Scores for Orchestra

EFTERKLANGE AF OSSIAN (ECHOES OF OSSIAN) OVERTURE, Op. 1, composed in 1840 by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890), marked a major turning point in his early career and brought him widespread recognition as...

One of Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky'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...

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...

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) composed his SYMPHONY No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104 between 1918 and 1923, a period marked by political upheaval in Finland following its independence from Russia and by the comp...

The Romanian composer Georges Enescu (1881-1955) spent his career in Paris, but much of his music bears the unmistakable influence of his native folk music. His SUITE D'ORCHESTRE, Op. 9, (Suite No. 1)...

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed Overture on Jewish Themes (or Overture on Hebrew Themes), Op. 34, in 1919 for the uncommon combination of clarinet, string quartet, and piano, and this original v...

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) wrote Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52 in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Described by th...

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) likely composed three settings of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo, though only two have survived. It was common for Vivaldi to write introductory motets to be performed bef...

Johannes Brahms' (1833-1897) Op. 117 consists of three short intermezzi originally written for piano in 1892. Each of the intermezzi is slow and meditative. Intermezzo No. 1 is a lullaby, and this orc...

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) composed the Symphonic Variations in E minor only two years prior to the completion of the Enigma Variations by his well-known student, Edward Elgar. It premi...

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) had originally intended for Images pour orchestre to be a sequel to the first set of Images for solo piano. However, around 1905, he had decided to orchestrate the compositi...

Morton Gould (1913-1996), equally comfortable in the worlds of both "serious" and "light" music, presented his symphonettes (an Americanization of the term "sinfonietta," much like kitchenette and din...

Dark Eyes is a well-known Russian romance song. The lyrics, written by Ukrainian poet Yevhen Hrebinka, were first published in 1843. The melody, to which the lyrics are set is by German-Polish compose...

The Guaracha is the Third Movement from Mr. Gould's fourth Symphonette, LATIN AMERICAN SYMPHONETTE, which is in four movements - Rhumba, Tango, Guaracha, and Conga.  The Guaracha, relatively spea...

Leroy Anderson completed four works in 1953: "Song of the Bells," "Summer Skies," "The Girl in Satin," and "Concerto in C for Piano and Orchestra." He commisioned a modern home for himself and his fam...

Programme Note from original publication - This work was first played in America by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in June, 1910, and was the result of a commission from Mr. Carl Stoeckel, to who...

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...

AUX ÉTOILES (TO THE STARS), composed in 1874, is a short poem for orchestra by French composer Henri Duparc (1848-1933). He originally intended it for a three-movement work titled Poéme nocturne. High...

Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) composed the beautiful Serenade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 11 in 1884, before his "creative crisis" of 1890. For a small orchestra, it was premiered in 1885, his friend and m...

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...

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) set four poems from George Herbert's (1593-1633) collection The Temple: Sacred Poems in 1911 to music for solo baritone in a work titled Five Mystical Songs. The sol...

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) began work on his SYMPHONY No. 4, Op. 36 in 1877 and finished it the following year. Begun soon after Tchaikovsky established his relationship with long-time patr...

Written three years after his Manfred Symphony, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 was composed in 1888. Although it has been surpassed in popularity a bit over t...

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...

Madama Butterfly, one of the most popular operas of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), is the story of the conflicting expectations of Lieutenant Pinkerton, an American naval officer, and Madame Butterfly (...