Scores for Orchestra

The GOLD AND SILVER WALTZES, Op. 79, was written by Franz Lehár (1870-1948) at the request of Princess Metternich to compose "something especially fine" for her "Gold und Silber" gala ball, commission...

In 1787, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) succeeded Christoph Gluck as the chamber composer for Joseph II. One of his principal tasks was to write music for the dances and balls that took place in...

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) wrote his four movement AFRICAN SUITE for piano in 1898, two years after the success of his BALLADE in A minor, as a result of meeting African-American poet Paul La...

The Suite Algérienne, Op. 60, sparked by a trip that Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) took to Algeria in 1873, debuted in Paris in December 1880 with Edouard Colonne conducting. For the rest of his lif...

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) wrote the secular 'Hunting Cantata' (Jagdkantate) in 1713 for the occasion of Duke Christian von Sachsen-Weisenfels birthday. Sachsen-Weisenfels, a passionate hunter. The full ti...

In March of 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) composed the concert aria PER QUESTA BELLA MANO, K. 612, shortly before beginning work on THE MAGIC FLUTE. It is known for its double bass part, n...

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) wrote his CONCERTO FOR PIANO No. 3 in B minor, OP. 89 in 1819. Similar to his second piano concerto, it is composed in a proto-Romantic style that anticipated later c...

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) loved Russian folk stories, a fact easily validated by his six fairy-tale operas. He based his 1880 overture SKAZKA (FAIRY TALE), Op. 29, on the prologue to Alexand...

Chanson de Matin (Morning Song), Op. 15, No. 2 was originally written for violin and piano and most likely completed no later than 1890. The work has a companion piece called Chanson de Nuit (Night So...

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) composed the incidental music for the play Belsazars gästabud (Belshazzar's Feast), by Hjalmar Fredrik Eugen Procopé, in 1906. In eight movements for orchestra and singers, t...

The Wand of Youth suites are based on materials Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) wrote as a boy for use in a play by the younger members of his family. The composer also used materials he composed while e...

The Wand of Youth suites are based on materials Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) wrote as a boy for use in a play by the younger members of his family. The composer also used materials he composed while e...

Symphony No. 7 was composed by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) between 1904 and 1906. Often informally called "Song of the Night" due to the 2nd and 4th movements both being titled Nachtmusik (Night music),...

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...