Scores for Orchestra

George Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) loved to read, a fact well-represented by his Don Quixote Suite: Ouverture in G No. 10, TWV 55:G10 (Burlesque de Quichotte) for strings. Introducing his subject wit...

Hector Berlioz' (1803-1869) opéra comique in two acts, Béatrice et Bénédict, was completed in 1862. The French libretto was completed by Berlioz, after a subplot from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Noth...

One of two orchestral serenades composed by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) that served as early efforts to write orchestral music, this SERENADE No. 1 in D is the composer's first published orchestral wo...

The complicated history of Anton Bruckner's (1824-1896) SYMPHONY No. 4 in E-flat (WAB 104) 'ROMANTIC' began with the completion of the 1st version in 1874. What followed was a second version in 1878 w...

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...

Written between 1811 and 1812 while Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was improving his health in the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz, the Symphony No. 7 is considered among the composer's best works (inc...

Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) choral symphony, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 was composed between 1822 and 1824, and is the last completed symphony by the composer. Considered by many to be...

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) completed his Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor in 1803, not long after writing the famous letter to his brothers, the Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he lamented his...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) completed his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat shortly after Vienna surrendered to Napleon's invading forces in the spring of 1809. It received its premiere on November...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, in 1806. The premiere by violinist Franz Clement on December 23rd, 1806, at the Theater an der Wien was poorly receive...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote two romances for violin and orchestra, one in F and one in G. While the Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50, was published later and has a...

Beethoven's concerto for violin, cello and piano in C Major, Op. 56, commonly known as the TRIPLE CONCERTO, was composed in 1803 and premiered in 1808.  The choice of the three instruments effect...

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...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) completed Le Carnaval Romain, Op. 9 (Roman Carnival Overture) in 1843, with the premiere performance taking place on February 3rd, 1844 at the Salle Herz in Paris. Written a...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) completed The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 in 1846. A work for four solo voices, chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra, Berlioz originally intended the work, based on Goeth...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) composed Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony), Op. 14/H48 in 1830. Tt is often described as remarkable for a composer's first symphony given its large scale, wide rang...

In January 1834, the great violinist Niccolo Paganini asked Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) to write a viola concerto so that he could showcase his newly-acquired Stradivarius, though Paganini rejected the...

Originally written as a suite for piano four-hands in 1871, Georges Bizet (1838-1875) orchestrated five of the twelve movements of Jeux d'Enfants in 1880. A precursor to other childhood-themed works b...

Russian composer and chemist Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) wrote the symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia in 1880, with it premiering at the Russian Opera Orchestra in St. Petersburg under Ni...

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed his Piano Concerto No. 2 between 1878-1881 and performed the work's debut at the piano with the Budapest Philharmonic, on November 9th, 1881, Alexander Erkel, cond...

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, in 1878. He composed the work for his longtime friend, famed violinist Joseph Joachim, who premiered it in Leipzig with the Ge...

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed the Double Concerto in A minor for Violin and Cello, Op. 102 in 1887, marking his final work for orchestra. Written for cellist Robert Hausmann and estranged frien...

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...