late 1877, though it was not published until 1881 as Op. 58...

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) began composition of his setting of the Stabat Mater text in 1876 and finally finishing the orchestral version in late 1877, though it was not published until 1881 as Op. 58...